is arroz con pollo the “chicken tender basket” of Mexican restaurants?

[Fat4all]

know that when i say "chicken tenders" I don't mean literally or in a mocking way

sometimes you look at a menu and you just wanna fallback and rely on a favorite that you know the restaurant can nail and you don't have to worry about

you just want sommit cheap and filling, sommit dependable when you ain't feeling fancy

burger? ehh. steak? nah. fish? not in the mood.

you've been looking at the menu for like 15 mins now and just can't choose, you've got no cravings

then the waitress makes her rounds for the second time

"you ready to place your order?"
"chicken tender basket with honey mustard, please"

i feel the exact same way with arroz con pollo. it's a go-to, simple, filling, easy to fall back on when you don't know what you really want.

it fills a hole, it's cheap, it's delicious, and you don't gotta think hard about it

last week i was eating tongue tacos with all the accoutrements, today im eating a big pile of rice, cheese and chicken

 

[Bessy67]

Why isn't it pollo con arroz? Isn't chicken usually considered the star of the dish? Why does rice get top billing?

 

[Fat4all]

Why isn't it pollo con arroz? Isn't chicken usually considered the star of the dish? Why does rice get top billing?

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dunno, but there is a lot of cheesy rice usually

 

[julia crawford]

You know what, I just realized you're a real person who writes these posts

 

[Fat4all]

You know what, I just realized you're a real person who writes these posts

Click to shrink...

 

[Garp TXB]

I don't feel like I'm qualified to answer this question, but to me tacos fill that role more

 

[Isilia]

I am that chicken tenders order man.

(Not really. I just eat tacos and quesadillas)

 

[ratcliffja]

What exactly is sommit? Is that a British thing?

 

[SpottieO]

When I was a kid it was flautas, as an adult? I dunno maybe like enchiladas verdes.

 

[Yog-Sothoth]

No, that would be enchiladas. They're pretty hard to mess up. If a restaurant can't nail enchiladas that's pretty fucked up.

 

[PanzerKraken]

From what I understand it's not a very Mexican dish, more for Southern American/Island latino countries. lived in Puerto Rico most of the my life, and no, Arroz con Pollo is not even that common of an item on menus. It's a common food made at home, but you don't typically get it when you eat out.

 

[ascii42]

What exactly is sommit? Is that a British thing?

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sommit=something
It's just typing it out how they'd say it, like typing gonna instead of going to.

 

[Heliex]

Burrito bowl is the answer, that's what my ex used to get since shes a vegetarian.

 

[Cheesebu]

What does "sommit" mean tho

sommit=something
It's just typing it out how they'd say it, like typing gonna instead of going to.

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I'm trying to imagine an accent that would cause this complete change in every part of the word. I'm guessing it's more of an online thing since it's obviously nothing to do with actual pronunciation.

 

[ratcliffja]

sommit=something
It's just typing it out how they'd say it, like typing gonna instead of going to.

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I've never heard anybody say sommit and I've been many different places in America.

 

[Yog-Sothoth]

From what I understand it's not a very Mexican dish, more for Southern American/Island latino countries. lived in Puerto Rico most of the my life, and no, Arroz con Pollo is not even that common of an item on menus. It's a common food made at home, but you don't typically get it when you eat out.

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I have never seen the words "arroz con pollo" on a menu. Must be a a thing Americans think we do or something.

 

[megalowho]

I have never seen the words "arroz con pollo" on a menu. Must be a a thing Americans think we do or something.

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Why would you think that? arroz con pollo is a super common home cooked latin american meal, but I agree it's not really a restaurant staple when eating out.

 

[ascii42]

I'm trying to imagine an accent that would cause this complete change in every part of the word. I'm guessing it's more of an online thing since it's obviously nothing to do with actual pronunciation.

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I'm imagining Hagrid from Harry Potter.

 

[Hollywood Duo]

No that's a quesadilla

 

[Fj0823]

Why isn't it pollo con arroz? Isn't chicken usually considered the star of the dish? Why does rice get top billing?

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That would imply the main component is chicken

 

[Yog-Sothoth]

Why would you think that? arroz con pollo is a super common home cooked latin american meal, but I agree it's not really a restaurant staple when eating out.

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That's what I mean. It's not something you find in a restaurant, it's more of a home thing.
At most you'd find some kind of chicken dish accompanied with rice as a side thing, but never spelled as "arroz con pollo".
At least in Mexico, I don't know about the rest of Latin America.

 

[Dodongo]

The answer is yes.

I almost never get it, but ACP is a chicken basket-level safe option that will always be good.

 

[MrHedin]

What happens when your Mexican restaurant has chicken tenders too (it's a part of the kid's menu at my local place but you can off menu order an adult sized order)?

But yes, arroz con pollo is a favorite fallback order for me.

 

[megalowho]

That's what I mean. It's not something you find in a restaurant, it's more of a home thing.
At most you'd find some kind of chicken dish accompanied with rice as a side thing, but never spelled as "arroz con pollo".
At least in Mexico, I don't know about the rest of Latin America.

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Yeah for Puerto Rico it's always been arroz con pollo, for what it's worth.

 

[Bisha Monkey]

The go to dish when you have no idea what to get are chilaquiles. They go well with everything, can be eaten at any time of the day and they are one of the cheapest options to leave you fully satiated.

 

[celigio]

enchiladas suizas seems more common to me

 

[onadesertedisland]

That's not really a thing on the menu in Texas as far as I've seen.

 

[Yog-Sothoth]

The go to dish when you have no idea what to get are chilaquiles. They go well with everything, can be eaten at any time of the day and they are one of the cheapest options to leave you fully satiated.

