I was making posole.
And I’m down a masa rabbit hole. I was looking at one style of an arepas recipe, and realized I had a nixtamalized dough. So many of these sound good, and I am wondering when to use, and when to avoid a nixtamalized dough. I haven’t tried any of these yet, and find myself craving a Caribbean festival! Wrong rabbit hole.
So many things in addition to tamales
Arepas
Sopes
Pupusas
Free link
Gorditas
chochoyotes
Huarache
Panuchos
You get the idea.
lots of recipes at the Masienda site.
This is what I use to make arepas…
I follow this recipe and method…
I served mine with a nice bean soup… YUMMY!!
Nice! Those packages look familiar. Are those pictures of two different flour products? If so, does one or both read masarepa?
Also are those stuffed with anything?
Both are Maseca (brand) I don’t know why they are different color bags, one is smaller than the other one… so maybe that is the reason??
No, I didn’t stuff them with anything, but wish I had put some cheese in the center. I will next time.
Maybe. I once bought a product labled “Masarepa”, a non-nixamatalized corn flour especially for arepas, and I thought it was made by Maseca.
On their website they seem to have one labled as nixtamalized
,
And one "traditional "
Different flours are used by different cultures. Arepa flour is not usually nixtamalized. Tortilla and pupusa flour is.
Yes! Do I have that backwards, or sideways?..still learning.
From da Wiki:
Initially, arepa flour was made by grinding maize at home. In the 1950s, precooked arepa flour was invented by Dr. Luis Caballero Mejías [es], a Venezuelan engineer, and became an instant success. The flour is mixed with water and salt, and occasionally oil, butter, eggs, and/or milk. Because the flour is already cooked, the blend forms into patties easily. After being kneaded and formed, the patties are fried, grilled, or baked. Some varieties of arepas are made with “peeled” corn using the nixtamalization process; they are known as arepa pelada.[11]
Arepa flour is specially prepared (cooked in water, then dried) for making arepas and other maize dough-based dishes, such as hallacas, bollos, tamales, empanadas, atole and chicha. The flour may be called masarepa*,* masa de arepa*,* masa al instante, or harina precocida. The most popular brand names of maize flour are Harina PAN and Harina Juana in Venezuela, Areparina in Colombia, and Goya elsewhere.[12]
Harina PAN is widely available here. I got some from my neighborhood Walmart.
ETA: the video posted by Desert Dan is easy to follow (I can’t understand the guy - he talks too fast).
Pretty busy but I wanted to try some sopes with the dough I made from the extra hominy . These are their little bottoms.
I ended up topping with the extra chili paste and Oaxaca cheese. It was serviceable.
I was at Maya Mexican market again and I’m tempted to try something with their “house made” masa.
Or maybe these sopes.
Or maybe these; but they are wheat.
They were so busy yesterday! Nice to see.
Again, I am so jealous! I have never found fresh masa to be available for purchase in the Greater Boston area! Have fun.
There’s a place in SF, La Palma, 24th Street that carries everything you need to make tamales. They sell 2 kinds of masa, Preparada (with lard) and Simple (without) I buy without and whip in my own butter.
There must be a Latin market selling masa there. Maybe owners of Mexican restaurants can tell you where to go.
Ya lucky duck
What are the fillings?
If it were me, I’d need more curtido 
I don’t know, but there were potatoes involved, and it was tasty.
The curtido needed a lot more heat, as far as we were concerned.
Ooh potato! Not one I was expecting!
Enjoy, I’m jealous.
The curtido I’ve come across isn’t usually hot, there’s hot sauce on the side for that. And crema is a good foil.
Oops! Papusas, not arepas.
I don’t think any of the cuisines of Central America that I have experienced here (Houston) are spicy. I’ve wondered if the presence of Tabasco, etc., on the table in a pupuseria is an American influence? Anybody experienced Salvadoran cuisine in El Salvador?
My favorite treat like this from that region is the Honduran baleada - a thick, pretty dependably freshly hecho a mano tortilla, warmed, with refritos, crema hondureana, and grated hard cheese. I always go for the baleada sencilla, or simple baleada, but they do come in varieties with more complex fillings.
The bean is the red silk bean, native of El Salvador?; the cheese is probably ‘supposed to be’ Honduran queso duro but I’m sure I’ve experienced cotija and even generic store-bought parmesan.
