Gorditas

A thick masa cake griddled whole, then split open along its edge and stuffed through the slit.

Pork. Not vegetarian — contains cheese whose rennet the source does not name, pork.

Ingredients

the cakes

• 500 g masa, as on its own page
• 1 teaspoon salt
• oil, for the griddle

the filling

• 250 g minced pork
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled, diced small and boiled tender
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 100 g crumbly white cheese
• salsa verde, as on its own page

Method

1. IT IS GRIDDLED WHOLE AND SPLIT OPEN AFTERWARDS LIKE A PITTA. That is the one thing that makes a gordita a gordita and not any of the other masa cakes on this site. The disc goes on the griddle sealed, about a centimetre thick, and the thickness is the point: steam builds inside and separates the two faces from each other while the outsides set. Off the heat, a knife run round the edge opens a pocket that was made by the cooking rather than by the cook. Split before cooking, or pressed thin, there is no pocket and no gordita.
2. A CENTIMETRE THICK, AND THAT IS FOUR TIMES A TORTILLA. Pressed to tortilla thinness it cooks through before any steam can build and comes out a small flat tortilla. Pressed much thicker than a centimetre the middle stays raw while the faces brown.
3. THE SLIT GOES ROUND THE EDGE, NOT ACROSS THE FACE. A cut across the top makes two halves and the filling falls out the sides. A knife worked round two-thirds of the circumference leaves a hinge, and the hinge is what holds the thing together while it is eaten in the hand.
4. IT IS CUT WHILE IT IS HOT ENOUGH TO HURT. The two faces are held apart by steam, and as it cools they settle against each other and stick. Left to go cool and then cut, the knife tears through the middle instead of finding the gap. A folded cloth to hold it and a small sharp knife is the way.
5. THE FILLING IS ALREADY COOKED AND ALREADY HOT. Nothing cooks inside a gordita; the pocket is a container. Cold filling in a hot cake gives you a lukewarm middle, so the pan of pork and potato stays on a low heat until the last cake is split.
6. The minced pork put into a dry frying pan over a medium heat and cooked 8 MINUTES, breaking it up, until the fat has run and the meat has caught in places.
7. The onion, cumin and oregano added and cooked 4 minutes, then the boiled potato stirred through and crushed roughly against the side of the pan. Kept warm on a LOW heat.
8. The masa kneaded with the salt and divided into 8 balls.
9. Each ball pressed between two sheets of plastic to a disc about 9 cm across and 1 cm THICK -- much thicker than a tortilla.
10. A griddle set over a medium heat and brushed with the barest film of oil.
11. The cakes cooked 4 to 5 MINUTES on the first side, until well freckled and lifting easily.
12. TURNED and cooked another 4 to 5 minutes. They will dome slightly in the middle: that is the steam doing the work.
13. Taken off and, HELD IN A FOLDED CLOTH WHILE STILL VERY HOT, a small sharp knife run round two-thirds of the edge to open a pocket, leaving a HINGE.
14. Each pocket opened with a thumb and spooned full of the hot pork and potato, then the cheese crumbled in and a spoonful of salsa verde added.
15. Eaten at once, in the hand, over a plate.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Mexico · All recipes