I realized the other day that while I made a video on how to make pupusas de queso and recently shared a recipe for making mini pupusas de queso y frijol, I hadn’t posted a recipe or video for Carlos’s favorite – pupusas revueltas!
It was a little difficult for me to quantify everything and give clear directions because I make them a little differently each time, adjusting this and that to make them better – but here is how I made them this time. As you can see, I used ground pork instead of making authentic chicharrones with chunks of pork, but it works well like this and saves you from getting greasy meat all over your food processor when you grind it up.
Now, whenever I make a pupusa video, inevitably I get comments on YouTube asking for curtido and salsa recipes, so I decided to make a video of those too, even though I have variations of both posted here.
So, without further introduction, here are the videos and recipes for pupusas revueltas, salsa and curtido. (And as a special treat, in one of the videos you can see Carlos attempt to make a pupusa by himself!)
Pupusas Revueltas
What you need:
1 lb. fresh ground pork (you can even use turkey or chicken if you don’t eat pork)
1 tbs. minced garlic
1-2 tbs. canola oil
1 medium tomato, washed and quartered
1 medium Poblano or the equivalent green pepper, washed, stem & seeds removed, and quartered
1/2 a medium onion, cut in half
1/2 cup refried beans
1 lb. whole milk mozzarella cheese, softened (directions below)
salt to taste
For the masa/dough:
3 cups MASECA
3 1/4 cups water
a little less than 1/2 tsp. salt
Directions:
1. Heat oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add oil and garlic. Stir for a few seconds before adding ground pork and season with salt. Cook, stirring occasionally until browned. Remove from heat, set aside. (Note: Many people use chunks of pork in place of ground pork and after cooking, run it through the food processor. This is totally up to you. I’ve used both methods and both work.)
2. In the food processor set to “mince” – Process: the tomato, the Poblano or green pepper, and the onion. Add to the pork and mix to combine. Taste and correct with salt if needed.
3. Add the refried beans. Stir to combine.
4. To soften the cheese, place it in a warm water bath while it is still in the plastic packaging. After about 10 minutes, drain the water and open the package. Knead the cheese by hand until soft. Add to the pork mixture and stir to combine. This will be your pupusa filling. Set the mixture aside.
5. In a large bowl sprinkle salt over MASECA and then pour in water. Mix by hand until combined.
6. To form pupusas, take a large handful of dough, (slightly bigger than a golf ball but not as big as a baseball), and pat it into a tortilla. Cup your hand so the tortilla forms a bowl-like shape. In the hollow, place a large pinch of the pupusa filling. Close your hand gently to fold the sides up around the filling and form the ball again. Pat out into a thick tortilla shape and then place on a hot griddle, comal or non-stick frying pan. (No oil is needed!) Flip to cook on each side. Serve with salsa and curtido.
Salsa
What you need:
3 to 4 fresh large tomatoes (Roma are best), chopped
1 handful fresh cilantro
1/2 of a medium-sized onion, chopped
1/4 of a medium Poblano pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon raw, minced garlic
Salt to taste
A few shakes of Worcestershire sauce (also known as “Salsa Perrins.”)
Directions:
Combine in a blender. Blend until smooth, about one minute. Serve immediately or put in a jar or container with a tight-fitting lid and keep refrigerated. You can also pour the salsa into a pot and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes which will brighten the natural red color of the tomatoes and deepen the flavor a little. Use in almost any recipe calling for salsa, or as a side with Latin American dishes. Use within a few days or can it to keep longer.
Possible substitutions: A 32 ounce can of undrained whole tomatoes can be substituted for fresh tomatoes. Green bell pepper can be substituted for the Poblano pepper.
Curtido
What you need:
1 small cabbage, washed and cut into large chunks
1 cup carrots, washed and peeled
1/2 a small onion
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup warm water
salt to taste
oregano to taste
Directions:
1. With the food processor set to “shred” – Process the cabbage and carrots. Switch the food processor to “julienne” for the onion. Combine in a large bowl with remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate until ready to eat.
