A Slice of El Salvador: How To Make Pupusas

Pupusas. Warm, spicy and comforting. A hot savory snack and staple food of El Salvador, pupusas have developed a dedicated following. In San Francisco’s mission district, a pupuseria or two can easily be found nestled away on almost every block. A quick mouth-watering bite, lunch-time or late-nite, pupusas are also the perfect cheap eats. What’s not to love about that? For about $2 a pop you get 2 pupusas, a side of curtido (spicy cabbage slaw), tomato salsa and a happy tummy. A  warm, comforting and, no doubt, filling meal.

What is a pupusa, you ask?  Well, just think of a thick stuffed quesadilla-like treat filled with cheese, beans, veggies or your choice of meat. Only the sides of this thick quesadilla are completely smooth and sealed, grilled until crispy and the filling enclosed inside is warm and bubbly. Just trust me. If you have not yet had a chance to sample a pupusa for yourself, I recommend you plan for a pupusa or two in your very near future.

Living so close to the mission district, I am lucky to be able to satisfy my pupusa cravings by just taking a 5 minute walk down to a pupuseria. So, imagine my excitement when my sister said she’s been practicing her pupusa skills (thanks to her other half who just happens to be from El Salvador), and would be making these warm tasties sometime in the upcoming week? What a great opportunity for me to get a pupusa lesson and to have some fun documenting the whole process. Besides, I love cooking at her place. She has a bigger and better kitchen and she also has my delicious little nephew. To top it all off, my mom usually comes over and we have fun little cooking parties.

Back to the pupusas. The pupusa dough can be made with different types of flour. One of the common traditional versions is made with masa harina, or corn flour. We made ours using rice flour which yields a slightly lighter and chewier dough texture. As for our fillings, we settled on three varieities: zucchini and cheese, bean and cheese and the classic bean and pork. But, feel free to experiment and fill your pupusas with whatever pleases you.

We started the whole process by preparing the curtido, the spicy cabbage slaw served alongside every pupusa, and the tomato salsa.  If possible, it’s best to make these accompaniments the night before so the flavors and spices have time to absorb.

1) Make Curtido and Salsa

Curtido (Spicy Cabbage Slaw):

2 cups of fresh cabbage, shredded

3/4-1 cup of carrot, shredded

1/4 cup of white vinegar

3/4 cup white onion, thinly sliced

1 jalapeno, minced (seeded if you want to cut the spice)

oregano to taste

salt and pepper to taste

Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil in a large stockpot. Combine the cabbage, carrots and onion and blanch for 1-2 minutes. You just really want to heat it through making sure to maintain a crunchy texture to the vegetables.

Drain in colander. Run cold water over the vegetables. Add the jalapeno and mix through. Fill a container halfway with cold water. Combine vegetables and the vinegar in the container. Give the mixture a stir and then add salt, pepper and oregano to taste. You can start with about a teaspoon of oregano first, taste and go from there. Let curtido sit in container to absorb flavors.

Tomato Salsa:

1 16 oz can of whole tomatos

1-2 tbsp water

salt to taste

Combine tomatos, water and salt in a food processor and pulse until smooth.

2) Make Fillings

Zucchini and Cheese:

NOTE: the zucchini must be grated and left to sit overnight before using as filling for best results.

Makes about 8 pupusas

3 medium to large zucchinis- shredded

1-2 cups of grated cheese (jack or oaxaca cheese works well)

Put shredded zucchini into a colander over a large bowl. Cover zucchini closely with plastic wrap. Place another large heavy bowl on top of the zucchini and maybe a pan to create weight. This is to drain the zucchini of as much water as possible. This step is important because if the water is not drained the pupusas will not wrap or grill properly.

Leave the zucchini to drain overnight.

Bean and Cheese:

1 16 oz can of pinto or black beans, drained and mashed.

or….

**The best option: You can find very good quality pre-mashed El Salvadorian red beans in a Latin Market. They are usually sold in plastic bags or containers. If this option is not availble you can use any canned pre- mashed red or black bean from the grocery store.

1 tbsp of butter

2-3 cups of grated cheese – jack or oaxaca

Heat beans though. Let the beans cool a bit and then stir butter though. Once the beans are completely cooled, add the grated cheese, 2-3 cups to your preference.

Pork:

1 lb pork shoulder, cut into 2 inch chunks

1/2 red pepper, roughly chopped

1/2 green pepper, roughly chopped

1/2 white onion, roughly chopped

Salt to taste

1 tbsp olive oil

Heat olive oil in large pan. Add pork and salt to taste. Cook pork thoroughly. Remove from heat. Add the onions and peppers and cook for about two minutes. Let all ingredients cool.

Once the pork mixture is cooled add to food processor and pulse until the mixture is almost ground. When mixture is completely cool add the grated cheese.

Once you have your fillings prepared you can make your pupusa dough. As I said above, masa harina or corn flour, is used often but we used rice flour. The dough preparation below is standard, whether using rice or corn flour.

3) Make The Dough

Pupusas de Arroz (Rice Flour Pupusas):

Makes About 8 pupusas.

4 cups rice flour

1 cup hot water

Place the rice flour in a large bowl. Add about 2 cups of hot water to the flour and combine. Work the dough gently with your hands, adding more water in small amounts, if necessary, until you get the desired texture below (last photo). It should stick together nicely.

So, you’ve made your fillings and prepared the dough. Now it’s time to get down to business!

Heat a large griddle or pan over medium to high heat.  While your surface is heating, assemble your pupusas.

4) Assemble Pupusas

Dip your fingers in a tiny bit of olive oil and rub hands together to avoid dough sticking.

Take a portion of dough about the size of a golf ball and lightly work it between your palms. Begin to flatten the ball into a disc in your palm. Continue to press the disc out on all sides creating an evenly thin round circle. Make a little well in the palm of your hand and take about a golf ball sized amount of filling and place it in the well. Gather the filling into the dough and enclose it completely at the top, trimming the extra dough off. Then, gently push and flatten the ball into your palm. Try to keep the filling from seeping through the dough as you push and press, ultimately going for a thickness of about 1/8- 1/4 of an inch. It’s ok if a bit of filling ends up seeping out, that’s actually how you create all those yummy crispy spots on the outside.  You just don’t want too many large tears in the pupusa.

Rub a tiny bit more oil on the outside of the pupusa before placing on your hot surface. Just let the pupusa(s) heat through on one side. Flip it over when you can see it browning nicely on the bottom. Do the same for the other side.

When the pupusas are nicely browned on both sides remove them from the heat. Serve them with a generous spoonful of curtido and a drizzle of salsa. You can wrap and store extra pupusas tightly with plastic wrap and a layer of foil. To reheat the next day, just heat in a hot pan or griddle. Enjoy!

Tagged as: bean and cheese pupusa, el salvadorian staple food, how to make curtido, how to make pupusas, pork pupusa, zucchini and cheese pupusa