Fresh Corn Masa
Once you master the simple and ancient process of nixtamalization, it’s easy to whip up your own tacos, memelas (see recipe below!) sopes, tamales, or pozole. Masa (nixtamalized corn) is the base preparation for all your Mexican and central American favorites. The Nixtamalization process softens the corn and makes b vitamins (Niacin)nutritionally available. Warning, once you have the real deal, there’s no going back to the industrialized imitations found all over!
- Yield: 3 lbs or 2 quarts 1x
Ingredients
Masa Kernels
- 2 lbs whole corn kernels (we use heirloom Nothstine Dent from our grain share).
- 2 quarts of water
- 2 tbsp pickling lime, aka calcium oxide
Masa Dough
- 8 oz masa kernels
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4–1/3 cup water
Instructions
- boil corn with 2 tablespoons of calcium oxide for 15 minutes. let stand overnight (12-24 hours).
- poured the corn into a colander and rinse with cold water, removing some of the kernels’ soft outer layer. you now have masa or hominy. For a hearty pozole, add whole masa kernels directly into a soup or stew. To prepare masa dough for tortillas or tamales, continue to step 3.
- Add masa kernels, salt, and water to your food processor. Process for 4-8 minutes, pausing occasionally to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to reincorporate any stuck kernels.
- You want the dough to have a stiff, smooth, clay-like texture. If necessary, add more masa kernels, water, or some cornmeal to adjust consistency, but go easy on the water. You want just enough to facilitate grinding; too much, and the dough will be sticky and hard to handle. *Be careful not to overheat the dough in the food processor* Pause the grinding if you feel the bowl becoming hot.
- Now you are ready to press out some tortillas, pat out some gorditas, and pinch a few sopes or memelas!!
Notes
Any extra masa kernels will keep in your freezer for several months.
- Category: flatbread
Oaxaca-style Memelas with Chicken Tinga
Memelas are a version of a popular Latin American street food with dozens of regional iterations, including sopes, huaraches, gorditas, and picaditas. Memelas hail from Oaxaca, Mexico, which is home to 16 indigenous ethnic groups whose foodways trace back thousands of years before the arrival of the Spanish.
Memelas start with small, thick tortillas with a hot, golden crust and a rich, creamy center. The basic memela sold on the street in Oaxaca is toasted on a clay griddle, topped with black bean sauce, crumbled queso fresco, and garnished with thinly sliced onion, cilantro, radish and/or avocado. Some vendors also offer heartier toppings like potato and chorizo, nopales, quesillo (Oaxacan string cheese) and my favorite, tinga de pollo – shredded chicken stewed in a sweet-savory onion, tomato and chile sauce –featured here.
Ingredients
Tinga Sauce
- 1 ounce each dried guajillo, ancho, and chipotle chiles, de-stemmed (we used kitchen garden chiles from the Farmers pantry)
- 1 head roasted garlic
- 3 cloves raw garlic
- 2 cups water
- 4–6 Roma tomatoes, or one can diced tomatoes.
- Two whole onions, halved
- 1/4 cup vinegar (I prefer white or rice wine vinegar)
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/8 tsp Black pepper
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 tsp salt
Black Bean Sauce
- 2 cups cooked black beans
- 2 tsp dried epazote
- 2 tsp dried hoja santa (available at Mexican or Central American food marts or online)
- Salt to taste
Instructions
Tinga Sauce
- De-stem chiles. If you prefer less spice, remove the seeds.
- Hydrate chiles in 2 cups of water with three bay leaves.
- Combine roasted onions, roasted and raw garlic, tomatoes, hydrated chiles (including the water but not the bay leaves) and rice vinegar in a blender.
- Add enough water to cover all but the top ½ inch of the vegetable and chile mixture.
- Add cumin, black pepper.
- Blend into a smooth, thick sauce.
Black Bean Sauce
- Cook black beans until done.
- Add to blender or food processor with epazote hoja santa, salt and pepper and blend until smooth using as much water qas needed to achieve the desired consistency. Should be a thick sauce like consistency.