Fiesta!: Gorditas

23 Apr 2010 Leave a Comment

by Trina in comfort food, food traditions, leftovers, recipe Tags: beef gordita filling, gorditas, gorditas filling, masa, mexican food, recipe

Well, it’s the last night of NIOSA, and Fiesta San Antonio will be gone for another year in a few days. However, it is entirely possible to make your own versions of the most popular street foods!

Gorditas, or “little fat ones,” are really similar to a pita pocket . . . except heartier. The simplest explanation is that you make a rather thick corn tortilla and then split it open in order to stuff it with incredible fillings. The beef filling from the empanadas recipe could be used. Shredded beef, chicken, and pork are all options as well, as are slices of avocado and tomato. Below, I’ve included the basic dough recipe but not one for fillings. Really, the only limitation on what you can put in a gordita, like in an empanada, is your culinary creativity! Shred your leftover roast, chicken, or pork chops and then top with a bit of shredded cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and salsa. I promise that as I list more recipes that work well for stuffing a gordita, I will link back to let you know!

Ingredients (dough)

1 pound (2 cups) fresh, smooth-ground corn masa for tortillas or 1 3/4 cups powdered masa harina mixed with 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water; 1/3 cup all-purpose flour; 1 teaspoon baking powder; 3/4 teaspoon salt

Directions (dough)

Heat a non-stick (or well-seasoned) griddle or heavy-bottom skillet over medium heat. Knead the masa to make it pliable. Add a bit of water, if necessary, to get a soft cookie dough consistency. Knead in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Divide the dough into ten portion, and cover with plastic to prevent drying. Line a tortilla press with two pieces of plastic cut from a food storage bag. Gently press out a ball of dough between the sheets of plastic to roughly 4 inches (and roughly 1/4 inch thick). Woohoo – a gordita!

Technique for putting on the griddle: Peel the top sheet of plastic off the gordita (yes, it will stick), flip it onto the fingers of one hand with the uncovered side down, and then carefully peel off the other piece of plastic. Using a smooth, singular motion, roll the gordita off your hand and onto the heated griddle/skillet.

Bake for about 1 1/2 minutes, then flip and bake for 1 1/2 minutes on the other side. The top and bottom will be lightly brown and crusty, but the sides will still be a bit uncooked. This is okay – we’re going to finish them with a bit of frying in a bit. Remove the gordita to a plate and finish up the other 9.

How to finish the gorditas: In a deep heavy skillet, heat 1/2 an inch of oil over medium to medium-high heat until it’s hot enough to make the edge of a gordita sizzle (this is going to be about 350). Fry the gorditas one at a time, turning after about 15 seconds in the oil. Normally, this will take no more than 45 seconds total per gordita. They should end up crisp but not hard. Most gorditas puff up. Drain them on paper towels. Once they are all fried, use a small knife to cut a slit in the thin edge about half-way around the gordita. Open up the pocket. Each gordita should hold about 1/4 cut of filling along with a sprinkling of condiments or accompaniments.

One year, on the final night of NIOSA, the gordita booth had an enormous amount of prepared masa left over. We ended up taking home about 20 pounds! To put that in perspective, the recipe above uses 1 pound! I made so many gorditas that weekend … thankfully, they do freeze well. Thaw in the fridge and then warm gently on a griddle before filling.