A Brief History of Comida China (Chinese Food) in Mexico--and Restaurante Dalian!

Update to the review of this restaurant: as of August 2013, its ownership has changed and the restaurant has lost all its former quality.  What a huge loss to the very small community of worthwhile Chinese restaurants in Mexico City.

 
Barrio Chino de Noche (Chinatown at Night).  Mexico City's tiny Chinatown is on Calle Dolores, between Av. Juárez and Ayuntamiento in the Centro Histórico (Historic Center).  Photo courtesy Jesús E. Salgado, Skyscraper City.

Most of the Chinese who came to North America in the 19th and very early 20th centuries came in order to work constructing the railroads between the USA and Mexico, primarily on the USA side of the border. Almost all of the Chinese railroad construction workers were from the province of Canton, and ONLY Chinese men were allowed into either country. Generally, if a Chinese man could cook, he became the gang cook (railroad slang) for his particular railroad construction crew.

Chinese railroad workers in the United States, ca 1890.  Photo courtesy Wikimedia.

Due to immigration quotas, none of the Chinese men were allowed to bring their families into the USA. Many wives and children traveled from Canton to the port of Veracruz, on Mexico's east coast, and from there made their way to the Mexico/USA border. Some sneaked across as undocumented aliens, while others were turned back. During Mexico's years of anti-Chinese expulsions (1920s-1930s), many Chinese, including men, women and children were forceably expelled from Mexico and were made to enter the United States illegally.

Chinese women cooking, 19th century.  Photo courtesy A Visual Sourcebook of Chinese Civilization.

If you're a man or woman with no marketable skill other than your skill in the kitchen, what's the best way to make a living for your family? Of course: prepare and sell food. From those original Chinese immigrants, a great tradition of Chinese restaurants grew up along both sides of the Mexico/USA border. All of them were and continue to be Cantonese.  Today, there are thousands of Chinese restaurants--almost entirely Cantonese--everywhere in Mexico.

Update: this article, published on November 24, 2012, offers further insight into the Chinese situation in 20th century Mexico: Chinese-Mexicans celebrate repatriation to Mexico.

Commonly known in Mexico City as cafés de chinos (Chinese coffee houses), restaurants like La Nacional specialize in café con leche (a combination of hot expresso and equally hot milk, similar to latte), pan dulce (Mexican sweet bread), and--usually--very bad Chinese food.  Photo courtesy Kairos.

Long ago, Mexico Cooks! began professional culinary life as a Chinese chef, specializing in the cuisines of Sichuan and Hunan--two of the spiciest kitchens in China, if not in the world.  For years, I have told my Mexican friends that the people from those Chinese provinces eat more chile than the Mexicans.  Until fairly recently, most of my friends have looked at me with profound disbelief: unless they had traveled outside Mexico and had eaten in other countries' Chinese restaurants, their experiences of Chinese food were limited to the Cantonese kitchen--and in fact, a highly Mexicanized Cantonese kitchen, light years and many generations removed from the province of Canton.

Now, however, there are two Sichuan restaurants in Mexico City.  One, the Ka Won Seng, has steadfastly refused to be publicized no matter how long they have known me and no matter how much I plead.  The answer is always the same: 'No pictures.  No writing.  No.'  It's in a decent working class neighborhood, although not near any tourist attraction.  My good friend and eating buddy David Lida got there before the publicity prohibition went into effect and wrote about it on his blog.  It's hard to find and if you want to go there, you'll have to let David and me take you.

The corner of Calles Artículo 123 and Humboldt, across the street from Restaurante Dalian, one of just two Sichuan restaurants in Mexico City.  This is not standard tourist territory.  Notice, however, that Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Our Lady of Guadalupe) is here as well as everywhere else in Mexico, watching over her children.

Enter this building at Calle Humboldt #56 and at the very end of its long hallway, you'll find the fabulous Restaurante Dalian.  This photo and the rest of the photos that accompany this article are copyright Mexico Cooks!.

Restaurante Dalian is located on a not very far-off-the-beaten-tourist path street, but on a corner that is far from Mexico City's tiny Chinatown and which is exceptionally unsavory.  Mexico Cooks! is far from squeamish and even farther from nervous about where I find myself, but this particular neighborhood almost put me off.  The first time we visited Restaurante Dalian, we walked past a young man clad only in his underwear and soap bubbles, taking a shower on the street.  Although the restaurant is only a few blocks from Mexico City's Centro Histórico (the historic downtown), it's not a place you'd think to go.  The corner is a haven for unusually down-and-out street people.  We had to get over ourselves, nod briefly to the homeless, and walk just around the corner to find the entrance to the building that houses the restaurant.

Fried squid with salt and Chinese anise at Restaurante Dalian.  Tender baby squid are cut into bite-size pieces, coated with batter, and deep fried until crisp, then tossed with spicy hot chiles, chopped sweet red pepper, soft-fried diced onion, scallion greens, and sesame seeds. 

