What are the hottest Mexican food dishes in town?

[PaulF]

Just wondering what are your favorite but really spicy Mexican food dishes around L.A. I'm especially interested in recs near Mar Vista, Culver City, West LA, even Westchester and El Segundo -- but any recs will do.

I do know that on the sheer spicy hot scale some Asian cuisines feature dishes that out-hot Mexican food dishes. There are Thai, Indian and Ramen dishes that are ridiculously hot. But, in this case, I'm wondering if anyone has uncovered some Mexican dishes that are nice and hot.

Thanks

[mc michael]

The shrimp topalabompo at Babita's in San Gabriel will heat you up.

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Babita
1823 S San Gabriel Blvd, San Gabriel, CA 91776

[cant talk...eating]

Mariscos Chente was the last Mexican place where I was dabbing my eyes. I can't remember a particular dish though - just the jalapeno salsa. Others I'm sure can chime in with more specifics.

[trojans]

Guisado's in Boyle Heights their cochinita pibil taco with 10+ salsa. Btw this place in general is one of the more interesting Mexican restaurant going right now. They serve guisado tacos which are stews. They usually have 10-12 varieties each one better then the last.

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Guisados
2100 E. Cesar E Chavez Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90033

[cant talk...eating]

Reminds me - the cochinita pibil taco at Frida in Beverly Hills is seriously hot.

[Steve2 in LA]

Guisados is a place featured on Food Network's "Heat Seekers". Sweet Mother of Gawd that stuff looks tasteeeee and HOT! (Can't wait to try it!) http://www.foodnetwork.com/local/ca-l...

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Guisados
2100 E. Cesar E Chavez Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90033

[WildSwede]

Me too! I just saw that episode and was salivating! Cannot wait!

[PaulF]

Gold has an L.A. Weekly review of Guisado's.

http://www.laweekly.com/2011-09-22/ea...

Now there will be a line and I won't be able to get a taco.

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Guisados
2100 E. Cesar E Chavez Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90033

[westsidegal]

if you ask Sergio, at the Mariscos Chente's on imperial highway and yukon,
he will add those dried red chile peppers to any of the shrimp dishes and any of the ceviches.
beware, though, the longer those peppers sit in any sauce, the hotter that sauce will become.

on the other hand, you can dump that green, citrusy, very spicy salsa that they serve all the time, over almost anything. one of my friends left there after a green-salsa-addictive-attack not being able to feel her own tongue (i.e. she went through the stages of spicy, painful, followed by numbness) for almost 1/2 hour.
another friend, after an evening of consuming the green stuff, got so red, sweaty, blood-shot eyed, and swollen, that i was comforted, that if he insisted on going farther, knowing that McCormack (sp?) ambulance station is located a few blocks away. . . .

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Mariscos Chente
4532 S Centinela Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90066

[Peripatetic]

The Tacos Don Marcos at Cacao Mexicatessen taste great for 3.5 seconds before the heat kicks in. From the menu:

"Only for the true chile connoisseur. Carne asada, habanero, serrano chile, onion, garlic, lime."

http://www.cacaodeli.com/cacao_mex_me...

They were hot enough to give me hiccups, and I have a pretty high threshold for "hot".

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Cacao Mexicatessen
1576 Colorado Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90041

[PaulF]

Thanks for the responses so far. I'll keep checking the thread.

Some of my local places like Mi Ranchito and Mariscos Chente do a pretty spicy job with camarones diablos. Those are pretty hot, but sometimes I think I need to specify hot or the make it not so hot because I am a gabacho.

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Mariscos Chente
4532 S Centinela Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90066

[Dommy]

The thing is, inherently Mexican food is not super spicy. Chiles are used throughout the preps, but they are mostly used as a seasoning, often left whole or purreed with other spices to help balance the heat.

But traditionally Mexican food is served as a 'spread'. Kinda like Vietnamese food. On the table there will always be various salsas (for the super heat seekers, we always had a puree of roasted habaneros and garlic) and whole fresh chiles (Usually serranos, but piquins when they are in season). You take a bite of food, and then a bite of the chile and that is how the flavors combine. Or you season your dish with just the right (both in amount and flavor profile) of salsa.

--Dommy!

[PaulF]

Thanks Dommy, you taught me something.

[PaulF]

Just wanted you to know you inspired me to make my own roasted habanero salsa. Mine had tomatoes in it -- so it wasn't as heat-seeking as pure habaneros and garlic. Thanks.

[Dommy]

Tomatoes are good! I love with the cherry tomatoes too! Habaneros have a natural fruitiness that works well with 'sweet' notes. :)

--Dommy!

[Das Ubergeek]

Find a place that sells tortas ahogadas and then ask for one "bien ahogada."