Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon

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

Units Scale

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 12-ounce can diced tomatoes.
  • Two whole onions, quartered
  • 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

  1. Roast onions and 1 clove garlic and at 350° for about 40 minutes.
  2. De-stem chiles. If you prefer less spice, remove the seeds.
  3. Hydrate chiles in 2 cups of water with three bay leaves.
  4. Combine roasted onions, roasted and raw garlic, tomatoes, hydrated chiles (including the water but not the bay leaves) and rice vinegar in a blender.
  5. Add enough water to cover all but the top ½ inch of the vegetable and chile mixture.
  6. Add cumin, black pepper.
  7. Blend into a smooth, thick sauce.

Black Bean Sauce

  1. Cook black beans until done.
  2. 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.
  • Author: Ben Lester

Find it online: https://localgrain.org/masa/