PProvenance
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Cooking in
Parksville · Vancouver Island
Nearest city · Nanaimo Change
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.

‹Swipe for the next dish›
Serves4)
Within reach0of 5 in Parksville

Five not yet within reach.

How the 5 are reached
Not yet within reach
5 · to 4 cups (875 ml to 1 L) seasoned black bean purée, corn tortillas, approximately 5½ to 6–7 inches in diameter, queso fresco, crumbled, flat-leaved parsley leaves, chile de agua strips with lime juice, to taste (optional)
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 within reach of Parksville · each reach is counted
12
corn tortillas, approximately 5½ to 6–7 inches in diameter
Not yet within reach of Parksville · each reach is counted
1 medium
white onion, sliced into half-moons
Your own market
¾ cup (188 ml)
queso fresco, crumbled
Not yet within reach of Parksville · each reach is counted
⅓ cup (83 ml)
flat-leaved parsley leaves
Not yet within reach of Parksville · each reach is counted
Chile de agua strips with lime juice, to taste (optional)
Not yet within reach of Parksville · each reach is counted

Within reach counts in town, delivered, shipped and the nearest city. A staple counts once it has a local seller. Charted from each shop's own pages; not yet vouched by a cook who shops here.

The larder of Parksville →
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.
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V

What to Pour

Pouring for London ·

The pairing
1897 Amber Ale
Stanley Park Brewing · Metro Vancouver
Not yet stocked in London
Beer
From London

Nothing from London holds against this yet.

Without alcohol
Water Kefir: Ginger Lemongrass
Motherlove Ferments
Not yet stocked in London
Non-alcoholic

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The whole pairing
Pillar VI
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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The working kitchen
Cost this recipe
Part of The Profession · ingredient costs and your margin
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HACCP brief
Part of The Profession · the food-safety plan
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