Houston Street Food

Houston Street Food

Houston Street Food is considered to be one of the best in the United States Of America, and the city is known as the ‘dining out’ capital, due to the wide variety of food and reasonably low prices at most restaurants here. Being located near the south of the North America continent, Houston, in the state of Texas, is known for its Rotisserie, Barbecue, Latin American cuisine, and Tex-Mex cuisine.

Food in Houston can be found in kiosks within malls, in cafes, mid-range eateries or fine restaurants. Surprisingly, food trucks aren’t that common in Houston due to difficulty in getting operating licenses. The wide diversity of food available means no one meal is considered ‘typical’. Ingredients that are commonly used include beef, bread, rice, corn, potatoes, chili, tomatoes, onions, beans, molasses, sugar, chicken, avocado, lime, cheese, pumpkin, pecan nuts, blueberries, strawberries, lettuce and catfish.

Rotisserie and Barbecue are extremely popular in Houston, and the state of Texas is traditionally considered one of the ‘founders’ of barbecue. The 2 most popular styles of Barbecue in Texas is the East Texas style, where meat is marinated in a sweet sauce and slow cooked over hickory wood; and Central Texas style, where meat is rubbed with spices and slow smoked through indirect heat over pecan wood or oak wood.

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The typical American Breakfast, also known as Scrambled Eggs Breakfast, Continental Breakfast, American Fry Up, Big Breakfast, Traditional American Breakfast or Sunday Breakfast. The difference that makes it uniquely Houston is the addition of strawberries or blueberries, which are abundant in Texas.

American Breakfast

A classic American dessert, the Apple Pie is a tart with a double crust (top and bottom) pastry, filled with apples, usually Granny Smith Apples. Apple Pie is usually served across the United States Of America with Ice Cream, usually Vanilla flavour, and whipped cream. In Houston and throughout Texas, Apple Pie is served with strawberries and blueberries. The saying ‘As American as Apple Pie’ is used to refer to something that is typically American in nature.

Apple Pie

Barbecue Wings / Buffalo Wings are popular in the United States Of America. While both use unbreaded deep fried chicken wingettes or drumettes, the difference is the sauce used for coating. Barbecue Wings have a sweet, savoury coating of sugar / molasses and tangy barbecue sauce, while Buffalo Wings are coated with vinegar, cayenne pepper, chili, and butter. They are served with celery sticks, carrot sticks and blue cheese dressing sauce, which is consumed by pouring over the wings, rather than dipping.

Barbecue Wings / Buffalo Wings

Barbecue Pork Ribs are typically associated with Texas, and feature pork ribs (baby back, spare or rib tips) basted in a barbecue sauce. Texas barbecue sauce is traditionally made from tomatoes, sugar, cumin, pepper, chili, bell peppers / capsicum, onions, vinegar and beef stock. It has a tangy sweet taste, with a sticky medium-thick consistency. Barbecue Pork Ribs are slow cooked till the meat is infused with the barbecue sauce, and pulls apart from the bone easily.

Barbecue Pork Ribs

The Beef Steak Strip Loin is a common choice for meals in Houston, and features a strip loin done according to your tastes.

Beef Steak Strip Loin

Beer Bud Light, produced by the Budweiser company, is one of the best selling beers in United States Of America. Bud Light or Budweiser Light is the flagship beer of the company, and features a refreshing, smooth light body, a golden colour, with a clean aroma and taste.

Beer Bud Light 01

Beer Bud Light 02

Beer Ziegenbock is a locally brewed Houston beer, styled as ‘brewed by Texans for Texans’. Ziegenbock is only available in Texas, and has an amber colour, a grainy aroma, a sweet, smooth taste with a slightly bitter finish and little complexity. Ziegenbock actually means ‘Billy Goat’ in German.

Beer Ziegenbock

Biscuits And Gravy is a popular breakfast dish in Houston, and features soft dough biscuits made from all purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, butter and buttermilk. The gravy is made with cooked ground pork or beef sausage, butter, flour, milk, salt and pepper. Although Biscuits And Gravy is a regional dish of South United States Of America, it is extremely unhealthy.

Biscuits And Gravy

The Bread and Toast in Houston is often a cornbread, which is made by mixing cornflour or cornmeal with baking powder and all purpose flour. This results in a sweeter, tastier Bread / Toast.

Bread

Toast

A classic American street side / diner food, Burger And Fries typically consist of a ground beef patty (hamburger patty) between 2 hamburger buns, along with lettuce, tomatoes, dill pickles, onions, American cheese, and served with thin strips of potatoes french fries. Condiments include tomato ketchup, sweet chili sauce, mustard or mayonnaise. The versatility of Burger And Fries means any combination of ingredients can be termed a burger, so long as they come between 2 hamburger buns.

Burger And Fries

Buttered Corn is a common side dish served along with meals, and features corn stripped from the kernel, and quickly tossed in butter. Sometimes, bacon, bell pepper / capsicum, onions or tomatoes are included for flavour.

