When Street Gourmet LA founder Bill Esparza first mentioned the migas at Antojitos Carmen, I was surprised to hear the Tex-Mex classic was available in Boyle Heights. I hadn’t eaten the egg, tortilla and cheese scramble since my last visit to Austin, in 2008. However, Esparza was referring to a completely different dish with the same name, a pork spine and bread soup courtesy of Breed Street graduate Carmen Ortega. My first bowl of tomato-based soup was completely spineless, and when I pointed out that fact to my waitress, she quickly remedied the situation, to good effect. The sawed-off brick of spine featured tender short rib-like pork that was infused with broth and came apart in shreds after a couple quick swipes of the fork. The baguette-like bolillo bread was so saturated with broth that it practically melted over the side of my spoon. Ortega insisted that she doesn’t use any chilies in her soup, but with a squeeze of lime and a few shakes of oregano, the bowl still packed plenty of flavor.

Dose of Vitamin P spotlights my favorite pork dish from the previous week.

12/11/13 Update: Antojitos Carmen is no longer open for business.