Woks Across the Border

Move over tacos and burritos. Make room for Peking sopa agria picante and Mongolian carne estilo. In Mexicali, more than 80 Chinese restaurants attest to this prosperous border city’s unique Chinese/Mexican culinary history.

Bright pagoda-shaped neon signs along the town’s main thoroughfares stand as colorful reminders that the capital of Baja California Norte, 2 1/2 hours east of San Diego, is home to a thriving Chinese population, and has been for nearly a century.

Many of Mexicali’s first settlers arrived by way of the United States. Natural disasters and social unrest in China, in the mid-1800s, drove thousands to seek jobs in California’s gold fields. At the end of the Gold Rush, large numbers of Chinese workers were hired to help in the construction of the transcontinental railroad. When this, too, came to an end in 1869, many Chinese chose to remain in North America, rather than make their way back to China.

They joined the ranks of farm workers who contributed to the clearing and irrigation of California’s Central Valley. And later, just past the turn of the century, again in search of work, some made their way to the Valle de Mexicali, a sparsely populated region of Mexico at the south end of the Imperial Valley. They were an excellent source of labor for the vast irrigation projects planned by the American-owned Colorado River Land Co. in which Los Angeles Times founders Harrison Gray Otis and his son-in-law Harry Chandler were the major shareholders. The company controlled 832,000 acres of cotton fields in the area.

The Chinese soon became the predominant group of foreigners, numbering close to 5,000. La Asociacion China de Mexicali, the first Chinese benevolent society, was established in 1919. By the end of that same year, the Chinese population was able to sustain more than 28 similar organizations. In the early 1930s, a treaty with the United States ensured the flow of water from the Colorado River. Today, more than 500 Chinese families make their homes in Mexicali.

The bounty of the Valle de Mexicali is on display daily at Mercado 29, the city’s main produce market, which I visited most recently this spring. The colorful mercado covers a large city block on the corner of Morelos and Ocampo, a short drive from Mexico’s border with the United States. Throughout the morning, farmers from the surrounding cooperatives unload truckloads of freshly picked onions and carrots and crates of small, yellow Mexican limes. Mounds of lustrous mangoes and papayas the size of footballs are delivered fresh from Mexico’s tropical south.

Metal tubs filled with wrinkled black chiles, corn kernels and crimson buds of dried jamaica--to make a cooling beverage--take up most of the sidewalk. The exotic scent of ground cumin and cinnamon permeates Semillas y Cereales Girasol, one of the market’s many stores, specializing in bulk spices and bottles of fiery, pickled chiltepin chiles. At the Fruteria Santa Cecilia, nearby, tamarind pods, dried cherries and yellow and purple beans contribute to the mercado’s kaleidoscopic palette of edibles.

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Mercado 29, corner of Morelos and Ocampo, is only a few short blocks from Calzada Lopez Mateos, the wide avenue that links the international border to the highway south to San Felipe, a beach resort on the Sea of Cortes. Mexicali’s orderly traffic flows along the Calzada Lopez Mateos, past a cluster of hotels, office buildings and the La Cachanilla shopping mall, named for a desert plant that flourishes in arid soil. Beyond the attractive mall, a number of side streets lead from Calzada Lopez Mateos to Calzada Justo Sierra, the busy boulevard lined with a number of the city’s Chinese restaurants.

The China Inn, a short block north of the intersection of Calzada Justo Sierra and Paseo Los Pinos, is easy to locate thanks to the brick archway stretching over the entrance to the parking lot. A large, hand painted Pepsi Cola sign covers one side of the Villa China, its sister restaurant across the street. Both restaurants belong to Francisco Xiao, a Chinese immigrant from Hong Kong. The youthful-looking Xiao began his career as a busboy in local Chinese restaurants barely a decade ago. Today, he perpetuates Mexicali’s unique gastronomic heritage.

