Crispy Empanadas and Pickled Pig's Feet at Panchita (San Felipe, Baja, Mexico)

You find gems in unexpected places. Even in places you already expected to be good, you can still find unexpected dishes. Such was the case with Cenaduria Panchita in San Felipe.

During the last Baja trip, our host took us to Panchita for the best empanadas in town, but to our delight we also found ... pickled pig's feet! This specialty of Jalisco was quite a treat, with the bright pickle flavors counteracting the fatty pig's skin. Very different than the sweet Chinese style I'm used to.

Of course, there are the empanadas. After all, that's what Panchita is locally famous for. They also serve taquitos and other things, but I didn't find those particularly memorable.

Here, the meat-filled empanadas are fried (according to Street Gourmet LA, this is more Baja style than Jalisco).

What I really loved about these empanadas was the thinner skin, and of course the crispiness from the frying. These were some of the best empanadas I've had recently. I wish I could've taken some back to LA but they would've gotten soggy. I guess I'll just have to return to San Felipe to have them for breakfast!

Iced Jamaica, much needed in the hot San Felipe summer

Cenaduria Panchita
Calle Ensenada #201
San Felipe, Mexicali, Baja California
Mexico, CP21850

Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp and Chile Relleno Dogs in San Felipe (BajaCalifornia, Mexico)

Some of you already know about Sonoran style hot dogs, even the bacon-wrapped kind. But in San Felipe, they took advantage of the seafood nearby and made ... Shrimp hot dogs! Bacon-wrapped shrimp hot dogs, to be precise. Oh, and bacon wrapped chile relleno dog also.

Martin started this "dogos de camaron" cart one and a half years ago, with a small cart in front of his house. Now he has two carts, chairs for his numerous customers, and even a little TV sitting on top of his fence. He will also be opening another cart on the main street of San Felipe soon.

The shrimp dogs aren't shrimp processed into sausages, but actual whole grilled shrimp - the bacon wrapping is what keeps it in shape.

According to Street Gourmet LA, it's not a Sonoran hot dog without Sonoran bread, and even here Martin ships the hot dog buns from Sonora. It's that heavy, comforting, late night food you've always loved (and craved when drunk) - but with fresh shrimp! And crispy bacon, mm..

The front of the cart held all the necessary toppings for a Sonoran dog. I had no idea what I was supposed to put on it, so I let Street Gourmet LA do all the work.

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San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico

Restaurants
Cenaduria Panchita (empanadas, pickled pig's feet)
El Balcon Cocina Artesanal

Street Eats
Tacos Estilo Ciudad Obregon (bacon shrimp dog, chile relleno dog)


Attractions
Valle de Los Gigantes

El Balcon: Alta Cocina in San Felipe (Baja, Mexico)

Unlike the more metropolitan Tijuana, there aren't too many high end dining options in San Felipe, a sleepy town during the off-season. Still, there is at least one, and a very good one at that.

El Balcon Cocina Artesanal opened in Jaunary this year by Chef Julio Cesar Gonzalez Zetina who had previous worked at the Ritz Carlton in Cancun and researched Mayan culinary traditions for the university there. Now he also teaches the subject at the local university after a recent move from Ensenada.

El Balcon wasn't a fancy restaurant, just a few cute tables outside on the second floor of La Plazita, and an outdoor kitchen. Thick tortilla chips are accompanied by a bold housemade salsa.

Our lunch tasting began with an Aguachile de Cazon (dogfish marinated in burnt chili sauce and green sauce, smoked tuna, sea asparagus and "Huaxes" (toasted seeds), grasshopper, verdolaga

We have had plenty of bounty from the Sea of Cortez, but this was the first time in San Felipe that we had it raw. The fresh dogfish carpaccio reminded me of kanpachi and both of the chile were so good that despite not being able to eat that spicy, I had to finish the entire plate (while downing plenty of water).

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Giant Cactus! Valle de Los Gigantes in San Felipe, Baja California,Mexico

People think of the beach and ocean when they think of San Felipe in Baja California, Mexico, but it is also a desert. A desert with giant cacti!

Thanks to Street Gourmet LA, I went along on a media trip to San Felipe this past week and saw these giants with my own eyes.
Valle de Los Gigantes in Rancho Punta Estrella features gigantic sahuaros, which are only 6 mm when it's a year old but can grow for 2000 (yes, 2000!) years!

They don't produce the first seed until they're about 75 years old, and after that it will go on to produce millions, but maybe only one will survive until maturity. Well, when "maturity" in the desert amount to thousands of years, that's not so surprising ...

For size comparisons:

See Street Gourmet LA with his camera to the right? It's not that he's far away in the background, that really is how big that cactus is.

I don't know why this one didn't sprout any branches, but it sure grew to be a lot taller than the rest!

San Felipe gets really hot in the summer months (March is the ideal time to vacation here), but it was definitely worth the trek to see them.