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Mexican

Enfrijoladas

A cornerstone of Oaxacan home cooking, enfrijoladas are corn tortillas bathed in a warm, seasoned black bean purée, then folded and topped with sliced white onion, crumbled fresh cheese, and flat-leaved parsley. Diana Kennedy's version in Oaxaca al Gusto strips the dish to its essentials, trusting the depth of a well-made bean purée — seasoned with lard or the fat of choice and often a charred chile or herb — to carry the meal. This is workaday food of the highest order: quick to assemble when the purée is ready, deeply satisfying, and rooted in the black beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) that are central to Oaxacan cuisine. The optional garnish of chile de agua (Capsicum annuum, a fresh green chile specific to the Oaxacan valleys) with lime juice adds brightness and local character.

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Serves4)

Sourced0 of 5 in BC

Cook

‹ Previous · Enchiladas Verdes (Classic — Tomatillo Sauce, Chicken, Crema)|Next · Enfrijoladas (black bean sauce enchiladas) ›

I

The Market List

The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.

3½

to 4 cups (875 ml to 1 L) seasoned black bean purée

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

12

corn tortillas, approximately 5½ to 6–7 inches in diameter

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

1 medium

white onion, sliced into half-moons

Your own market

¾ cup (188 ml)

queso fresco, crumbled

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

⅓ cup (83 ml)

flat-leaved parsley leaves

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

Chile de agua strips with lime juice, to taste (optional)

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

II

The Method

1

Warm the black bean purée in a wide, shallow pan over medium-low heat until hot and fluid but thick enough to coat a spoon.

2

Warm each tortilla on a dry comal or skillet until pliable.

From the canon — The corn tortilla is the foundational food of Mexican cuisine — a thin, round disc of nixtamalized masa cooked on an ungreased comal (flat griddle) until it … Tortilla — hand press, comal, and the puff →

3

Working one at a time, dip a tortilla into the hot purée, turning to coat both sides thoroughly.

4

Fold the coated tortilla into quarters and place on a warmed plate. Repeat with remaining tortillas, arranging three per serving.

5

Spoon a little extra purée over each portion if desired.

6

Top with white onion half-moons, crumbled queso fresco, and flat-leaved parsley leaves.

From the canon — Queso fresco is a young, unaged white cheese made from whole or partially skimmed cow's milk, sometimes blended with a proportion of goat's milk where the lo… Queso Fresco →

7

Serve immediately, with chile de agua strips and lime juice on the side if using.

III

Sensory Tests

◇The bean purée should coat a tortilla fully and cling to it without running off the plate — if it pools as a thin liquid, it has been thinned too far or cooked too briefly; if it sits as a stiff paste, it needs more bean broth to loosen

◇A properly bathed tortilla should be pliable enough to fold without cracking and should carry an even, dark mahogany colour throughout its surface, not pale patches where the purée failed to adhere

◇On the first bite, the bean flavour should read as mineral and full-bodied, not bland — if it tastes only of starch, the beans were undercooked or the lard or charred chile was omitted

◇The raw white onion should provide a sharp, clean counterpoint on the palate immediately after the richness of the purée; if the onion is invisible in the taste, it was sliced too thick and not fresh

◇Where it lives or dies. The dish lives or dies at the moment the tortilla is bathed — the purée must be warm enough to stay fluid and coat the tortilla completely before it is folded, because a cold or gluey purée produces a rubbery, unevenly covered result that no topping can rescue.

IV · Cross-Cuisine Parallels

enmoladas — Mexican — Poblano — Structurally identical preparation — tortillas bathed in a seasoned sauce and folded — but the Poblano version uses a thinned mole rather than a bean purée, illustrating how the same framework moves across regional sauces enchiladas-de-mole — Mexican — Central Mexican — Both rely on a tortilla fully submerged in a thick, cooked sauce before folding; the distinction is the sauce's base ingredient, with enfrijoladas using legume purée where enchiladas use dried-chile mole ful-medames — Egyptian — Shares the culinary logic of cooked Phaseolus or Vicia faba beans as the primary carrier of flavour, seasoned with fat and aromatics, finished with raw allium and fresh herb — workaday food elevated purely by the quality of the bean and the care of the cook

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V

What to Pour

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The pairing

Stanley Park Brewing · Metro Vancouver

Stanley Park Brewing · Vancouver →

Beer

From British Columbia

Strange Fellows Brewing · Metro Vancouver

Strange Fellows Brewing · Vancouver →

Beer lager

Without alcohol

Water Kefir: Ginger Lemongrass

Motherlove Ferments

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

Non-alcoholic

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The whole pairing

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Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.

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The working kitchen

Cost this recipe

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