In Mexicali, as in most Chinese restaurants north of the border, the stereotypical red paper lanterns and golden tassels of old vanished long ago. A glimpse inside the Villa China, during my visit this spring, revealed an interior somewhat reminiscent of a French bistro, with brass fixtures, floors tiled in white marble and comfortable booths. On each table at the China Inn, a bottle of Tabasco sauce and a bowl of Mexican limes--two standard items in local restaurants--attested to the town’s legacy.

Long past 3 p.m., young waitresses in crisp white and black uniforms were still busy serving a lively lunch crowd such house specialties as camaron a la mariposa (butterflied shrimp stuffed with bacon and garnished with toasted almonds, $10.50), Cantonese-style quelite con pollo y verduras (chicken with Chinese greens, $4.50) and sopa China Inn (a large bowl of delicately flavored broth filled with shrimp, chicken, celery and crab surimi, $2.50). The menu is the same at the Villa China, explained manager Margarita Wong in fluent English. Both restaurants cater to the taste of local patrons by offering spicier versions of classic Cantonese dishes.

Like the China Inn and the Villa China, the Ocean King restaurant specializes in comida china y mariscos (Chinese food and seafood). The restaurant is easy to find, thanks to its location across from the imposing Benito Juarez monument, a well-known city landmark.

Lew Kee Whun, a veteran of 40 years in the food industry, opened this establishment in May 1994. Whun lets his daughter Alma Rosa Leon handle the day-to-day operations. She does so with the help of her brother Manuel Dan. Dan, who is also Ocean King’s head chef, received his culinary training in Hong Kong. Like many of his Mexicali colleagues, he adds chiltepin peppers to some of his milder Cantonese dishes to satisfy his local clientele. The innovative young chef, who is also an expert in Mandarin cuisine, doesn’t use MSG and keeps fat and salt to a minimum. He devotes a section of the menu to vegetarian dishes prepared with the seasonal Asian greens grown in the surrounding valley. Among the best dishes is the subtly seasoned combinacion de hongos (mushroom combination, $7.50), a delicious medley of enoki, straw and shiitake mushrooms set in an emerald ring of broccoli florets.

A television set tuned to a local news channel provided most of the animation in the large, softly lighted dining room of the Ocean China, across the alley from the bustling Ocean King. The personable Mexican waiter willingly elaborated on the items listed on the menu, recommending a trio of crispy chun cun (egg rolls, $3). They were among the best I sampled. A touch of fiery chile arbol adds a special Mexicali twist to the sweet and sour sauce of the pato a la Filipina (Filipino-style boned breast of duck, $9.70), a house specialty. The menu featured several pre-set menus meant for two or more, ranging in price from $3.25 to $12.70.

Ana and Tomas Tse, of the Restaurante Nuevo Hunan, are well versed in preparing spicy Chinese food. Their restaurant, in the shadow of McDonald’s on Benito Juarez Avenue, is one of the few establishments in town specializing in hot, Hunan-style cuisine. The couple worked in a number of restaurants in Hong Kong before emigrating to Mexico 15 years ago. They have owned and operated their own restaurant for the past three years. While Ana acts as hostess, Tomas oversees the kitchen and does most of the cooking. Engage Ana in conversation, and she will launch into fast-paced Spanish to explain the cuisine of Northern China. Chiles are among the main flavoring ingredients in the food of Hunan province, much as they are in Mexican cuisine.

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Tomas specializes in such dishes as sopa agria picante pikinesa (Peking-style hot and sour soup, $1.80 a cup) and hot, pollo cortesana (kung pao chicken, $4.75). He imported special, heavy-duty woks from China to prepare his sizzling platters of carne estilo Mongol (Mongolian barbecue, $5.20) that combine finely sliced beef, chicken and pork with chopped onion, nappa cabbage, chiles and a variety of Chinese condiments. Ana switched effortlessly between Chinese and Spanish as she alternately engaged her husband, staff and customers in conversation. Sundays are particularly busy days, she said, replenishing dainty, porcelain cups with fragrant jasmine tea, because that is when many local families like to eat out.

