Chimichanga

Chimichanga

A chimichanga with rice
Alternative names	Chivichanga
Type	Burrito
Place of origin	Northwestern Mexico/Southwestern United States
Main ingredients	Tortillas, rice, cheese, machaca, jalapeño, carne adobada or shredded chicken

Chimichanga (/tʃɪmiˈtʃæŋɡə/; Spanish: [tʃimiˈtʃaŋɡa]) is a deep-fried burrito that is popular in Tex-Mex, Southwestern U.S. cuisine, and the Mexican states of Sinaloa and Sonora. The dish is typically prepared by filling a flour tortilla with a wide range of ingredients, most commonly rice, cheese, machaca (dried meat), carne adobada (marinated meat), carne seca, or shredded chicken, and folding it into a rectangular package. It is then deep-fried and can be accompanied with salsa, guacamole, sour cream, and/or cheese.

Debate over the origins of the chimichanga is ongoing:

The words chimi and changa come from two Mexican Spanish terms: chamuscado, (past participle of the verb chamuscar ) which means seared or singed, and changa, related to chinga, (3rd person present tense form of the vulgar verb chingar ), a rude expression for the unexpected or a small insult.

According to one source, the founder of the Tucson, Arizona, restaurant "El Charro", Monica Flin, accidentally dropped a burrito into the deep fat fryer in 1922. She immediately began to utter a Spanish curse-word beginning "chi..." (chingada), but quickly stopped herself and instead exclaimed chimichanga, a Spanish equivalent of "thingamajig".