Destination
Puerto Vallarta
The story
Empanadas de queso are the Oaxacan mercado's default hand-snack: a masa dough turnover, larger than an antojito but smaller than a tortilla-based empanada de mole, stuffed with quesillo (Oaxacan string cheese), a small spoon of chile-spiked salsa verde and a scatter of epazote leaves, then deep-fried until the outside is puffed golden and the cheese inside is molten and stretchy. Sold at every Oaxacan mercado stall (Sánchez Pascuas, Benito Juárez, 20 de Noviembre) and increasingly at market stalls in Puerto Vallarta and Cancún serving Oaxacan regional food, empanadas de queso are the perfect walking-around snack — one hand, five bites, done.
Method
Char tomatillos, chillies, garlic and onion on a dry pan 6 minutes. Blend with coriander, salt and lime to a coarse-smooth sauce. Reserve half for filling, half for serving.
Whisk masa harina and salt. Add water and melted lard. Knead 2 minutes to a soft dough. Rest 15 minutes.
Mix the pulled cheese with the chopped epazote and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
Divide the dough into 8 balls. Press each between baking paper into a 15cm round, 3mm thick. Spoon a heaped tbsp of the cheese-epazote mixture onto one half of the round. Add 1 tsp of the salsa verde on top of the cheese. Fold the empty half over the filling to make a half-moon. Press the edges firmly to seal.
Heat the oil in a deep heavy pot to 180C.
Fry the empanadas 2 at a time, 90 seconds per side, until puffed and deeply golden. The cheese should be visibly melting inside. Drain on a rack.
Set 2 empanadas on each plate. Drizzle with crema. Scatter with cotija, coriander leaves and avocado slices. Spoon a small pool of the reserved salsa verde alongside for dipping.
Empanadas de queso must be eaten hot — the cheese sets into a rubbery block within 5 minutes of leaving the fryer. Fry and serve to order.
Tips
- Seal the edges well. Any gap and molten cheese leaks into the fryer, where it burns and turns your oil bitter. Firm fingertip pressing plus a fork-crimp is the safest seal.
- Do not overfill. A tablespoon of cheese is plenty. More and the empanada bursts.
- Quesillo pulls into strings. Real Oaxacan quesillo is kneaded and stretched. Pull it into 4cm strings before filling; if using mozzarella, shred it coarse.
- Epazote is the Oaxacan herb marker. Coriander is not a substitute. If unavailable, hierba santa is the second choice.
- Serve immediately. Empanadas de queso do not hold. Assemble, fry, plate, eat — all within 10 minutes.
More recipes
View all
A giant half-moon masa turnover stuffed with yellow mole, chicken and squash flower, then browned on a comal. The Oaxacan Sunday empanada.
Oblong masa cakes stuffed with fava beans, black beans or chicharrón, cooked on a comal and topped with nopales, salsa, queso and crema. Prehispanic street snack.
Ridged pastry ropes piped into hot oil, tossed in cinnamon sugar and served with a mug of thick Mexican hot chocolate for dunking.
Triangular masa parcels stuffed with black bean paste, cooked on a comal until dark-patched. Oaxaca's origami-shaped answer to the empanada.
Beef brisket confit-fried in its own fat on a domed disc, chopped fine and folded into double tortillas with onion, coriander and salsa verde. CDMX's late-night taco.
Mexican chorizo crumbled and fried until crisp, folded into warm tortillas with potato, onion and green salsa. The CDMX breakfast taco.