A Plate Built on Crunch
Not every Mexican vegetable dish is cooked. Across the country, cut raw vegetables are sold in cups and bags from carts, served at the table before a meal, and arranged on platters at gatherings. The seasoning is almost always the same trio: lime juice, salt and chile. That combination turns plain, watery produce into something sharp, salty and refreshing.
The usual cast, drawn from whatever market produce is cheap and in season, includes jicama, cucumber, carrot, radish and sometimes fruit such as mango, pineapple, watermelon or orange segments. The same principle applies to all of them.
Jicama
Jicama (pronounced HEE-kah-mah) is the swollen root of a climbing plant native to Mexico and Central America. It has thin, papery tan skin and white, juicy, crunchy flesh with a mild, lightly sweet taste. The texture resembles a firm pear or water chestnut, and it does not brown quickly after cutting.
Preparation is straightforward:
- Choose a root that is firm, heavy for its size and free of soft or damp patches. Smaller ones are generally sweeter and less starchy.
- Wash it, then peel off the skin with a knife or sturdy peeler, taking away the fibrous layer just under it.
- Cut into sticks, slices or cubes.
Only the root is eaten. The leaves, stems, pods and seeds of the plant are not food and are considered unsafe to eat, so jicama is a vegetable to buy as the tuber only. Whole, uncut jicama keeps for a week or two in a cool place, and cut pieces last a few days in the refrigerator.
Radish
The common red radish is not native to Mexico, since radishes came from the Old World and arrived after the Spanish conquest. They have since become part of the food landscape, and in Oaxaca there is a famous example: a festival each December where large radishes are carved into figures. Radishes also appear thinly sliced on tostadas, a bowl of pozole stew and tacos, where their peppery bite cuts through rich food. On a raw plate, they add color and sharpness. Slicing them thin and soaking briefly in cold water keeps them crisp.
Cucumber, Carrot and Others
Cucumber is often peeled in alternating strips or left with its skin, then cut into spears. Carrot adds sweetness and color. Other common additions include:
- Slices of orange or tangerine.
- Mango, particularly when green or just ripe.
- Pineapple and watermelon.
- Wedges of fresh coconut in some regions.
- Small strips of cactus paddle, cooked and chilled, in salad-style plates.
Jicama is the unusual one, because it works in both fruit and vegetable combinations and is the most common base of a mixed plate.
The Seasoning
The finish is where the flavor comes from. Cooks squeeze lime juice generously over the pieces and sprinkle them with salt and ground chile. Powdered chile mixes are sold in shakers for this purpose, usually made of dried chile, salt and sometimes citric acid or dehydrated lime. Some versions are mild and others quite hot. A bottled thin hot sauce is often added too, particularly at street carts.
Preparing your own is easy. Combine ground dried chiles with salt, with proportions adjusted to taste, and add a pinch of sugar if you want a rounder flavor. Because chile powder can irritate eyes and skin, wash your hands after handling it and avoid touching your face.
Serving
Plates are best prepared shortly before eating, so the pieces stay crisp. If you need to make them ahead, keep the cut vegetables in cold water in the refrigerator and drain well before seasoning, because salt draws out moisture and makes things watery. Dress them only at the last minute.
On a table, a raw plate can be a first course or a refreshing partner to heavier foods. At street stalls, the cut vegetables are often sold in a cup or bag, and they are eaten by hand with a fork or a skewer. In some places a spoonful of the juice from a fruit cup is stirred with chile for dipping.
A Light Contrast
These plates are not a replacement for a meal. They are a snack and a contrast, a way to brighten the palate. In a meal made up of tortillas, beans and rich stews, a few cold, sour and spicy pieces provide balance, which is one reason such plates show up so often alongside street food. They are typically sold at fairs and outside schools, where fairground snacks of every kind compete for attention.
Safety Notes
Raw produce should be washed well under running water, particularly anything with skin that is eaten. Use clean boards and knives, and keep cut vegetables cold. When traveling, people with sensitive stomachs sometimes avoid raw produce washed in water of uncertain quality; that is a decision for each person, and it is not an indictment of the food itself.