Linda Falkenstein
Can’t decide? At El Coqui, ask for a combo plate of the pollo asado and the pernil, here with sweet fried plantains and arroz con gandules.
East of Madison, where Highway N crosses I-94 near Cottage Grove, a cluster of new development surrounds the offices of Johnson Health Tech. The landscape has the look of acres that have recently been cornfield; out here, lunch options narrow to the SchoolGrounds Cafe (a charming little coffeehouse) and an Arby’s.
But on Wednesdays, the Puerto Rican food cart El Coqui has been parking on nearby
Linda Falkenstein
El Coqui food cart.
Commerce Parkway and serving hefty plates of slow-roasted pork (pernil) or grilled chicken (pollo asado), with a handful of sides to choose from. In front of me in line last week was a woman originally from Puerto Rico who’s driven out here to order everything on the menu and take it back to Madison with her.
It’s completely understandable, because I honestly can’t say which is better, the chicken or the pork. (If you ask, you can have a combo plate with some of each.) Then choose either white rice and pink beans or arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas and bacon). Again, hard to choose. The former is pure comfort food; the latter is more like a dirty rice, but still not terribly spicy. Both are terrific. For a second side, I can’t tear myself away from the superb maduros, sweet fried plantains, though you can also get yuca fries or potato salad.
The other option is a handmade empanadilla, a fried hand pie. Last week it was dessert-like, filled with guava jelly and cream cheese.
Justin Weger, owner of the cart, started vending last summer. He shares cooking duties with Lola Torres, the sister of a friend (“They’re like family,” says Weger). He does the meat; she does the sides, both made from Torres family recipes.
Good news; you don’t have to make a special trip to Cottage Grove for all this. El Coqui has been doing lunches at Hewlett Packard, 313 Blettner Blvd., on Mondays; Hy-Cite, 5525 Nobel Drive, Fitchburg, on Tuesdays; and BMO Harris Bank, 4501 Vernon Blvd. (near Hilldale), on Thursdays, with occasional nights at Hop Haus in Verona and appearances at area festivals. Check the El Coqui Madison Facebook page for sites.
Linda Falkenstein
Sha kam datse, Himalayan red rice and carrot-radish salad from dZi Little Tibet.
dZi Little Tibet, Madison’s newest food cart (it opened June 24), is just about as challenging to catch up with. The cart — the only eatery in town devoted to Tibetan cuisine — was a long time coming, says co-owner Namgyal Ponsar. Ponsar, who works full time as a nurse, has lived in Madison for about 10 years. She always thought it would be good for the local Tibetan community (she estimates it’s about 550 strong) to have a way to celebrate their country and rapidly disappearing cuisine. Now she has opened the cart with her brother, Tharten Tsering, who recently moved to Madison from New York. They also grow some of the ingredients for their food at the gardens at the Farley Center for Peace, Justice and Sustainability.
Linda Falkenstein
dZi Little Tibet food cart.
The menu focuses on the traditional Tibetan dumpling, the momo — the country’s unofficial national dish. These come in beef, chicken and tofu versions, although in Tibet they would most likely be made only with yak or beef, says Ponsar. The family makes the dough for the dumplings by hand and grows the scallions in the gardens. They’re different from Chinese dumplings in that momo dough is thicker and Tibetans seldom if ever use pork as a filling. The accompanying hot sauce is also homemade. Ponsar says they make it with jalapeños to resemble a Mexican salsa; the traditional Tibetan sauce would be made with a much hotter red pepper.
Entrees are the Bhutanese-influenced sha kam datse (beef jerky, scallions and potatoes in a blue cheese sauce, served with a carrot and radish salad and Himalayan red rice) and sha phag-shi (a spicier and sweeter stew with beef, pumpkin and garlic). The family dehydrates its own jerky; the result is chewy but not gristly, with a depth of beefy flavor. The blue cheese is just an approximate for what would be a yak cheese in Tibet. Overall, Ponsar says, Tibetan and Bhutanese food tends to be very spicy, and they’ve toned things down for a more general audience here. The sha kam datse wasn’t very spicy to me; after I added some of the green hot sauce, the whole dish seemed to come together.
dZi Little Tibet has been vending some noons at the American Center and some evenings with Let’s Eat Out neighborhood dinners. Check its daily schedule at facebook.com/dZiLittletibet.
Finally, sad news in cart land: Zen Sushi will remain out of commission until further notice while owner Megumi Lawrentz continues to seek a replacement cart on the used market. The colorful original, decorated with strings of paper cranes, was discovered to have unrepairable problems last spring. Stay tuned.
