Pupusas with Curtido and Salsa Roja
Also called pupusas, pupusas revueltas, pupusas de queso, curtido, salsa roja
Thick griddled corn cakes stuffed with melty cheese, refried beans, pork or a mix (revueltas), served with tangy pickled cabbage slaw and a thin, mild tomato salsa.
- Makes
- 8 pupusas, 4 servings
Ingredients
Pan sizes, times and temperatures in the method are not scaled.
Masa
Fillings (about 1½ cups in all; choose one, two or all three)
Curtido
Salsa roja
Method
Curtido (at least 1 hour ahead, better overnight)
Put the green cabbage (½) in a colander, pour a kettle of boiling water over it, and let it drain and cool; this softens it slightly, the Salvadoran way.
Toss with the carrot (1), small white onion (½), jalapeño (1), dried oregano (1 tsp), salt (1 tsp), sugar (2 g½ tsp), vinegar (120 ml½ cup) and water (60 ml¼ cup). Refrigerate at least 1 hour, tossing once or twice.
Salsa roja
Simmer the Roma tomatoes (4), white onion (¼), garlic clove (1), green bell pepper (¼) and chile de árbol (1) in water to cover until soft, about 10 minutes. Drain, keeping ½ cup (120 ml) of the cooking water, and blend with the dried oregano (½ tsp) and salt (½ tsp) until smooth.
Heat the neutral oil (14 g1 tbsp) in a saucepan, pour in the sauce (it will spatter) and simmer 8 to 10 minutes, thinning with a little of the cooking water. It should be pourable, like a thin tomato soup, and mild. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Pupusas
Masa. Mix the masa harina (240 g2 cups) and salt (½ tsp), then add the warm water (415 ml1¾ cups) and knead into a soft, smooth dough, like Play-Doh, that doesn't crack when you press it. Add water a spoonful at a time if it cracks. Cover and rest 10 minutes. Divide into 8 balls.
Fillings. Chop the pork very finely, or pulse it with a spoonful of salsa roja into a coarse paste, the way chicharrón for pupusas is ground. For revueltas, use equal parts of all three fillings, or cheese with either beans or pork.
Fill. Keep a bowl of water with a little oil in it nearby and wet your hands often. Flatten a ball in your palm into a cup about 4 inches (10 cm) across, add 2 to 3 tbsp filling, and close the masa up around it, pinching to seal. Gently pat it back and forth between your hands into a disk about 5 inches (13 cm) across and ¼ to ⅜ inch (6 to 10 mm) thick. Patch any leaks with a pinch of masa.
Cook on a lightly oiled comal, cast-iron skillet or griddle over medium-high heat, 3 to 4 minutes per side, until speckled golden brown with a few crisp spots and the cheese is melting out at the edges.
Serve hot, with curtido piled on top or alongside and salsa roja spooned over. Eat with your hands.
Notes
- The cheese. Oaxaca is the most flavorful and melts in long strings. Low-moisture mozzarella works in a pinch; mixing in a little crumbled queso fresco or Monterey Jack adds flavor. If the cheese is very moist, pat it dry; wet fillings make pupusas burst.
- The beans should be thick; the drier the better.
- The pork. Leftover Carnitas are ideal.
- Loroco, an edible flower bud sold jarred or frozen in Latin markets, is the other classic addition to cheese pupusas.
- Freezing. Cooked pupusas freeze well; reheat on a dry skillet.