San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
How to make fantastic fideo.
Thick, soupy or loco, here are best tips for comfort staple
In San Antonio, nothing satisfies the fall appetite like fideo. Just the smell of noodles toasting in oil can trigger powerful memories of family meals — even if everyone’s grandmother had a slightly different version of the dish. And that warm hug of hearty Mexican pasta soup is exactly what we want to help you master this week.
The first thing to know about fideo, which has become an iconic comfort food staple in many Texas homes, is that it’s the result of centuries of migration. The word “fideo” comes from the Arabic term “fidáwš,” which refers specifically to the thin noodles we know today and not any particular preparation of them. Fidáwš was part of the diet in Al-Andalus, the Muslim-ruled part of modernday Spain, which ended in the 15th century.
A signature fideo cooking technique — browning the noodles in some type of fat before adding liquid — likely originated in the Middle East, where pasta and rice are often toasted together before simmering.
Once fideo arrived in the New World (likely during the Spanish Colonial era) it began evolving into the dish we now associate with Mexican cuisine. And that evolution led to two of the most common and distinct preparations: sopa de fideo, which typically features the noodles swimming in a thin soup of tomato and chicken broth, and the much thicker fideo seco, in which the noodles are
cooked in a bright red tomato sauce that’s almost completely absorbed by the pasta.
Both preparations have roots in Spain. The soupy version has been common comfort food there for centuries and has traveled the world with Spaniards. It’s become a particularly beloved staple in the Philippines.
Sopa seca (or dry) de fideo is more closely related to the Valencian dish fideuà, a seafood dish similar to paella made with fideo instead of rice, in which the cooking liquid is almost completely absorbed by the pasta. That technique led to the thick version we know here with the addition of New World ingredients such as tomatoes and chiles.
It’s that latter dry style that chef Gabriel Ibarra of La Fonda on Main and Cappy’s Restaurant is particularly inspired by.
“Fideo is for me the ultimate puro San Antonio comfort food,” Ibarra said. “Me personally, I’m all about the fideo seco. I like it kind of dry.”
His current menu at La Fonda features fideo made with ingredients such as steak, duck, mushrooms, kale, green beans and more. He’s done a luxe version as a special at Cappy’s with smoked duck breast and foie gras.
For Ibarra, the key flavor of fideo is properly toasted noodles. He recommends neutralflavored oils to avoid overpowering the natural taste of the fideo. He’s particularly fond of avocado oil for its high smoke point, which allows the noodles to take on a deep brown hue without creating too much smoke in the kitchen.
You’ll find a soupier version of fideo at The Original Blanco Cafe. Sylvia Gonzalez, who manages the restaurant’s Blanco Road location in Beacon Hill, said Blanco Cafe cooks prepare the fideo in large batches. They also turn it into fideo loco by adding proteins such as ground beef or shredded chicken based on customer orders.
“We cook all of our fideo separate,” Gonzalez said. “We top it with what you want because a lot of people don’t like beans or don’t want meat. It helps us cut down on waste.”
While Gonzalez and Ibarra both advocate toasting the fideo in a neutral-flavored oil, one place you’ll find them at odds is which brand of fideo to use. In general, fideo is cooked to a point a little past the al dente stage, but it can become overly mushy if left on the heat for too long. Ibarra and Gonzalez find different products work best for their takes on the dish.
For Ibarra, the iconic yellow and red box of Q&Q brand fideo is the only way to go. It’s been a staple in San Antonio households for generations and for him, it immediately triggers feelings of family and nostalgia.
Gonzalez said Blanco Cafe used to be on team Q&Q, but the larger batches the restaurant makes required a change. They now swear by the fideo sold under H-E-B’s private label Hill Country Fare, which she said doesn’t swell up and get mushy like Q&Q’s version when held for a longer period of time.
In writing this story, I tested several brands of fideo to see what the strengths and weaknesses of each were. I’ve used Q&Q extensively in the past, and never have been particularly fond of the way it tends to fragment while toasting. It’s also thicker than other brands, resulting in a cooked noodle closer to the size of spaghetti.
I do like the Hill Country
Fare version, which I found to have better integrity while toasting, and I like that it’s thinner. La Moderna’s fideo performed similarly well in my kitchen.
I found both Faraon and Tierra Linda brands of fideo to be too short and thin, with both burning in the pan quicker than expected.
However you prepare it, now’s the perfect time to start making steaming batches of the stuff.