Authentic Salvadorean Pupusas

"I was a little leary about posting this mainly because the recipe takes some effort, but I promise it's well worth the time! This recipe is always served with, Recipe #271297 and Recipe #292499."
 
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photo by limeandspoontt photo by limeandspoontt
photo by limeandspoontt
photo by amriark photo by amriark
photo by Sandi From CA photo by Sandi From CA
photo by Sandi From CA photo by Sandi From CA
photo by limeandspoontt photo by limeandspoontt
Ready In:
40mins
Ingredients:
10
Yields:
20 pupusas
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ingredients

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directions

  • The Beans:

  • Heat the corn oil in a large soup pan on medium high heat. Once the oil is heated fry the onion until golden brown.
  • While the onions are cooking, place half of the beans and 1/2 cup of the reserved bean liquid in a blender and blend for 1 minute.
  • Once the onion is golden in color, about 4 minutes take the onion out with a slotted spoon.
  • Carefully stir the beans from the blender into the hot oil. Turn your heat down to medium low.
  • Next add the onion and the rest of the beans and reserved 1/2 cup cooking liquid into the blender and liquefy for a minute. Add the beans to the rest of the mixture that is already cooking.
  • Carefully stir the beans until no oil appears in the beans, about 3 minutes. Cook on medium stirring about every 5 minutes until the beans have darkened about 3 shades and are the consistency of refried beans in a can.
  • The Cheese:

  • Place the shredded mozzarella, lorocco, and bell pepper in a food processor and process until the bell peppers and lorocco are chopped into tiny pieces and fully incorporated into the cheese.
  • Next, place the cheese mixture into a plastic bowl and warm the mix in the microwave for no more than 20 seconds.
  • Next -- and yes this sounds gross, squeeze the cheese mixture with your hands until it becomes like a soft putty consistency.
  • Set the cheese aside and get ready for the masa.
  • The Masa:

  • Place the masa mix and water in a bowl and stir until fully mixed. The masa should be very sticky but should form an easy ball when rolled. If not, add water until it is sticky but easy to work with.
  • Next, Place an egg size ball of masa in your hand (it helps to place a tiny bit of oil on your hands before doing this) and press the masa out in one hand to represent a small plate the size of your palm.
  • Place about a tablespoon of cheese down onto the masa, then a tsp of beans. Pull the sides of the masa up around the beans and cheese and roll it into a ball. Next, flatten it a tiny bit with your palms to form a thick disc. Pat the disc turning it between your hands about 6 times to flatten it more but to keep it in a round shape.
  • The pupusa should be a little less than 1/2 inch thick.
  • Place the pupusa on a large oiled non stick surface and cook on medium high until each side is golden brown, around 3 minutes on each side.
  • Enjoy!

Questions & Replies

  1. is pupusa good?
     
  2. Can you freeze pupusa Pattys before cooking
     
  3. Is it really 3 lbs of cheese?
     
  4. why do you use mozzerella instead of queso or other fresh Hispanic cheese?
     
  5. CAN I GET A HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOYAAAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAHAHHHHH
     
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Reviews

  1. OH MY GOODNESS!!!! Can I just say what an amazing dinner these make!! The technique for this recipe is a brut to master, but well worth the effort. My boyfriend is from El Salvador so I made these for him as a token of my love. He said that my papusas were better than his grandmothers. "she uses too much beans" he says. Cheese is the melody and the beans are the beat. A couple of tips I pioneered on because I didnt have lorocco for the cheese, I used fresh jalapenos minus the seeds instead. For the beans, use raw bagged red beans, and add some garlic, a couple of bay leaves and salt while boiling the beans. The beans take about an hour on a medium simmer, adding more water when needed and stirring occasionally. I also had a bit of difficulty with the rolling of the cheese and beans in a single tortilla. They looked like biscuits, and didnt fry well. Try rolling a small thick tortilla from masa on parchment paper, spreading a nice layer of cheese, a dallop of beans, leave about a 1/4 of an inch from the edge then place another small thick tortilla on top, then press close the tortillas edges with the fork. With another piece of parchment on top, flatten the pupusa with a plate or a rolling pin until its about 1/3 of an inch thick together. For 4 cups of Masa, use about 3 1/2 cups of hot water, but add gradually, start about a half cup at a time, and mix with your hands as you go. The consistency will tell you when it is ready. It will be firm, like bread dough. DONT FORGET THE CURTIDO AND SALSA!!! These are CRUCIAL and absolutely decadent!! They arent the same the next day after an overnighter in the refridgerator, so if you made too many, share the weath with a neighbor. They will never complain about your music being too loud ever again. This is a truely lovely recipe and I am greatful to the original poster of this culinary masterpiece. Thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU!!! Giggity Yummerz!!
     
