Memelas Oaxaqueñas con Tasajo y Quesillo

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large cast iron comal or flat griddle
• •Blender
• •Bean masher or large wooden spoon
• •Wire rack or plate for resting memelas

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the salsa de pasilla oaxaqueño

   Heat a dry comal or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Toast the chile pasilla oaxaqueño for about 20 seconds per side, pressing gently with a spatula. They will puff and release a deep, smoky fragrance that is nothing like any other dried chile you have worked with. This is a smoked chile, dried over wood fires in the Sierra Mixe, and that smoke is the point. Set them aside. Place the unpeeled garlic cloves on the same comal and roast, turning occasionally, until the skins are charred in spots and the cloves feel soft when pressed, about 8 minutes. Peel the garlic. Tear the toasted chiles open and shake out the seeds. Place the chiles, garlic, water, and a pinch of salt in a blender. Blend until you have a rough, textured salsa, not a smooth puree. It should have body. Taste for salt. Set aside.

   Chile pasilla oaxaqueño is a smoked chile specific to the Sierra Norte of Oaxaca. It is not the same as the pasilla negro used in central Mexico. If you cannot find it, a small dried chipotle morita can approximate the smokiness, but acknowledge you are making a different salsa.
2. 2

   Prepare the bean paste

   Heat 1 tablespoon of asiento in a small skillet over medium heat. Lightly toast the avocado leaf in the asiento for 10 seconds, just until it becomes fragrant, like anise and fresh green wood. Add the cooked black beans with their broth. Mash with a bean masher or the back of a large wooden spoon until you have a thick, spreadable paste, not smooth, not chunky, somewhere between. The consistency should hold on the back of a spoon without sliding off. If it is too thick, add another tablespoon of broth. Season with salt. Keep warm. Discard the avocado leaf.

   The avocado leaf is the Oaxacan signature in these beans. It gives a subtle anise flavor that distinguishes Oaxacan black beans from every other state's version. A single leaf is enough. If you cannot find it, leave it out. Do not substitute anything else.
3. 3

   Grill the tasajo

   Heat the comal over high heat until it is very hot, the kind of heat where a drop of water vanishes on contact. Lay the tasajo strips flat on the comal. Do not crowd them. The salt-cured surface should sizzle the moment it touches the metal. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes per side. You want dark spots where the salt and the natural sugars in the beef char slightly, but not burned through. The edges will curl and crisp. The center should stay tender. Remove to a cutting board and chop or tear into rough strips about the width of your finger. Tasajo is not sliced delicately. It is torn the way it is eaten in the market.

   Tasajo varies in salt intensity depending on your source. Taste a small piece raw before cooking. If it is aggressively salty, soak the strips in cold water for 15 minutes and pat dry before grilling. Most good-quality tasajo from a Oaxacan butcher will not need this.
4. 4

   Form the memelas

   Divide the masa into 8 equal portions, each roughly the size of a golf ball. If using masa harina, make sure the dough is hydrated and smooth but not sticky: it should press without cracking at the edges. Roll each ball between your palms, then press it into an oval shape about 5 inches long, 3 inches wide, and roughly 1/4 inch thick. Thicker than a tortilla. Thicker than a sope. The thickness is what holds the toppings and gives the memela its chew. Use your fingers, not a press. Memelas are shaped by hand and they should look it. Uneven edges are correct.

   If the masa cracks when you press it, it is too dry. Wet your hands with a little water and knead briefly. If it sticks to everything, it is too wet. Add a small pinch of masa harina and knead again. The dough should feel like soft clay.
5. 5

   Cook the memelas on the comal

   Heat the comal over medium-high heat. Lay a memela on the dry comal. Cook for about 2 minutes on the first side until the bottom sets and develops pale brown spots. Flip it. Now, while the second side cooks, use your fingertips to pinch the edges of the oval upward, creating a shallow rim about half an inch high all the way around. Work quickly because the masa is hot. This rim holds the toppings. Once the edges are pinched, spread about 1 teaspoon of asiento across the entire surface of the memela with the back of a spoon. The asiento will melt into the warm masa, darkening it slightly and perfuming it with that unmistakable pork smoke. Cook for another minute until the bottom is golden and the memela releases from the comal easily. Transfer to a wire rack or plate. Repeat with the remaining ovals.

   Work in batches of two or three, depending on your comal size. Do not stack finished memelas. They need air underneath or they will steam and lose their surface texture.
6. 6

   Assemble and serve

   Spread a generous tablespoon of the warm bean paste across each memela, right on top of the asiento layer. Pull the quesillo into long, thin strings withyour fingers, the way it is done at every market stall in Oaxaca, and drape the strings over the beans. The residual heat from the memela will soften the cheese just enough. Pile the chopped tasajo on top. Spoon the salsa de pasilla oaxaqueño over everything. Serve immediately, on the brown paper if you want to honor how Doña Vale did it, or on a clay plate if you are sitting down. Pick it up with your hands. A memela is not fork food. Asi se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Asiento is the soul of this memela. It is the dark, grainy sediment that settles at the bottom of the cazuela when pork lard is rendered. In Oaxaca, every market has a vendor selling it by the ladle from clay jars. Outside of Oaxaca, look for it at Mexican butcher shops that serve Oaxacan communities, or online from Oaxacan importers. If you absolutely cannot find it, use unrefined manteca de cerdo. It will work, but you will lose the smoky depth that makes a memela taste like Oaxaca and not like anywhere else. That is the compromise. Know what you are missing.
• •Fresh masa from a tortilleria is always better than reconstituted masa harina for memelas. The texture is softer, the corn flavor is rounder, the memela holds together differently. If you have a local tortilleria, buy a kilo of fresh masa and use it within the day. Masa harina will get you there, but fresh masa is the destination.
• •Quesillo must be pulled into strings, not sliced, not shredded, not cubed. The strands melt differently than a cut surface. They soften and stretch across the bean paste and create the texture that makes this Oaxacan. If you cannot find quesillo, a low-moisture mozzarella can approximate the pull, but not the tang. String it by hand either way.
• •These memelas are a complete meal. Two per person with a glass of agua de horchata or a cup of chocolate de agua is the Oaxacan market breakfast. Do not overthink side dishes. The memela is the meal.

Advance Preparation

• •The black beans can and should be cooked a day ahead. Cook a full pot of black beans with a head of garlic, a quarter white onion, and a tablespoon of lard. Refrigerate in their broth. They improve overnight. Mash them with the avocado leaf and asiento just before assembling.
• •The salsa de pasilla oaxaqueño holds well in the refrigerator for up to three days. The smoky flavor deepens as it sits.
• •Tasajo can be grilled up to an hour ahead and held at room temperature, covered loosely. Reheat briefly on the comal before serving if desired. Do not refrigerate grilled tasajo; it toughens.
• •The masa must be formed and cooked fresh. There is no making memelas ahead. The comal work is the last step before eating.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 400g)