November 1–7, 2019 Brooklyn Paper • www.BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260-2500 AWP 9
RETURNING TO CITI FIELD
THIS WINTER
theworldsfare.nyc
Take a Tasty Trip to Ecuador via LIC
and Rincón Melania
For decades the sum total of my
knowledge of Ecuadorean cuisine in Queens
was limited to the many food trucks that
line Warren Street forming a Little Quito of
sorts where one can enjoy such traditional
specialties as seco de chivo, a hearty goat
stew; various ceviches; and the sunny yellow
potato and cheese croquettes known as
yapingachos. About year and a half ago
though I started to hear my fellow Queens
food nerds chattering about an Ecuadorean
spot called Rincón Melania located some 3
miles away from Little Quito.
“How good can it be? There are no
Ecuadoreans there,” I thought to myself
practicing culinary contempt prior to
investigation. Good enough to garner a
glowing review from the Times it turns out.
I’m a little late to the party, but I’m doing
my best to eat my through the exquisite
Ecuadorean cuisine that makes up the
menu of this restaurant whose name means
Melania’s corner.
The Melania in question is family
matriarch, Lucila Melania Dutan, whose
son Nestor Jazmani Dutan and his siblings
Jennifer, Alex and, GiGi run the place.
Nestor takes care of the front of the house
and is also responsible for the decor in the
cozy modern dining room, which features
at least a half dozen stuffed alpacas, which
have become the restaurant’s de facto
mascot.
Bolon mixto—a golden deep fried orb
of plantain filled with mozzarella and
chicharrón— hailing from Guayaquil in
the Costa, or Pacific Coastal region, is a
great way to start off. It is a revelation: The
golden mantled crust yielding to an interior
studded with bits of fried pork and filaments
of mozzarella. The secret, Nestor says, is that
it’s made fresh and fried twice. It takes about
15 minutes to prepare, but is well worth
the wait. Yapingachos, a specialty of the
country’s mountainous Sierra region, here
filled with mozzarella are also excellent.
While you’re waiting for your bolon,
munch on tostado, crunchy salty kernels
of pan fried corn that are a popular
snack in the Sierra region. Should you
choose to order Ecuador’s national dish
encebollado—a ruddy, fortifying stew
of generous hunks of tuna, yucca, and
tomatoes topped with pickled onions from
which it gets its name—save some of the
kernels. They make for an excellent add-in
as does a generous squeeze of fresh lime.
Back home the dish is a popular hangover
cure, says Dutan. “I’ve tested that a couple
of times. It does work it makes you full
the day after when you’re super hungry. It
immediately cures it,” he says.
Mariscos mixtos, also a renowned
hangover cure, a ceviche comprised of
octopus, shrimp, and bass cooked in lime
is excellent and has been a family favorite
for decades. It’s served Costa style, with
tostones, thick planks of fried plantains, that
can be used to make an Ecuadorean seafood
bruschetta of sorts.
“I would refuse to like fight about that
because it doesn’t make any sense. At one
time we were all one country. People like
to fight about it,” Dutan says with a laugh
when asked whether ceviche was invented
in Peru or Ecuador. His Mom may be
responsible for the mariscos mixtos, but he
and his half sister GiGi take the credit for
ceviche vegetariano, a surprisingly delicious
combination of quinoa, garbanzo beans, and
cherry tomatoes.
Many of the restaurant’s best dishes,
including seco de chivo a dish from the
Costa region, are found on the Tradicionales
section of the menu. It’s a rich earthy goat
stew cooked with Cerveza Pilsener—an
Ecuadorean beer—and passion fruit pulp,
which tempers the goat’s muskiness. “People
eat it over there at 7 a.m.,” Dutan says. “It’s
not a breakfast dish, but it’s a hearty dish
that will keep you full during almost the
whole day.”
Dutan who lives in Flushing these days
grew up splitting his time between Ecuador
and Queens, and his passion for his heritage
shows in Rincón Melania’s décor. Several
large tapestries featuring indigenous women
known as Otavaleñas wearing tradtional
hats line the dining room. A wall of
photos, including one of people enjoying
almuerzo—or midday meal—in his cousin’s
hometown of Azoguez lines one wall.
“Almuerzo is really popular here Monday
through Friday, so I wanted to express
that,” Dutan says. The photo on the bottom
featuring folkloric dancers in native dress
may look like it was taken in Ecuador, but
Dutan confrims that is was shot in Queens.
“That was our grand opening,” he says
proudly.
Rincón Melania
35-19 Queens Boulevard, Long Island
City 718-361-1905
https://www.rinconmelanianyc.com/
BY JOE DISTEFANO
As the Culinary King of Queens,
I’m so very fortunate to live in
the most diverse and delicious
destination in all of New York
City. Really I’m not royalty
though, I’m an ambassador, and
a hungry one at that. Today, we
take a trip to Ecuador via the
International Express—aka the
7 train—to savor the offerings at
the family run Rincón Melania
in Long Island City.
Encebollado—a hearty fish stew that is Ecuador’s national dish—takes well to a few squeezes of lime.
Rincón Melania's vibrant ceviche mixto, featuring shrimp
and octopus, and the mighty bolon filled with pork,
plantains, and mozzarella.
The potato croquettes called Yapingachos, a specialty of
the Ecuador's mountainous Sierra region, here filled with
mozzarella are also excellent.
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