Tinga de Yaca

Hola bebes,

Feliz Cinco de Mayo! For the uninitiated, Cinco de Mayo celebrates the anniversary of the first Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, where Mexican forces succeeded in fending off an assault by a much larger and better equipped French force on the city of Puebla. The victory was a huge inspiration to the country, despite later losses, and remains an important holiday.

Up here in Estados Unidos, Cinco de Mayo has undergone a transformation similar to the one undertaken on behalf of St. Patrick’s Day, honoring the culture of the country of origin more than the original meaning of the holiday itself. And as I said before, we here at the House of Babes prefer not to lean on racial caricatures. Sorry if you expecting sombreros, but I’ll leave that to more striking mariachi musicians and charros. Wearing traditional clothing from other cultures as a costume isn’t really my scene. So instead, I thought a better way to pay homage to the holiday would be to “veganize” a traditional Mexican dish, coincidentally originating from the same home as Cinco de Mayo itself: Tinga de Pollo, aka Chicken Tinga.

Hold onto your Tail Feathers

As I mentioned when I discussed eggs, chickens raised for consumption aren’t exactly living a happy fairytale life on Old McDonald’s Farm. Chickens are slaughtered at around 42 days old, which would be the equivalent of 14 months of a human lifespan. As callous as this may sound, the short span of their lives is a bit of a coup de grace when you consider that every moment they spend confined in the dark, overpacked, ammonia-filled sheds used by traditional chicken farms is one of unimaginable pain, only to be punctuated by an often protracted, violent death.

In a cold irony, chicken is almost as bad for us as we are for them (okay, not even close to almost, but we really shouldn’t eat them for our own health either), and part of that is due to how we treat them. Massive confinement of chickens has been linked to some of the world’s worst disease outbreaks, ranging from food-borne illnesses like salmonella to Avian Flu and beyond. Additionally, slaughter methods have led to a prevalence of fecal contamination of poultry(which the USDA refuses to divulge openly to consumers, so you know, that’s terrific), and the additives put into the chickens before and after the fact include things like antibiotics, phosphate additives, and needle-injected salt water (quite possibly the least sexy meaning of the word “plumping”), which of course have been connected to increased rates of antibiotic resistance, prevalence of foodborne illness, and arterial stiffening, even to the extent that these have been roundly banned in Europe.

Setting aside adulterations, consumption of chicken is still not good for human health. Chicken was ranked as the king of the castle in terms of correlation to weight gain for both sexes among all animal products, though don’t let that lull you into thinking other meats are safe, as the EPIC-PANACEA study found positive correlation between meat consumption and weight gain across all subject groups and types of meat.

“But babe, I don’t care about weight gain!”

Cool, do you! But you should probably care about your heart health, and the science is clear—there is no advantage in choosing white meat over red in terms of heart health benefits (but the same study did show improvements associated with choosing non-meat proteins).

Enter the Yaca

While seitan, tofu, and TVP all make excellent taco fillings, there is one well-known imposter among the vegan community that can sneak into the role of shredded meat better than the slightly more processed contenders: jackfruit, or yaca in Spanish. And as an added benefit, they are like, four times the size of a chicken.

That monster was 20 pounds, and came in at less than $1.00/pound. The only major downside is that it takes a while to process it, but if you’re willing to spend a little more, you can buy it canned. But really, who wouldn’t want to stare at this for like, three hours:

But aside from the low cost and insane volume of food, jackfruit has a few other benefits that deserve an honorable mention. One cup of sliced jackfruit is about 150 calories, 5 grams of fiber and starch, a little bit of protein (and almost 20% of my RDA of tryptophan), as well as vitamin B6, C, potassium, magnesium, and copper (in descending quantity), as well as a sprinkling of almost all other vitamins, minerals, and amino acids, albeit in smaller doses.

It is also surprisingly low on the glycemic index and has been shown to help lower blood sugar, and the magnesium and tryptophan content can help promote better sleep. And, as I say constantly when I talk about vibrant plant foods, the carotenoids and flavanones have been shown to lower inflammation and reduce things like blood pressure, cholesterol, and other risks of chronic disease.

What to do?

Now, normally I talk all about the benefits of slow, laborious food preparations, but this time, I’m going to be reasonable. There are two ways to make this recipe. A quick, “dump meal” version for the crockpot, which leans on a commercial spice blend to add the traditional flavors, and a more standard, one-skillet method that requires less total cook time, but more attention.

In spite of the fact that the spice blend in questions is labeled for chicken, you can be rest assured in knowing it is 100% vegan, gluten-free, and organic, though it is a little high in salt for my everyday (good thing you’re not putting it on that weird, plumped chicken meat, huh).

To serve, I would definitely recommend you use some delicious, 100% corn or whole wheat, high fiber tortillas, maybe crisped in a skillet or air fryer. After that, add some pinto or black beans, either cooked from dry or store-bought. If you’re hankering for refried beans, opt for fat-free or vegetarian varieties, as these are traditionally made without lard, though obviously the former will be a little bit healthier just through their lack of refined vegetable oils. Chop up some mixed salad greens, red onions, and baby bell peppers, and toss in some cilantro, homemade salsa and tofu sour cream, and you have yourself a bad-ass taco plate.

If you want some additional side dishes, you could make mole lentils for a hearty protein boost, Mexican-style or cilantro-lime rice easily with some leftover brown rice, roast corn on the cob under the broiler and sprinkle with chili powder, or keep it casual with some chips and guacamole (slice and toast some of those corn tortillas in the air fryer for an easy, oil-free alternative to tortillas chips).

So, let me know what you think below! What is your go-to Cinco de Mayo platter?