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Tlayuda Extendida del Mercado con Asiento y Quesillo
Created by
Oaxaca's open-faced tlayuda, spread with asiento and frijol negro cooked with avocado leaf, draped with quesillo that melts into strings over the comal. No meat. The mercado version, extended flat, the way the senoras at 20 de Noviembre have always made it.
Sandwiches & Wraps
Mexican
Comfort Food
Weeknight
Quick Meal
20 min
Active Time
25 min cook•45 min total
Yield4 servings
This is Oaxaca's dish. Not Mexico City's version of it, not the folded quesadilla-style thing some restaurants serve to tourists. The tlayuda extendida is cooked open and flat on a clay comal, the tortilla so large it hangs over the edges, and it stays that way on the plate. Extended. Naked. Nothing hidden.
The tortilla itself is the foundation, and it is not a regular tortilla. A tlayuda is 12 to 14 inches across, made from corn masa, cooked on the comal, then partially dried over low heat or embers until it develops a leathery chew with crisp edges. You cannot make this dish with a supermarket tortilla. You need a tlayuda, or you need to accept that what you are making is something else.
The asiento is what separates the real thing from every imitation. Asiento is the dark, smoky sediment that collects at the bottom of the pot when pork lard is rendered. It has a concentrated, slightly bitter, deeply porky flavor that regular lard does not have. The senoras at the Mercado 20 de Noviembre in Oaxaca city spread it across the hot tortilla with the back of a spoon, and the smell fills the entire pasillo. If you cannot find asiento, you can approximate it by cooking lard low and slow until the solids brown and settle, but I will tell you plainly: it is a compromise.
My mother did not make tlayudas. She was jalisciense and her tortillas were small and thick. But in my notebook, from a trip to the Central de Abastos in 2004, I have a sketch of a senora's comal setup and the note: 'asiento first, always, then the bean.' She said it like a rule. It is one. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
The tlayuda takes its name from the Zapotec word 'tlayelli,' referring to the large corn tortilla that has been a staple of the Valles Centrales de Oaxaca since pre-Columbian times. The partially dried preparation method, which gives the tortilla its characteristic leathery-crisp texture, evolved as a preservation technique in a region where corn was ground daily but tortillas needed to last through market days and travel. The Mercado 20 de Noviembre in Oaxaca de Juarez became the dish's most famous stage in the mid-20th century, where rows of comal-equipped stalls still serve tlayudas to order, and the version extendida, laid flat and open, predates the folded 'clayuda' variant that emerged later as a street-food adaptation for eating while walking.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
tlayuda tortillas
Quantity
4 (12 to 14 inches each)
asiento (pork lard sediment)
Quantity
1/2 cup
cooked black beans (frijol negro)
Quantity
2 cups
with their broth
dried hoja de aguacate (avocado leaves)
Quantity
3
pork lard (manteca de cerdo)
Quantity
2 tablespoons
kosher salt
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon, plus more to taste
quesillo (Oaxacan string cheese)
Quantity
12 ounces
pulled into long strings
romaine lettuce
Quantity
2 cups
shredded into thin ribbons
ripe jitomates (Roma tomatoes)
Quantity
2 medium
sliced thin
white onion
Quantity
1/2 medium
sliced into thin half-moons
radishes (optional)
Quantity
4
sliced thin
ripe avocado (optional)
Quantity
1
sliced
salsa de pasilla oaxaqueno
Quantity
for serving
lime wedges (optional)
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| tlayuda tortillas | 4 (12 to 14 inches each) |
| asiento (pork lard sediment) | 1/2 cup |
| cooked black beans (frijol negro)with their broth | 2 cups |
| dried hoja de aguacate (avocado leaves) | 3 |
| pork lard (manteca de cerdo) | 2 tablespoons |
| kosher salt | 1/2 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| quesillo (Oaxacan string cheese)pulled into long strings | 12 ounces |
| romaine lettuceshredded into thin ribbons | 2 cups |
| ripe jitomates (Roma tomatoes)sliced thin | 2 medium |
| white onionsliced into thin half-moons | 1/2 medium |
| radishes (optional)sliced thin | 4 |
| ripe avocado (optional)sliced | 1 |
| salsa de pasilla oaxaqueno | for serving |
| lime wedges (optional) | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Large clay comal or 12-inch cast iron griddle
- •Heavy skillet or clay cazuela for the beans
- •Bean masher or sturdy wooden spoon
- •Large flat plate or wooden board for serving
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the black bean paste
Melt the lard in a heavy skillet or clay cazuela over medium heat. Toast the dried avocado leaves in the hot lard for about 15 seconds per side. They will release a deep anise-like aroma that fills the kitchen. This is the smell of Oaxacan frijoles. Crumble the toasted leaves and leave them in the fat. Add the cooked black beans with about half a cup of their broth and the salt. Mash with a bean masher or the back of a wooden spoon until you have a thick, spreadable paste, not a puree, not whole beans. You want it thick enough to stay on the tortilla without running. Taste for salt. Keep warm over low heat.
