There’s only one place in Houston to find a dish called fritura ($5), and it’s at the Happy Jalapeño (4504 Caroline, 713-527-0622). The base of the dish is a chicharrón de harina, basically a hard, deep-fried block of wheat flour with a consistency somewhere between that of a chewy churro and a crispy chicharrón de puerco. Spread on top of that are refried beans, sour cream, shredded lettuce and cueritos, or pickled pork skins, which have a texture not unlike that of calamari and add a sour note that’s counterbalanced by the refried beans. Eating a fritura is a challenge since the doughy base resists being cut with a knife. You have to tear it into mouth-sized pieces, scattering the toppings off this unusual dish and then reassembling them.
This article appears in Jul 22-28, 2010.