Pupusas: A Culinary Adventure

Writing a monthly blog is a great opportunity for me to further my culinary education. I really enjoy trying new recipes from different cultures in order to expand my knowledge, but also just because it’s fun! While doing this I’ve taken our readers on several culinary adventures from Arancini and Thai Fish Cakes to Butter Chicken and Brandade (French salt cod and potato dip), just to name a few.

This month we’re traveling to El Salvador in Central America to celebrate their national dish… the Pupusa! I would describe Pupusas as a cross between tamales and quesadillas. They are masa dough cakes filled with meat, beans, cheese or vegetables, that are then griddled until golden brown and crisp. They look unassuming from the outside, but they all have a delicious surprise waiting in the center. Pupusas are traditionally served with a vinegary cabbage, carrot and onion salad called curtido. The salad is typically lightly fermented, kind of like sauerkraut, but it’s still delicious if you don’t have the time to let that happen.

The first step in making Pupusas is to prepare the masa dough, which couldn’t be easier because it’s just two ingredients: masa harina and water.

Masa is made from dried corn that’s been cooked with an alkali (slaked lime), and that process gives it a very distinct flavor. It is then ground and dried again. When mixed with water, it creates a dough that’s used to make corn tortillas, or when mixed with lard, baking powder and chicken stock, you have the makings for tamales. Masa harina can easily be found in the Latin aisle of your grocery store.

To prepare the dough, measure the masa into a bowl and add warm water. Using a spoon, mix together the ingredients until a dough forms, which takes only 1 to 2 minutes. Use your hands to mix and form into a ball. Cover the dough and allow to sit for 15 minutes in order to rehydrate the masa.

While the dough is rehydrating, you can work on your filling ingredients and curtido. For the filling, I used up items I had in my kitchen such as canned pinto beans that I drained, rinsed and mashed with a fork, mushrooms that I sautéed, and pepper jack cheese that I grated.

But you can fill the Pupusas with shredded or ground chicken, beef, Spanish chorizo or pork, or an assortment of sautéed vegetables such as onions, zucchini or peppers along with beans and cheese.

It’s best to make the curtido in advance so the flavors can blend, so you’ll ideally want to make the salad a few hours or a day ahead of time. The traditional curtido ingredients include shredded green cabbage, grated carrots, sliced onions and dried oregano all dressed with white wine vinegar and a touch of sugar. I added a julienne of radish and chopped cilantro for color and flavor, but you can also sneak in some jalapeño if you like it spicy.

Now for the assembly. I was a bit intimated for this step because it was my first time making Pupusas, but thankfully my husband, who is a chef instructor at Kendall College (and who made a couple of cameos in season 2 of The Bear!), teaches an international cuisine class and has Pupusa-making experience.

The first step is to use a 2-ounce scoop to portion the dough into 8 balls, just be sure to keep the portions covered with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming.

Then, one at a time, flatten the balls of dough into a disk and form it into a cup in your palm to hold the fillings.

Place your fillings of choice into the cup, then use the dough around the edges to fold over and cover the filling.

You then want to flatten the filled dough ball back into a disk that’s about 1/2-inch thick. I definitely had some of my filling trying to escape and breach the dough wall, but because the dough is very pliable it was easy to cover any holes just by pinching them closed.

Once you have all of your Pupusas assembled, heat a griddle or nonstick pan over medium heat and add a thin layer of neutral oil such as grapeseed or canola. Cook the Pupusas on the first side until golden brown and crisp, 4 to 5 minutes. Flip and repeat with the other side… some of my beans and cheese started oozing out, but only a little bit.

I transferred the cooked Pupusas to a sheet tray and placed them in a 200° oven to keep warm while cooking the second batch.

Serve the Pupusas with the curtido on top or on the side along with your favorite hot sauce (I’m partial to the green Tabasco) and a dollop of sour cream if you wish. I also sprinkled the top of our Pupusas with finely grated cotija cheese.

Bean and Cheese Pupusas (Stuffed and Griddled Masa Cakes) with Curtido Salad

Scroll down for a printable version of this recipe

Yield: 8 Pupusas

Active time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Start to finish: 1 hour, 15 minutes

For the cabbage salad:

1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 large carrot, peeled and grated
1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced
1/4 head green cabbage, shredded

1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, rough chopped
Salt to taste

For the dough:

2 cups masa harina
1 3/4 cup warm water

For the filling:

8 ounces Chihuahua cheese, grated

1 cup refried beans

4 tablespoons grapeseed oil

Hot sauce, as needed

1. To prepare the cabbage salad, mix together the vinegar, sugar, oregano, carrot, onion, cabbage and cilantro in a medium-size bowl. Season with salt and refrigerate while preparing the Pupusas.
2. To prepare the dough, mix together the masa harina and water in a bowl. Stir until it forms a dough. Cover with plastic and allow to rest for 15 minutes.
3. Mix together the grated cheese and refried beans in a small bowl.
4. Preheat the oven to 200º.
5. Divide the dough into 8 pieces, and cover them loosely with plastic. Pat one piece of dough into a ball, and then flatten into a disk. While flattening into a disk, form the dough into a cup.
6. Spoon a heaping tablespoonful of the filling into the center of the cup. Gently cover the filling with the edges of the dough while patting it to form a disk. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
7. Heat a griddle over medium heat, and brush the surface with enough grapeseed oil to coat. Cook the Pupusas on the griddle, in batches, until golden brown and crisp on the first side. Flip and repeat, adding more oil to the griddle as needed. Keep the cooked Pupusas warm in the oven.
8. Serve the Pupusas with the cabbage slaw and hot sauce.

This culinary adventure was great because now I know how to make the national dish of El Salvadorian and had a lot of fun doing so. Expand your culinary knowledge and go on your own culinary adventure to The Chopping Block! Join us on:

• August 17 for a Trip to Southern France
• September 9 for a Global Grilling adventure, and on
• September 16 for our all new Mediterranean Boot Camp.