Destination
Puerto Vallarta
The story
Sopes are the tortilla that decided to become a plate. A thick, small round of masa is cooked briefly on a comal until half-done, then pinched at the edges with a fingernail to raise a small rim all around the disc — the sope's signature architecture — and finished with a mound of refried beans, a scatter of shredded chicken or beef, a shower of crumbled queso fresco, a drizzle of crema and a spoon of salsa. The pinched rim is not decoration; it's engineering. It holds the salsa and the crema so nothing runs off the plate. Sold at every fonda, market stall and antojito stand across central Mexico, sopes are one of the great vehicles of Mexican salsa cooking.
Method
In a large bowl, whisk together the masa harina and salt. Pour in the warm water and melted lard. Mix with a spoon then knead by hand 2 minutes until you have a smooth, soft, playdough-textured dough. Cover with a damp towel and rest 15 minutes.
Roll the dough into 16 balls (about golf-ball size). Working one at a time, press each ball between two sheets of baking paper into a disc 8cm across and 1cm thick. Use a tortilla press or the bottom of a heavy plate.
Heat a dry comal or heavy pan over medium heat. Cook each disc 60 seconds on the first side, 45 seconds on the second — it should be set but pale. Lift to a plate. While still warm (but cool enough to handle), pinch a rim around the edge with your fingernail, raising a 5mm wall all the way around. Return to the pan and cook another 60 seconds on the base side to set the shape. Stack under a towel to keep warm.
Warm the lard in a pan. Cook the onion 4 minutes; add garlic, epazote and salt. Tip in the beans with 150ml water. Mash to a smooth-thick paste. Keep warm.
Blend the tomatoes with the garlic and chipotles. Warm the oil; cook the sliced onion 5 minutes. Add the tomato-chipotle sauce, adobo, salt and oregano. Simmer 8 minutes to thicken. Fold in the shredded chicken; simmer 5 more minutes until the sauce coats the meat.
For crispier sopes: warm 1cm of oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Shallow-fry the sopes 90 seconds a side until faintly golden. Drain on kitchen paper. Skip this step for softer sopes.
Working with warm sopes: smear each with 1 tbsp of refried beans. Top with 2 tbsp of chicken tinga. Scatter with shredded lettuce, crumbled queso fresco and sliced radish. Drizzle with crema.
Finish with a spoon of salsa verde or salsa roja. Serve immediately — sopes eat best while the base is warm and the toppings are cold. Two or three per person as a plate.
Tips
- Fresh masa if you can find it. A Mexican tortillería sells fresh masa in kilos. It's markedly better than the reconstituted powder — softer, more corn-flavoured, easier to press. Maseca masa harina works too and is what most home cooks use.
- Pinch while warm, not hot. Straight off the pan the sope is too hot to touch; too cold and it cracks. Wait 30 seconds, then pinch quickly.
- The rim holds the sauce. That pinched wall is why sopes work — it's a small dam that keeps the salsa on top of the sope, not on your plate. A flat sope is a chalupa, which is a different dish.
- Bean layer goes first. The refried beans stick the toppings to the sope and add flavour. Skip the beans and everything slides off.
- Serve immediately. A sope sitting on the counter for 5 minutes has gone from crisp-base-warm-top to soggy-base-cool-top. Build them to order.
More recipes
View all
Whatever grandma's been stewing since dawn, spooned onto warm tortillas at a Mexico City lunch fonda. Chicken tinga, chile relleno, huevo en salsa verde — the daily menu.
A whole edam cheese hollowed and stuffed with spiced pork picadillo, then drenched in a white-flour cream sauce and a bright red tomato salsa. Yucatán's most theatrical dish.
A giant half-moon masa turnover stuffed with yellow mole, chicken and squash flower, then browned on a comal. The Oaxacan Sunday empanada.
Thin oval masa cakes brushed with asiento (unrefined pork lard), topped with black beans, quesillo and salsa. Oaxaca's answer to the pizza slice.
Enchiladas drenched in Oaxacan mole negro instead of red or green salsa — dark, complex, slightly bitter, sweet, spicy, and utterly unlike any other enchilada.
Turkey stewed in a jet-black sauce of burnt chiles and Yucatecan spices. The peninsula's darkest, most theatrical mole — served with tortillas and pickled onion.