Hoja de aguacate is not a garnish. It is a seasoning as essential to Oaxacan black beans as epazote is in central Mexico. Without it, the beans taste flat. You can find dried avocado leaves at Mexican grocery stores or online from Oaxacan spice vendors. If the leaves are fresh, toast them on the comal until they are dry and fragrant before crumbling. - 2
Pull the quesillo
Peel the quesillo into long strings by hand, the way the queseras in the Mercado de Tlacolula do it. You want pieces thin enough to drape and melt, not thick chunks. If your quesillo is dry or cold, let it sit at room temperature for 20 minutes before pulling. It should stretch. If it snaps, it is too cold or too old. Set the strings aside in a bowl.
- 3
Heat the tlayuda on the comal
Place a large clay comal or cast iron griddle over medium heat. Let it get properly hot, about three minutes. Lay one tlayuda flat on the comal. Heat it for about one minute until the underside is warm and the tortilla starts to feel flexible at the center but stays firm at the edges. Do not flip it. You are working on the top side only.
A tlayuda is half tortilla, half cracker. The center should soften enough to bend without breaking, but the edges should stay crisp. If the whole thing goes soft, your heat is too high and too much moisture is coming back into the masa. Lower the flame. - 4
Spread the asiento
With the tlayuda still on the comal, spread two tablespoons of asiento across the entire surface with the back of a spoon. Work quickly. The asiento will melt on contact and soak into the warm masa. The smell will be dark, smoky, deeply porky. This is the base flavor of the entire dish. Do not skip this step. Do not substitute butter or olive oil. The asiento is the tlayuda. Asi se hace y punto.
- 5
Add the bean layer
Spread a generous layer of the warm black bean paste over the asiento, leaving about an inch of bare tortilla around the edges. Use the back of the spoon and work in a circular motion. The bean layer should be thick enough to taste in every bite but not so heavy that it weighs down the tortilla. Think of it as mortar: it holds the rest of the toppings in place.
- 6
Drape the quesillo and melt
Lay the pulled quesillo strings across the bean layer, covering as much surface as you can. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Let the tlayuda sit on the comal for two to three minutes more, until the quesillo begins to soften and melt into the beans. It will not melt the way mozzarella does. Quesillo holds its shape, turns glossy, and pulls into strings when you tear the tlayuda. That is the texture you want.
If you cannot find quesillo, Oaxacan string cheese sold in braids is the same thing by another name at some markets. Low-moisture mozzarella is a distant second. Do not use Chihuahua cheese, Monterey Jack, or anything yellow. Those belong to other states and other dishes. - 7
Top with fresh ingredients
Slide the tlayuda off the comal onto a large plate or a wooden board. Working quickly while the base is still hot, scatter the shredded romaine lettuce across the top. Lay the sliced jitomate and onion half-moons over the lettuce. Add the radish slices and avocado if using. Do not toss or mix. The layers are deliberate: warm base, cool greens, raw vegetables. The contrast is the point.
- 8
Serve extendida
Serve the tlayuda open and flat. Extended. Do not fold it. Do not cut it into wedges like a pizza. Tear pieces off with your hands and eat them with salsa de pasilla oaxaqueno on the side and a squeeze of lime if you want it. Repeat with the remaining tlayudas, building each one to order on the hot comal. A tlayuda does not wait. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.
Chef Tips
- •Asiento is not lard. It is the dark sediment left at the bottom of the pot after lard has been rendered from pork fat. It tastes smoky, concentrated, slightly bitter, and completely different from the clean white manteca above it. In Oaxaca, it is sold separately at the market, scooped from clay pots with a wooden paddle. If you cannot find it, render your own lard from pork back fat at home over very low heat, scraping the browned solids from the bottom of the pot when finished. That is your asiento. Preguntale a las senoras del mercado.
- •If you are outside Mexico, finding true tlayuda tortillas is the hardest part. Look at Oaxacan specialty shops or order them online from vendors who ship from Oaxaca. In a pinch, you can use a very large handmade corn tortilla and partially dry it on a low comal for a few minutes per side until it firms up, but it will not have the same texture. A regular store-bought tortilla, small, thin, and uniform, will not work. This is a 14-inch tortilla with character.
- •The lettuce on a tlayuda is romaine, not iceberg. It is shredded thin, almost like ribbons, and it goes on raw, directly over the hot melted cheese. The temperature contrast between the warm base and the cool lettuce is part of the architecture. Do not wilt it. Do not cook it. It goes on last.
Advance Preparation
- •The black bean paste can be made up to three days ahead and refrigerated. Reheat in a skillet with a splash of bean broth to loosen it before spreading. The avocado leaf flavor deepens as it sits.
- •The quesillo can be pulled into strings a few hours ahead and covered with a damp cloth so it does not dry out. Do not refrigerate it once pulled; cold quesillo does not melt properly on the comal.
- •A tlayuda must be assembled and eaten immediately. There is no making this ahead. The moment the asiento hits the hot tortilla, you are on the clock.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 490g)
Calories
1020 calories
Total Fat
60 g
Saturated Fat
25 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
32 g
Cholesterol
85 mg
Sodium
1020 mg
Total Carbohydrates
90 g
Dietary Fiber
18 g
Sugars
4 g
Protein
37 g
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