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Misty feeds her pupusa addiction, one $2 treat at a time.

Tuesday Jul 08, 2008.     By Misty Tosh

Food Feed

I have traveled around the world in an attempt to quench my life-long thirst for random, soul-satisfying adventures. Sometimes I get lucky and score a job internationally, other times I just head out on my own. But, no matter how far I roam, the thing I never seem to remember (until I am there in the moment looking for a specific taste) is that the world is literally in my own backyard. I can walk out my doorstep and within moments I can sample almost every ethnicity you could imagine. Trust me, you can't do that everywhere. To complete the global circle, I now have true-blue El Salvadoran food just a scant 10-minute walk from my house.

Pupuseria Los Planes opened earlier this year while I was working out in Los Angeles, and I wasn't home 24 hours before I whirled by in my truck. The peacock blues and bright whites of the El Salvadoran flag caught my eye, and when I spied the word pupusa splattered across the front window, well, let's just say a very illegal U-turn was made and I was through the door. Of course, the place was deserted except for one guy who seemed a bit down on his luck, looking to score a fine $2 lunch. More power to him, because you can't get much better than this pupusa house for the ultimate cheap-o meal; especially since each disk-sized pupusa rolls out with two different bowls of salsa and a heaping bowl of curtido, a vinegary cabbage and carrot relish. A dream feast created for a poor man, that's for sure.

Over the course of a week, I hit up los Planes four times. There were days I’d just be chillin' in my place, doing a little work and out of nowhere, I'd be hit with a vision of a chicharron and gooey cheese pupusa topped with a little bit of that crunchy slaw. Or, I'd spend a half hour pondering the forever elusive question: Does PLP have hen tamales today? And, just like that, I'd pop on my shoes and be out the door. I was obsessed.

You see, that's the thing, you never know what's going to be available on any given day. For some, that could be a disaster. I'd go in aching for a super-soft hen tamale (bones included) only to find out that there were none in the house that day, sorry. Oh, the heartbreak! But on the flip side, I was forced into trying a new item every time my standbys had disappeared. Ever heard of loroco? Well, me either, but let me tell you, this ruddy, green, edible flower tucked into a made-to-order, hand-slapped pupusa is straight-up brilliant.

And, of course, there's the Mexican side of the menu. I was delighted with the tomato sauce-drenched huevos rancheros, especially since my favorite version is all the way down in Pilsen. The pork taco was slightly charred and sweet, just the way my pal Lisa likes them. A thrilling discovery was the pure tart/sugar shock of the cold tamarindo juice; I slurped the whole glass down in two sips, long before my food ever arrived. The traditional Mexican-style tortas are massive and I couldn't seem to get enough of the soft fried plantains with refried beans and a little cold cream. It's weirdly delicious, especially when consumed for dessert. Had to have it, of course, since they were out of empanadas.

Service is slow as molasses, but only because everything is made the minute you order it. No hot box here. Kids and babies ramble through most of the day, and you're never really quite sure who works there. It's one big family operation and it's great to know that even when my finances hit the skids, I'll still be able to eat like a champ for a couple of bucks.

THE FINAL RAVE: I've had every pupusa on the menu, and the one I keep going back for is the veggie version. I love that the veggies are shredded and there's a perfect cheese-to-veg ratio.

MAKE IT: Salvadoran recipes
What better way to spend the summer than by concocting a slew of Salvadoran eats. Plan on being addicted to curtido, so you might want to stick close to el bano.

DRINK IT: Bahia
This is the beer to drink down south. Careful, though, it's quite easy to slam a six-pack before the stroke of noon. Or is that just me?

WATCH IT: Making Pupusas at Pupuseria las Delicias
How is food this good so bloody simple?

GET CRAZY WITH IT: Punta Mango, El Salvador
They say the country is wildly unstable, but there is no better spot in the universe to sample a pupusa fresh off the grill. Black sand surfing, cheap cervezas and piping hot pupusas? Call me crazy, but it sounds pretty dang appealing.