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AI-generated photograph: Two thick oval corn rounds with pinched rims on a dark iron griddle plate, spread with black beans, melted white cheese strands, dots of brick red salsa and crumbled white cheese

Home · Recipes · Memelas with black beans and quesillo

Oaxacan · Soups and starters

Memelas with black beans and quesillo

pinched masa · black beans · melted quesillo

AI-generated photograph

Memelas are thick ovals of masa (corn dough) cooked on a hot griddle, pinched up at the edge while warm and topped with mashed black beans, melted quesillo (Oaxaca string cheese) and salsa. They are a breakfast and market snack all over Oaxaca, and a generous starter here.

Contains: milk, as written. Milk (quesillo or mozzarella, and queso fresco or feta). Masa harina made only from corn and lime is gluten free, but check the bag in case it was made alongside wheat. If you keep strictly vegetarian, choose cheeses made with vegetarian rennet.

Ingredients

  • 250g masa harina (flour made from nixtamalised corn, that is dried corn cooked in limewater and ground), plus about 350ml warm water
  • Half a teaspoon fine salt
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 tin black beans (400g), drained, with 3 tablespoons of the liquid kept
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 100g quesillo (Oaxaca string cheese) or mozzarella, pulled into thin strands
  • 50g queso fresco (a fresh, crumbly Mexican cheese) or feta, crumbled
  • 4 tablespoons salsa, such as our salsa de chile pasilla
  • A few sprigs of fresh coriander

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Let's cook

  1. Make the dough. Mix the masa harina and salt in a bowl, pour in 300ml of the warm water and knead with your hand for 2 minutes. Add the rest of the water a little at a time until the dough feels soft and springy, like play dough, and does not crack when you press a ball flat. Cover with a damp tea towel and rest for 10 minutes.
  2. Make the beans. Warm 1 tablespoon of the oil in a small pan on a medium heat, add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the beans and their kept liquid, mash them with a fork or potato masher and cook for 3 to 4 minutes until thick and spreadable. Keep warm.
  3. Divide the dough into 8 balls. Press each one between two pieces of baking paper, with your palm or a heavy pan, into an oval about 12cm long and 1cm thick.
  4. Heat a large heavy frying pan, griddle or comal (a flat griddle) on a medium high heat with no oil. Cook the memelas 3 or 4 at a time for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until they lift easily and have pale brown spots.
  5. While each memela is still hot, hold it in a folded clean tea towel and pinch a low rim all round the edge with your fingertips. It is hot, so work quickly and let the cloth take the heat.
  6. Brush the tops with the rest of the oil and spread each one with a spoonful of beans. Lay the quesillo strands on top.
  7. Put them back in the pan, cover with a lid or a baking tray and cook for 2 minutes more, until the cheese has melted and the bases are crisp.
  8. Spoon a little salsa over each memela, scatter with the crumbled queso fresco and a few coriander leaves, and serve hot.

Tips

  • Masa harina is sold in the world food aisle of larger supermarkets and by online Mexican food shops. Buy one that is made only from corn and lime; it keeps for months in a sealed bag.
  • In Oaxaca memelas are brushed with asiento, the toasty sediment from rendering pork fat. Oil keeps them vegetarian.
  • Leftover cooked memelas keep in the fridge, wrapped, for 2 days. Reheat them in a dry pan until hot through before adding the toppings.

Swaps

  • Vegan: leave out both cheeses and top the beans with sliced avocado and a squeeze of lime.
  • No quesillo or queso fresco: use mozzarella and a mild feta.

Our own recipe. The photograph is AI-generated.

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