In the Maryland-Virginia area there is a large immigrant population of Central Americans, largely due to the civil war of the 1980’s in El Salvador and the overall less than ideal living situations in those countries. These folks primarily come from El Salvador or Guatemala, consequently I live in an area that should have amazing Central American cuisine. The only problem? They can be hard to find. They don’t typically have garish signs and names that would clue you into what they are selling, so most folks don’t even get to try this amazing cuisine.
I’ll admit that I was just as ignorant to this cuisine as everybody else until a few years back when I asked an acquaintance who’s from El Salvador what his favorite traditional dish was. He instantly said, “Pupusa.”
What’s a Pupusa? It’s essentially a stuffed corn tortilla, they’re about six inches wide and they’re usually filled with cheese, chicken or pork, and beans. Basically they’re heaven bites. They’re rooted in El Salvadorean heritage, with archealogical ruins showing the tools for making them.
(It should be noted that Honduras also claims to have invented the Pupusa, but eventually ceded the rights to them in the CAFTA-DR, which was a free-trade agreement, I’m not making this up, look it up on wikipedia!)
Before you go telling me I don’t know how to make Pupusas, let me just stop you.
You’re probably right. This was my first try and even though they didn’t taste like it does in the restaurants I still really enjoyed them. Pupusas to me seem like something that gets better the more times you make it. If you’re not used to handling masa it takes a little getting used to, it breaks apart easily so there is a real talent to rolling your Pupusas. I encourage you to go and seek it out at a restaurant so you can know the true splendor of this amazing dish.
*I got this recipe through Bon Appetit.*
Recipe: Pupusas con Curtido
Ingredients
3 Cups Masa (Maseca Brand is fine)
1/3 Cup of Vegetable Oil
1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
2 1/4 Cups Warm Water (Add gradually)
Vegetable Oil for Frying
Filling: Oaxaca cheese, beans, or carnitas
Curtido (Cabbage Relish) – I got this recipe from Bon Appetit as well.
This will make quite a bit, so you can pair it down if you want
1/2 Large head of cabbage
3 Carrots shredded
1/2 Large White Onion thinly sliced
2 Tsp. of Hot Sauce (I opt to use this instead of serrano chiles)
1 Garlic Clove crushed
2 Tsp. Mexican Oregano
5 Tsp. Salt
1/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
Method
*Mix your oil and water in a bowl and coat your hands with it once you start to handle the dough*
Step 1- Combine masa and water gradually (you can use a stand mixer if you want). The dough should be smooth.
Step 2- Cover the dough with a towel and let it rest for about 15 minutes.
Step 3- Wet your hands and roll the dough into a golf ball sized ball.
Step 4- One ball at a time, form the dough into a bowl.
*This will take practice, the first ones will probably look more rough than the later ones*
Step 5- Fill the ball with about a tablespoon or two (depending on how confident you are in your technique) of your filling and then close up the ball. Then flatten it as good as you can without having the filling come out.
*Repeat this with the rest of your dough*
Step 6- Coat a large non-stick skillet with oil and heat it until it starts to shimmer. Add your pupusas to the pan, press down with your spatula and cook until well browned on each side (4 minutes a side)
*If you want to make the curtido, mix all the ingredients together in a large container, refrigerate over night and serve.*
- 3 Cups Masa (Maseca Brand is fine)
- 1/3 Cup of Vegetable Oil
- 1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 2 1/4 Cups Warm Water (Add gradually)
- Vegetable Oil for Frying
- Filling: Oaxaca cheese,
- beans
- , or
- carnitas
- Curtido (Cabbage Relish) – I got this recipe from Bon Appetit as well.
- This will make quite a bit, so you can pair it down if you want
- 1/2 Large head of cabbage
- 3 Carrots shredded
- 1/2 Large White Onion thinly sliced
- 2 Tsp. of Hot Sauce (I opt to use this instead of serrano chiles)
- 1 Garlic Clove crushed
- 2 Tsp. Mexican Oregano
- 5 Tsp. Salt
- 1/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
- *Mix your oil and water in a bowl and coat your hands with it once you start to handle the dough*
- Step 1- Combine masa and water gradually (you can use a stand mixer if you want). The dough should be smooth.
- Step 2- Cover the dough with a towel and let it rest for about 15 minutes.
- Step 3- Wet your hands and roll the dough into a golf ball sized ball.
- Step 4- One ball at a time, form the dough into a bowl.
- *This will take practice, the first ones will probably look more rough than the later ones*
- Step 5- Fill the ball with about a tablespoon or two (depending on how confident you are in your technique) of your filling and then close up the ball. Then flatten it as good as you can without having the filling come out.
- *Repeat this with the rest of your dough*
- Step 6- Coat a large non-stick skillet with oil and heat it until it starts to shimmer. Add your pupusas to the pan, press down with your spatula and cook until well browned on each side (4 minutes a side)
- *If you want to make the curtido, mix all the ingredients together in a large container, refrigerate over night and serve.*