Mexico Cooks! recently invited several friends to come along for their first taste of real Sichuan cooking.  I admit that it wasn't easy for them to say yes--not because of the new cuisine, but because of the location.  Restaurante Dalian is hidden in the back hallway of a Chinese business building.  It may actually be the only thing in the building.   The building watchman at the front desk just pointed to the end of the hall when we asked about the restaurant.  But was it worth it and will we all go back again?  Absolutely, the very first chance we get. 

MaPo tofu at Restaurante Dalian.  Tender tofu combined with ground pork in the typical and correct proportions of spicy, oily, and tongue-numbing sensations made this dish love at first bite.

It can be difficult to arrive for the first time at any restaurant, much less one with menus written in Chinese.  Names of dishes translated into Spanish were none too helpful, but we were able to deduce from the full-color menu photos what each one was.  Our very kind Mexican waiter, Marcos, is the only staff member at Restaurante Dalian who speaks Spanish.  The owner, a lovely woman, made a gracious attempt to communicate with us; we all bowed, smiled, and shook hands a good deal.  The rest of the waitstaff speaks only Chinese.  No one speaks English.  Other than my wife, our friends, and I, the other diners were native-born Mexicans--plus a Russian man eating with his Mexican friend.

Kung Pao chicken.  The peanuts were fried correctly, the chicken were tender and juicy, the vegetables were crisp and appetizing, and the sauce was just right.  The dish was spiced exactly to my taste: HOT.  All of us were over the moon with the mix of textures and flavors.

Deep-fried green beans, chile de árbol, and garlic, served in a doily-lined bowl.  The doily absorbed any residual grease.  The quantity was enormous.  The aromas, flavors and textures of the still-crisp beans are the stuff of dreams.  This is one of the most delicious Chinese dishes I have ever eaten anywhere.

Steamed fish with scallion greens and julienned sweet red pepper, served in a heavenly soy and sesame oil sauce.

Marcos, our waiter, told me the name of this dish at least three times and I still did not understand.  It's a mix of tender, lightly coated thin-sliced beef,  stir-fried onions and chunks of sweet red and green peppers.  It comes to the table crackling and hissing, in a red-hot pan lined with aluminum foil.  The whole dish is perfectly cooked and delicious, but the caramelized bits at the bottom of the dish are particularly marvelous.

After all but licking our plates, we had to call it quits.  Next time we go, we might order salt and pepper shrimp, or a huge bowl of spicy seafood soup, or a different preparation of baby squid.  We might try something with beef, or a chicken dish even spicier than the ones we tried our first time out.  We will have to have the green beans again, but there is an entire menu of other dishes to try.  There is also an inexpensive and ordinary-looking full buffet, but the a la carta menu seems to be the way to order a Sichuan meal.

A typically Chinese dessert: complimentary fresh fruit.  I'm ashamed to say that there was originally triple the amount of cantaloupe on the plate, but I remembered only at this point to take a photo.


Jian Deui: glutinous rice flour dough balls filled with sweet red bean paste, rolled in sesame seeds, and deep fried.  These are my all-time favorite Chinese sweets; until dining at Restaurante Dalian, I have never before seen them in Mexico.


The tiny Restaurante Dalian kitchen consists of two (or maybe three) well-used woks on a wok stove.  The non-Spanish-speaking cook was a bit nonplussed by my request to see the kitchen, but after a lot of gesturing and a call for Marcos's help, the restaurant owner was gracious enough to allow me a visit to the tiny center of operations.

Restaurante Dalian
Calle Humboldt #56, near the corner of Calle Artículo 123
Centro Histórico, Distrito Federal

Looking for a tailored-to-your-interests specialized tour in Mexico? Click here: Tours.

 

Comments

[Codfish]

Glad to hear there's good Chinese food in Mexico City now. Last time I was there, my friends who live there just laughed at me when I asked if there were any Chinese restaurants they liked. FYI, if you're in Monterrey at some point, there's a very good Taiwanese restaurant here that serves up authentic versions of several Sichuanese specialties, including mapo tofu and stir-fried green beans, plus some Taiwanese dishes like three-cup chicken. It's called, imaginatively enough, "Taiwan Cuisine". They just opened up a new branch specializing in dim sum, too.

[Steve Cotton]

Thanks for both the history and the review. I just returned from China and some of the best food I have ever eaten. I doubt I will go to Mexico City for the Chinese food. But when I am there, I know where I will eat. Thanks, Christine.

[xie xie]

"--and in fact, a highly Mexicanized Cantonese kitchen, light years and many generations removed from the province of Canton." Generally speaking, this is quite true. And the lack of availability in Mexico of some key ingredients also doesn't help.

As for Restaurante Dalina, I'd go just for the green beans alone...!!

Fantastic post! =)

[Dominique]

Wow--who knew Mexico City had a Chinatown! Very interesting history; great array of pictures as well. My mouth is watering! Thanks for sharing. :)

[Tino Juarez]

Great story! Have to try it when I'm in DF

[Don Cuevas]

Great post. Thanks!
I'm pleased that the restaurant is operating again, after a name change.

Saludos,
Don Cuevas

It's back to the original ownership, not merely a name change.