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This too. Especially for breakfast.

 

[echoshifting]

Almost every popular Mexican chicken dish is better than arroz con pollo and commonly available at any decent place

Pollo a la crema, pollo ranchero, pollo a la diabla, pollo en mole, even pollo asado. All better. La crema and la diabla are my faves

 

[shnurgleton]

Chile relleno is my default Tex mex item

 

[Baphomet]

Arroz con Pollo is the best, especially Abuela's.

 

[Dodongo]

Pollo a la crema, pollo ranchero, pollo a la diabla, pollo en mole, even pollo asado. All better. La crema and la diabla are my faves

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My favorite is chori pollo

 

[Javier]

know that when i say "chicken tenders" I don't mean literally or in a mocking way

sometimes you look at a menu and you just wanna fallback and rely on a favorite that you know the restaurant can nail and you don't have to worry about

you just want sommit cheap and filling, sommit dependable when you ain't feeling fancy

burger? ehh. steak? nah. fish? not in the mood.

you've been looking at the menu for like 15 mins now and just can't choose, you've got no cravings

then the waitress makes her rounds for the second time

"you ready to place your order?"
"chicken tender basket with honey mustard, please"

i feel the exact same way with arroz con pollo. it's a go-to, simple, filling, easy to fall back on when you don't know what you really want.

it fills a hole, it's cheap, it's delicious, and you don't gotta think hard about it

last week i was eating tongue tacos with all the accoutrements, today im eating a big pile of rice, cheese and chicken

Click to shrink...

It can be arroz con pollo or pollo con papas fritas (chicken with french fries)

 

[jman2050]

Why isn't it pollo con arroz? Isn't chicken usually considered the star of the dish? Why does rice get top billing?

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Puerto Rican here, it's because rice is the star of the dish.

Arroz con pollo's exact construction varies between culture and location (as is expected from a dish primarily cooked at home) but fundamentally it is a rice dish flavored by and accompanied by chicken and other aromatics. The chicken is playing second fiddle.

 

[HardTimesFamilyPride]

I know a ton of people who default to ACP, if not exclusively choose it if it's on the menu.

If I'm at a Mexican/Tex-Mex place and I'm having trouble picking something, I usually fall back on a few enchiladas and a shrimp quesadilla. But there's always something interesting to try!

 

[Remk NG]

No that's a quesadilla

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This is the right answer, really hard to fuck up a quesadilla qnd it's cheap to make too

 

[echoshifting]

My favorite is chori pollo

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I haven't had this but I just googled it and it sounds fucking great. I'm gonna seek it out, thanks

I'm actually caramelizing onions tonight, they are one of my favorite things on earth

 

[GYODX]

That's what I mean. It's not something you find in a restaurant, it's more of a home thing.
At most you'd find some kind of chicken dish accompanied with rice as a side thing, but never spelled as "arroz con pollo".
At least in Mexico, I don't know about the rest of Latin America.

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"Arroz con pollo" is definitely its own dish in Puerto Rico. It even shows up as a distinct recipe in Carmen Aboy Valldej́uli's Cocina Criolla, which is fairly authoritative.

 

[The Archon]

I've always eaten arroz con pollo as a home cokked meal. I have never ever eaten it out or seen someone do it here in Puerto Rico

 

[Usagi]

As a Mexican, si...lol

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

Give me lengua tacos and some camarones a la diabla you mark.

 

[JaseC64]

OP try Poyo Campero if there is one near you. Ballin ass fried Guatemalan chicken. 🤩

 

[bytesized]

Usando mi imaginación porque no hay fotos

 

[gdt]

Try Dominican or Puerto Rican or Cuban. Arroz con Pollo is more carribean to me than Mexican. 🤷🏽‍♂️

 

[Deleted member 19626]

No, that would be enchiladas. They're pretty hard to mess up. If a restaurant can't nail enchiladas that's pretty fucked up.

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My wife's biggest issue she brings up multiple times is when we went to a restaurant and got an enchilada and there was no sauce on it and they didn't have sauce for it when she asked for some after getting it

 

[Reversed]

Sounds more of a central or south american dish to me.

 

[Pau]

Can we talk about how good Latin white rice is? I don't know how they do it. My parents stopped cooking traditional Colombian food a long time ago, and their rice sucks in comparison. My Cuban-American partner makes some good rice but it's still not the same.

 

[nitewulf]

It's more than that IMO - arroz con pollo can be absolutely delicious snd wonderful and comforting. Tenders are more of a comfortable snack- both great but arroz con pollo I think is a staple dish, unsure about chicken tenders.

 

[Davidion]

I live in a heavily Latino/a neighborhood and I absolutely cannot remember the last time I remember eating Arroz con Pollo in a Mexican place; I barely remember seeing it on the menu.

My Chicken Tender Basket for Mexican is an Al Pastor taco or a Torta. But that's just me.

Can we talk about how good Latin white rice is? I don't know how they do it. My parents stopped cooking traditional Colombian food a long time ago, and their rice sucks in comparison. My Cuban-American partner makes some good rice but it's still not the same.

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Don't love non-East Asian white rice, I have to say.

YELLOW/SAFFRON rice on the other hand...I go out of my way to get them at Latino/Persian places

 

[nitewulf]

Man I have to say yellow rice and beans or Persian/Turkish rice is wonderful. Our South Asian version of arroz con pollo ie, chicken curry and white rice is a staple dish, that's literally expected when I eat at my parents specially in a Muslim household, spicy chicken and potatoes curry with jasmine or basmati white rice and it's just food of the gods. Curry with cardamom, cloves, garlic and ginger paste…so good.