  2. These were awesome! i have never eaten or made pupusas....yes the recipe is time consuming, however definitely well worth it....i did add more hot peppers to the curtido...i like it hot! The actual dough was difficult to work with so i made two very flat "discs" as suggested on an earlier review, and put them together which looked better and worked out well....thank you for an awesome recipe...(my husband has had authentic pupusas in the past and he said mine were definitely the best) i would suggest to anyone trying these for the first time to make the salsa and curtido....just as recipe states! thanks again!
     
  3. I LOVE pupusas!!! I just came back from a month long stay in El Salvador and wanted to make this traditional dish for my family. This recipe is a very good representation of pupusas. Thank you for sharing.
     
  4. TAS-TEE! Ours turned out quite horrid looking compared to the Salvadorian restaurant at which we've had our first and only pupusas, but the flavor was right on the money. I would venture to say that this isn't a "beginner" recipe in terms of manual construction, but we found that layering the filling between two masa "discs" was slightly easier than forming the edges of one layer up and over the filling and then sealing it closed. I'm sure the difficulty of this task is specific to one's experience... ;) I think the key lies in getting the right level of moisture in the masa dough because if it dries out slightly while forming, you're going to get cracks through which the filling will leak. Next time we're going to cheat and just lay the filling mixture on TOP of the masa disc -- Same flavor, a LOT less work for us lazy bums. For the cheese mixture, I had to use what I had on hand which turned out really good! -- shredded mozzarella, a Mexican blend of shredded cheeses, minced bell pepper and minced pepperoncini. There was way too much leftover cheese, but it was so good, we're going to use it for something else. All in all a delicious and authentic-tasting version of a favorite, especially served with Recipe #139725. Thank you so much for sharing!
     
  5. all around the unfarmiliar faces
     
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Tweaks

  1. OH MY GOODNESS!!!! Can I just say what an amazing dinner these make!! The technique for this recipe is a brut to master, but well worth the effort. My boyfriend is from El Salvador so I made these for him as a token of my love. He said that my papusas were better than his grandmothers. "she uses too much beans" he says. Cheese is the melody and the beans are the beat. A couple of tips I pioneered on because I didnt have lorocco for the cheese, I used fresh jalapenos minus the seeds instead. For the beans, use raw bagged red beans, and add some garlic, a couple of bay leaves and salt while boiling the beans. The beans take about an hour on a medium simmer, adding more water when needed and stirring occasionally. I also had a bit of difficulty with the rolling of the cheese and beans in a single tortilla. They looked like biscuits, and didnt fry well. Try rolling a small thick tortilla from masa on parchment paper, spreading a nice layer of cheese, a dallop of beans, leave about a 1/4 of an inch from the edge then place another small thick tortilla on top, then press close the tortillas edges with the fork. With another piece of parchment on top, flatten the pupusa with a plate or a rolling pin until its about 1/3 of an inch thick together. For 4 cups of Masa, use about 3 1/2 cups of hot water, but add gradually, start about a half cup at a time, and mix with your hands as you go. The consistency will tell you when it is ready. It will be firm, like bread dough. DONT FORGET THE CURTIDO AND SALSA!!! These are CRUCIAL and absolutely decadent!! They arent the same the next day after an overnighter in the refridgerator, so if you made too many, share the weath with a neighbor. They will never complain about your music being too loud ever again. This is a truely lovely recipe and I am greatful to the original poster of this culinary masterpiece. Thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU!!! Giggity Yummerz!!
     
  2. I haven't made this specific recipe before but it sounds very similar to the recipe I used when I made pupusas with my mom's Salvadorian coworker. Only difference, and only for the carnivores out there, we put chicharrones in the cheese mixture. Oh so good. Pick a dry chicharron with some meat still in it so it's not all fat. Delicious. I'm making some tomorrow for dinner, I'll post a picture. ??
     
  3. I would most likely omit the water when making the beans. I found that as they were cooking I had to strain the excess liquid out before I could get them to achieve the consistency of refried beans. Otherwise, everything else was excellent!
     

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