Buttered Corn

Buttered Corn

Candy from Houston. Hot Tamales is a red-coloured spicy cinnamon gummy candy. Milk Duds is a round milk chocolate and caramel candy. Junior Mints is a round candy containing mint filling inside a chocolate shell.

Candy Hot Tamales, Milk Duds, Junior Mints

The Cheese Platter in Houston features made in American cheese, such as American cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, Maytag Blue cheese, Cream cheese and Colby-Jack cheese.

Cheese Platter

Cheesecake is made from cream cheese, eggs, sugar, graham crackers and heavy cream. In Houston, it is commonly served plain, with strawberries or blueberries as a garnish or sauce.

Cheesecake

Cheetos is a brand of cheese flavoured cornmeal snacks made in United States Of America. There are over 20 different versions of Cheetos, but the spicy versions are more popular in Houston.

Cheetos

Chili Con Queso Beef is a dish of melted cheese and chili, served with ground beef as an appetizer or side dish. Chili Con Queso Beef originated from the Mexican state of Chihuahua, using the Mexican cheese Queso Chihuahua. The small dog Chihuahua was named after this Mexican state.

Chili Con Queso Beef

Tex-Mex cuisine is unique to this region. Fajita Beef Chimichanga is a deep fried burrito of grilled beef wrapped in a flour tortilla and covered with melted cheese. Refried Beans consists of mashed beans that have been baked, or fried just once, making its name a misnomer. Guacamole is a popular condiment, made with mashed fresh avocado, onions and salt. Sometimes, lime juice, tomatoes or chili is added.

Fajita Beef Chimichanga With Seasoned Rice, Refried Beans And Guacamole

Fajita Beef Chimichanga With Seasoned Rice, Refried Beans And Guacamole

The Herb Roasted Chicken is slow cooked Rotisserie style with fresh herbs, which imparts a lovely flavour to the meat while keeping it moist and tender.

Herb Roasted Chicken

Hot Chocolate in the United States Of America is typically a thin but flavourful cocoa drink, which is less sweet and dense than the variety of Hot Chocolate from Europe.

Hot Chocolate

Lemonade is a simple but refreshing drink made with lemon juice, sugar and water. It is often home made, although street kiosks and fast food outlets also sell this.

Lemonade

The classic Mexican Margarita is a clear cocktail of tequila, orange-flavored liqueurs (grand marnier, triple sec, cointreau), fresh lime / lemon juice and salt, served over crush ice.

Margarita

Mashed Potato in Houston tends to be the thick, chunky version instead of the smooth creamy version. It also tends to include several other ingredients like mayonnaise, butter or spring onions.

Mashed Potato

Condiments that usually accompany a Texas meal include Mayonnaise, Mustard, Tomato Ketchup, Barbecue Sauce, Hot Sauce (Tabasco) or Ranch Sauce.

Mayonnaise, Mustard, Tomato Ketchup

Nachos are a popular Mexican snack made from fried flour tortilla cut into chips. There are many variations of Nachos, and they are usually served with several condiments and dipping sauces.

Nachos

Nachos

The Omelette Ham And Mushroom or Egg Omelette Mushroom Ham Cheese is a popular breakfast dish. In Houston, it is served with strawberries and sour cream.

Omelette Ham And Mushroom

Popcorn was popularized in United States Of America, and as large regions of Texas is used to grow corn, Popcorn is plentiful here. In Houston, Popcorn is typically sold in bags, and is normally lightly buttered or salted. While Popcorn is often consumed as a snack by most, it is sometimes eaten as a meal by the poor due to its affordability, high dietary fiber and fat which provide them with energy. Popcorn is also used as a Christmas decoration in North America, threaded on strings on hung on trees / walls.

Popcorn

Pulled Pork is a style of barbecue where pork shoulder is marinated with barbecue sauce and then slow cooked, which results in the meat being tender enough that pulling it causes it to fall apart, hence the name.

Pulled Pork

Condiments served as part of a Mexican or Tex-Mex meal typically include Salsa Tomato, Jalapenos, Sour Cream and Guacamole.

Salsa Tomato, Jalapenos, Sour Cream

Santa Fe Chicken Soup is named after the city of Santa Fe, which was formally part of Texas, but now belongs to New Mexico. Santa Fe Chicken Soup is a thin but robut soup / broth consisting of chicken chunks, onion, garlic, celery, chicken stock, tomatoes, jalapeno, beans, white rice, cumin, salt, pepper, chili, corn, coriander and cilantro. Santa Fe Chicken Soup is normally slow cooked, and has a bright reddish orange colour, with a rich, deep taste.

Santa Fe Chicken Soup

Seasoned Rice is a savoury rice served as a side dish to a meal, and is made from white rice, butter, onions, chicken stock, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, soy sauce, garlic powder and parsley. Sometimes, vegetables such as celery, peas, carrots or corn is added.

Seasoned Rice

Soda from Texas. Sierra Mist is a lemon lime flavoured soft drink, while Dr. Pepper is a local Texas soda which has a taste like bark, akin to drinking a syurp mixture or a medicinal mixture.

Soda Dr. Pepper And Sierra Mist

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