Although this was a Thursday evening, families appeared to make up the bulk of the clientele at the Restaurant China Town. The unassuming neighborhood diner occupies the corner of Calle Bravo and Avenida Madero, a one-way street that parallels the international border. A large paper banner tacked to the front of the counter proclaimed the exclusive use of vegetable oil for frying. Spirited conversations were taking place around most of the Formica-topped tables, barely concealing the din of the television set.

Each time the swinging doors opened, the mouth-watering aromas of Cantonese and Sichuan specialties escaped from the adjoining kitchen, where a trio of toqued cooks manned an impressive bank of woks. A glance at one of the neighboring tables inspired the evening’s order. The flavorful tostadas de camaron (shrimp toast, $3.75), and the crisp chun cun (egg rolls, $2.70) proved delicious openers. They were followed by half a dozen large, butterflied and perfectly cooked camarones empanizados con picante (spicy breaded shrimp, $4.50). The large shrimp, a specialty of the nearby Sea of Cortes, were lightly coated in black bean sauce and topped with crisp rings of onion and green bell pepper. The alluring scent of garlic floated over the table, lingering long past the final dish, a generous portion of pollo ajonjoli (sesame chicken, $3).

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Like the China Town, the Alley 19 restaurant is conveniently located a short distance from the international border. Alley 19, which opened its doors in 1928, has the distinction of being the oldest Chinese restaurant in Mexicali. It was founded by present owner Fernando Lee’s grandfather. “Everyone knows who we are,” said Lee, who has operated Alley 19 for the past 40 years. He is proud of the establishment’s uninterrupted history. The 300-seat restaurant specializes in comida corrida, combination plates loaded with roast pork, egg foo young, almond chicken, fried rice, chicken chop suey and fried shrimp (No. 1 combination plate, $3.60). “We make Cantonese food like they served in the old days,” Lee said.

Throughout Mexicali, the Chinese cuisine of the “old days” mingles with the spicier flavors of Mexico, leading to a delicious, new adventure in dining, Chinese-Mexican style.

Morse is a Vista-based travel writer and author whose latest book is “The Vegetarian Table: North Africa” (Chronicle Books, $22.95).

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GUIDEBOOK

Eggrolls in Mexicali

Where to eat: These are among my favorite restaurants in Mexicali. Reservations are not required.

Alley 19, Avenida Juarez No. 2-8, Zona Centro; no telephone number available. Cash only. Entrees: less than $10.

Ocean King, No. 1 Boulevard Benito Juarez (continuation of Justo Sierra), across from Monumento Benito Juarez; from the U.S., telephone (011) 52-65-68-14-00 or (011) 52-65-68-10-45. Credit cards accepted. Entrees: $3.25 to $12.70.

Ocean China, Avenida Justo Sierra e Obeliscos y Fresnos 1700; tel. (011) 52-65-68-27-01. No credit cards accepted. Entrees: $3.25 to $12.70.

Restaurant China Inn, Justo Sierra No. 999. tel. (011) 52-65-65-63-08. Credit cards accepted. Entrees: less than $10.

Restaurant China Town, Avenida Madero 701, corner of Bravo, Zona Centro. Cash only. Entrees: less than $10.

Restaurante Nuevo Hunan, Boulevard Benito Juarez No. 3810 (near McDonald’s); tel. (011) 52-65-66-44-62. Entrees: $4 to $10.

Villa China, Justo Sierra No. 1001 (across the street from China Inn); no telephone available. Entrees: $4.50 to $10.50.

For more information: The Comite de Turismo y Convenciones del Municipio de Mexicali (COTUCO) is located at Boulevard Aldolfo Lopez Mateos y Calle Compresora, S/N. C.P. 21000 Mexicali; (English is spoken) from the U.S., telephone (011) 52-65-57-23-76 and 1-888-COTUCO-2; fax (011) 52-65-52-58-77. The Comite gives out an excellent city map featuring most of the Chinese restaurants in town.