Inside San Francisco’s La Cocina Municipal MarketpIace, a new multicultural food hall in the Tenderloin, chef Estrella Gonzalez and her Estrellita’s Snacks staff are hand-filling pupusas to order with stewed chicken, vegetables, jalapenos and other ingredients.
It’s the sound that draws you back there, the slapping and sizzling of masa into perfectly round puffs that are nourishing and perfect for on-the-go noshing. We like them best filled with cheese and refried beans, but Gonzalez’s mother, Maria del Carmen Flores, who founded Estrellita’s Snacks and taught her how to make the Salvadoran corn cakes, encouraged using whatever ingredients were on hand, including leftovers.
Now the family is sharing the recipe, which is featured in the 2019 cookbook, “We Are La Cocina: Recipes in Pursuit of the American Dream” (Chronicle Books, $30), by Caleb Zigas and Leticia Landa, and includes a zippy pickled cabbage, or curtido, to serve on the side. You can make your own masa or buy it ready-made at most Mexican or Salvadoran markets.
PUPUSAS
Makes 10 pupusas
INGREDIENTS
1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
1½ cups cooked or canned refried beans, or 1½ cups cooked, chopped mixed vegetables
2 batches masa
Vegetable oil, for brushing
Curtido (recipe follows), for serving
Hot sauce, for serving
DIRECTIONS
Combine the cheese with the beans or vegetables.
Coat your hands with oil to prevent the dough from sticking, then divide the masa dough into 10 balls, each ½ cup. Heat a large cast-iron skillet or griddle over medium heat.
With one ball in the palm of your hand, use your other thumb to create an indentation in the center. Pinch the sides to create a well. Fill the hole with 1 heaping tablespoon of filling. Pinch the dough around the filling to enclose, then gently flatten into a 4- to 5-inch disk. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
Brush each pupusa with oil on both sides. Cook each pupusa in the preheated skillet, flipping once, until the center puffs slightly and the pupusa is brown in spots, 3 to 4 minutes per side.
Serve with a side of curtido and hot sauce.
CURTIDO
Makes 3 cups
INGREDIENTS
3 cups tightly packed, thinly sliced green cabbage (about ½ cabbage head)
½ small red onion, cut into thin slices
1 small carrot, cut into thin slices
1 serrano chile, halved lengthwise
2 sprigs fresh oregano
½ cup apple cider vinegar
2½ cups water
2 tablespoons kosher salt
DIRECTIONS
Combine the cabbage, onion, carrot, serrano and oregano in a large bowl.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring the vinegar, water and salt to a boil. Stir frequently until the salt dissolves. Pour the hot brine over the cabbage mixture.
Allow to steep for at least 1 hour before serving. The pickled cabbage mix can be stored, refrigerated, in an airtight container for up to 1 month.
— From “We Are La Cocina: Recipes in Pursuit of the American Dream” (Chronicle Books, $30) by Caleb Zigas and Leticia Landa
