Carne en su jugo is a tasty stew that rarely makes a regular appearance on Mexican restaurant menus.

Monterey County is known in part for the wide availability of Mexican dishes. However, the representation can be rather narrow.

Many of the restaurants in Seaside, for example, are Oaxacan, such as El Milagro or La Tortuga. Culturas Hidalgo & Oaxaca in Salinas is another. Also prominent are regional flavors from Sinaloa, Michoacán and Nayarit.

During winter, soups and stews are part of the repertoire. Again, the ones that come to mind are pozole, menudo, birria or siete mares – all easy to find in the county.

But there is another stew that is very popular in another Mexican state: carne en su jugo. It is not fancy by name, literally translating as “meat in its own juices.” Carne en su jugo is one of the most representative dishes in Jaliscience cuisine, and it’s a must try if you’re visiting Guadalajara. In Monterey County, however, it can be difficult to track down.

A few kitchens keep it on their menus, Las Cazuelas in Marina and Seaside’s popular Taqueria Zarape among them. The stew has been part of the menu since Zarape opened, as one of the owners is from Jalisco. The restaurant’s assistant manager, Hector Cesar González Benítez, says people from across the county and beyond travel to Zarape for the dish, and it has become more popular among non-Mexican customers – as popular as bistec ranchero, he says.

The stew is an ensemble with the beef and broth at the bottom, topped with whole beans and crispy bacon. It is traditionally served in a clay dish. Traditional add-ons are chopped cilantro and onion and slices of radish. The core of the stew is steak, cut into small chunks, seared and then simmered with a green blend of cilantro, serrano chiles, onion, garlic and tomatillos.

As it reduces, the flavors concentrate, providing a rich and hearty, but also piquant, bite. And it can vary. Since the stew is built in layers – with bacon, beef and beans cooked separately – it is easy to omit elements or add more. At Zarape, all the ingredients are kept separate, then brought together as soon as there is an order.

One key to adding more flavor into the mix is searing the beef with the bacon fat. Others think cooking the steak without searing develops a more intense broth. González Benítez says the mix of beans and bacon is what gives it the flavor.

“People ask for changes,” González Benítez says, noting they are happy to swap out, say, beans for rice. Some even ask for only bacon. “I haven’t tried that,” he notes. “For me, only the traditional one.”

Yet tradition can be difficult to establish. The stew has another popular version, without tomatillos and with chorizo, to make a red carne en su jugo instead.

It is not known who first created the recipe. But it has become an important dish in Jalisco – so popular that there are restaurants that are dedicated to it and it’s celebrated on Oct. 17. Carne en su jugo also has its own app, Carnejugueros, where people can find the restaurants that sell it in Guadalajara.

Gabriel Saucedo, a Marina resident, says he found out a few months ago that Las Cazuelas listed it on the menu. He has since become a regular.

“So delicious,” Saucedo says.

Saucedo’s grandfather is from Jalisco and his mom cooks it for him every time he goes to visit. “I like the dish since it brings memories, such as family gatherings and good stories,” he says.

Given the accolades and its obvious popularity in its home state, it may be difficult to comprehend why carne en su jugo is such a rarity in local restaurants. Many Americans travel to or live in resort communities of the state, such as Puerto Vallarta. And other flavors of the region, such as birria and tequila, are well represented north of the border (particularly tequila, one could argue).

But it has not spread readily beyond Jalisco, other than to some neighboring states, such as Zacatecas or Aguascalientes.

González Benítez is from Nayarit, a state next to Jalisco. But he admits that the first time he tried carne en su jugo was in Seaside.

TAQUERIA ZARAPE, 1107 Fremont Blvd., Seaside, 899-1125

LAS CAZUELAS, 3156 Del Monte Blvd., Marina, 901-3741.