Oaxaca · 30 min · Vegetarian · Main course · For beginners
Enfrijoladas
For 4 servings · US units
Corn tortillas in a silky chipotle bean sauce with queso fresco and crema
For enfrijoladas, warm corn tortillas take a dip in a silky black bean sauce, get tucked around queso fresco and onion, and go straight onto the plate. The dish comes from Oaxaca and is on the table in half an hour. Chipotles in adobo give the sauce a gentle, smoky heat that's welcome any time of year.
Ingredients
- 1½ lbcooked, with their liquid; pinto or Peruano beans also workCaution: Dried beans contain lectins that are harmful raw and must be fully cooked at a rolling boil after soaking, as slow cooking at low temperature is not enough.Small black-skinned beans with a creamy interior and an earthy, slightly sweet flavour.Substitute: Kidney or pinto beans work just as well in the dish but taste less earthy, and the dark colour of the beans and their liquid is lost.Read more
- 3for the bean sauce, adjust to desired heatSmoked, dried jalapeños packed in a dark, sweet-sour sauce of tomato, vinegar and spices, smoky and properly hot.Substitute: Dried chipotles, soaked and blended with a little tomato paste and a splash of vinegar, come closest; at a pinch, smoked paprika and a little cayenne with tomato paste give smoke and heat, but not the fleshy texture or the sweet-sour depth of the sauce.Read more
- 1onionhalf roughly chopped for the sauce, the rest finely chopped for filling or topping
- 3 clovesgarlicpeeled, for the sauce
- ½ tspOreganodried
- 1 tbspVegetable oilfor heating the sauce; more for optionally frying the tortillas
- 1⅔ cupsVegetable stockor water; to adjust the consistency
- 1 tspsalt
- 12Thin flatbreads made from nixtamalized corn dough, with a gently earthy corn flavour.Substitute: Homemade ones from masa harina are just as good, whereas ordinary cornmeal or polenta won't bind into a dough. Wheat tortillas work for filling but taste blander, are softer and don't crisp the same way when fried.Read more
- 7 ozcrumbled, for filling and topping; Monterey Jack as an alternativeA young, unaged Mexican cow's-milk cheese: white, mildly salty and slightly tangy, with a crumbly texture.Substitute: The closest match is a mild feta soaked briefly in water to draw out salt, though it stays sharper and tangier. Ricotta salata or well-drained, lightly salted farmer's cheese match the crumbly texture, and paneer behaves similarly under heat but is firmer and blander.Read more
- chopped, for toppingThe fresh leaves of the coriander plant, with a bright, citrusy and slightly peppery taste.Substitute: There is no true substitute. Flat-leaf parsley, perhaps with a little lime zest, adds colour and green freshness but not cilantro's distinctive citrusy note.Read more
- for drizzlingA lightly soured, pourable Mexican cream, milder and runnier than sour cream, drizzled over dishes.Substitute: Crème fraîche thinned with a little milk or cream comes very close to crema and also holds up to heat. Sour cream thinned with some cream works too, but it is noticeably more sour and can curdle in hot dishes.Read more
- 1avocadosliced, as topping (optional)
- 1limecut into wedges, for serving (optional)
Method
- Put the black beans and their cooking liquid in a blender with the chipotles in adobo, the roughly chopped onion half, the garlic, the Mexican oregano, the salt and the vegetable stock, and blend until completely smooth. Finely chop the other onion half and set it aside for filling and topping.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet, pour in the bean purée and let it simmer for a few minutes, stirring, until it's hot and nicely thickened.
- Check the consistency: the sauce should cling to the tortillas. If it's too thick, loosen it with a splash of stock or water; if it's too thin, let it cook down for a few more minutes.
- Taste the sauce and add more salt or another chipotle if it needs it, then keep it warm over low heat.
- Warm the corn tortillas in a dry skillet, in the oven or in the microwave until they're soft and pliable.
- Drag each tortilla through the bean sauce one at a time so it's coated all over, fill it with some crumbled queso fresco and chopped onion, and roll it up or fold it in half.
- Divide the filled enfrijoladas among plates, spoon the rest of the sauce over the top and serve right away, finished with the remaining cheese, onion, chopped cilantro and a drizzle of Mexican crema.
Tips and variations
If you like a little more texture, briefly fry the tortillas in oil before dipping them instead of just warming them. For a deeper, mellower sauce, sauté the onion and garlic in oil first rather than blending them raw. Pinto or Peruano beans work just as well as black beans, and if you love melty cheese, fill them with Monterey Jack instead of queso fresco. You can also bake them: lay the rolled enfrijoladas in a baking dish, cover them with sauce and slide them into the oven at about 200–220 °C (400–425 °F) for a few minutes, until the cheese melts. To serve, a few slices of avocado and some lime wedges for squeezing over make the whole thing fresh and well rounded.
Allergens
Contains: Milk (including lactose)
Not every ingredient in this recipe has been checked, so nothing is promised as free from.
These notes follow from this recipe's ingredient list. Ready-made products and brands may contain further allergens — please check the packaging yourself.
Something not right?
This recipe was put together from independent sources and checked before publishing. Even so, a mistake can slip through — an amount that does not add up, a step that does not work as written. If you spot something, write to us: we will look into it and put it right.
