In Mexico and Central America they'd be referred to as 'tripas', (not to be confused with tripe) but in Argentina, Uruguay, and some other surrounding countries they're called Chinchulines, and are a part of any respectable weekend backyard asado that features Achuras (offal) as well as sausages and the various cuts of beef...
I fell in love with them on my first visit to Argentina about 20 years ago, but I had yet to attempt them myself until yesterday... My wife recently got back from 3 weeks visiting with her family in Buenos Aires and she mentioned that the one thing she either didn't have, or didn't have enough of, was Chinchulines--- so knowing where I could probably score a bag of gutz, I decided to go for it...
I forgot to mention that they're the small intestines of a cow...
I'm so happy the few Super-Walmarts in my area have a section in the meat department where they sell a few RUMBA products... That's a company that packages various types of Offal and specialty cuts--- always impeccably fresh & clean... Kidney, Tripe, Sweetbreads, Beef Cheeks, Tongue, Oxtails, Tripa, etc...
All the porky products as well...
I love this company! Their slogan is 'Foods for the Soul' ---- 'Comidas del Almas'...
Yeah baby, that all me...
As of this moment I've taken-on Tripe, Sweetbreads, Tongue, Tripas & Oxtail, but I won't say 'mastered' until I get myself a proper grill... I will say I've managed respectable, flavorful, results in the kitchen...
No problem for the Tripe, Tongue, and Oxtails, which are stewed...
At a Mexican place, when you order tripa tacos, they'll either take chopped raw (bad idea) or par-cooked tripa from the fridge and toss a given portion on the hot flat-top to crust-up, so it's not that they need to be grilled over coals... It's just that it's by far my favorite preparation...
Because in the past the Honeycomb Tripe was always so clean and sweet-smelling right outta the package, common sense told me that the feds wouldn't let the good folks at RUMBA put a bunch of even mildly funky intestines in a bag, and I was proven correct... Nonetheless I was committed to cleaning them utterly... I had no idea if there was one 37 foot intestine in the bag, but I figured if so, I'd cut it into manageable sections that I could blast a stream of water through using a laserbeam hose nozzle... Well, it made perfect sense that no section in the bag was longer than 18"... Nice... They had the same idea... A much easier and efficient way to clean these things... And I was more than thrilled that even after shooting fresh water through both ends while rubbing them with my very clean hands, only a bit of lightly cloudy packaging liquid rinsed-out at first, then nothing...
Very impressive...
I tried to be observant and ask questions when the family in Argentina prepared them years ago, and I remember that my mother-in-law said to soak them in salt, pepper, and lemon juice for a while, and that's what I did... Overnight and most of the following day...
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I have to admit I cooked a test batch that I wasn't quite happy with...
I cut a few 18" pieces in half and curled them up on a broiler pan with a rack and broiled them till they browned and crisped up. But in the first few seconds, as they tightened up, they let loose a lot of liquid...
Thankfully they were on a rack, otherwise they would have sat there and boiled...
The texture of the end product was unappealing... Not rubbery, but chewy...
I decided today to simmer all that was left in a dutch oven on the stove for a half hour or so, so that they would firm-up and lose their liquid there...
It went as planned... Much easier to work with... I fished out all the pieces, rinsed them in a colander, seasoned and tossed them in my versatile red spice rub and EV Olive Oil, and put them back on the rack to broil and crisp-up, flipping once...
A little finishing dust of the spice rub once they were on the plate, and some lemon, and they were as tender and toasty and tasty as they could be for not having been grilled over coals-- which would have been the only improvement I would make... Chopped up they'd have made a good taco filling...
The simmer made all the difference it seems...
And knowing now how tender these things can be, I'll be thinkin' of and investigating some other preparations...
Oooo, I just thought of something!
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Versatile Red Spice Rub:
3/4 cup of regular Salt
1/4 cup of fresh ground Tellicherry Black Pepper
1/4 cup of Granulated Garlic
3 Tablespoons of good Smoked Paprika
3 Tablespoons of good Sweet Paprika
2 Tablespoons of good Powdered Oregano
2 Tablespoons of good Mild Chili Powder
- So far I've used this spice mix on many things, and it has yet to 'mask' the flavors of whatever meat I'm using... I recently reduced the amount of salt in the mix, so I could add more seasoning if I wanted without fear of the item being too salty...
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