Lunch at the Red Hook Food Trucks
Tuesday, June 4, 2013 at 10:57AM 
The Red Hook Food Vendors return to Bay and Clinton Streets near the ball fields in Red Hook each year as the weather warms. The lines seem to grow longer as more people come to enjoy the delicious, authentic Latin American cuisine on offer there, but the wait is always worth it. We swung by over the weekend for tacos, sopes, huaraches, and banana shakes.
Pata de Res (seasoned cow foot) and Barbacoa de Chivo (slow roasted, pulled goat meat) tacos ($3.50 each) from Piaztlan after a trip to the self-serve salsa bar. Fresh cilantro and spicy red jalapenos in the salsa jitomate help balance the generous portion of tender, meaty goat on the barbacoa taco (pictured on the right).
A piece of cow foot from the pata de res taco. It's mostly cartilage, so it doesn't take on immense flavor, but the clean, smoky, mildly spicy salsa roja gives the taco a welcomed layer of depth. Pata de res tacos are for fans of pig's ears, coxcomb, and any other cartilage-heavy cuts of meat. If you can get passed the gelatinous, chewy texture, pata de res tacos are a pleasant surprise.
One of the great things about the food trucks at Red Hook is, because they're frequented in such capacity, the vendors are all able to make fresh tortillas to order. And they do. The difference is a remarkable one, as fresh tortillas are softer and more delicate than their store-bought counterparts, and fresh ones take on a subtle sweetness as the masa is charred on a griddle or flattop.
Huaraches ($7) from Country Boys are a must-have. They're big, handmade tortillas with refried beans mixed into the masa that are then topped with your choice of meat and veg. When the masa cooks, the beans dry out slightly and turn the tortilla into a brittle, yet soft and chewy delight. We ordered ours with enchilada (spicy pork), and it's dressed with avocado cream, queso fresco, tomato and lettuce. The tortilla is slightly delicate, but you can still fold it and eat it like a giant taco. Then again, there's no wrong way to eat a huarache.
Country Boys also have sopes (two for $7) on their menu and they're far and away our favorite things from the food trucks. Instead of being pressed to the thinness of a tortilla, sopes are left thicker and plumper. The outside crisps up on the griddle and it's cooked just until the inside warms through. Crema, lettuce, chorizo, and refried beans make it a sort of salty, spicy, fatty Mexican pizza. Two is plenty, but you'll probably wind up wanting more.
Fresh juices and shakes from Victor's & Ana's Blended Wonders are the best way to wash down the day's eats. Cantelope ($3, small, pictured) juice is made in large quantities and scooped to order, but the banana ($3, small, pictured) and other shakes are blended to order. You're asked how many spoonfuls of sugar you'd like, so the sweetness is up to you. The shakes are naturally a bit thicker than the fresh juices, but they're just as refreshing and will keep you cool on a hot summer's day.
Reader Comments (1)
We were jus there today and also ordered the cow's feet and goat tacos. We were complaining that the goat needed something to balance it out and didn't realize there was a full salsa bar right in front of our eyes until we finished eating. D'oh!