Cooking in
Western Australia
Mexican
Molotes Oaxaqueños (Oaxacan Molotes)
Molotes are small, shuttle-shaped masa pockets from Oaxaca, fried until their exterior crisps into a golden shell while the filling inside stays tender and aromatic. Chorizo and potato is the classic combination — the fat from the sausage perfumes the starchy filling and keeps it cohesive. Lard in the dough itself adds richness and helps the masa hold together during frying without becoming dense. These are street food in their bones: fast to prepare, satisfying, and best eaten the moment they come out of the oil.
‹Swipe for the next dish›
I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
450 g (1 lb)
tortilla masa
60 g (2 oz)
pork lard, plus more for frying (or vegetable oil)
Salt to taste
Your own market
Approximately 500 ml (2 cups) chorizo and potato filling
II
The Method
1
Combine masa, lard, and salt. Work together by hand until the dough is smooth and the fat is fully incorporated.
2
Divide into 24 equal balls.
3
Flatten each ball to a disk of even thickness (approximately 3 mm).
4
Place a small amount of filling — no more than a rounded teaspoon — in the center of each disk.
5
Fold the masa over the filling and press the edges together firmly, shaping each pocket into a small shuttle with pinched, sealed ends.
6
Pour lard or oil to a depth of roughly 1.5 cm (about half an inch) in a heavy skillet. Heat to approximately 175–180°C (347–356°F) over medium heat.
7
Fry in uncrowded batches for about 5 minutes, turning once, until golden and cooked through.
8
Drain on paper towels and serve immediately.
III
Sensory Tests
◇Tap the molote lightly with a fingernail immediately after frying — you should hear a faint, dry knock from the shell, not a dull thud. If it sounds soft, the oil was too cool or the masa too thick.
◇Bite through the seam end first: the masa wall should measure no more than 3–4 mm and the filling should meet the tooth within one or two bites. A thick, doughy ring surrounding a small pocket of filling indicates poor shaping or insufficiently rested masa.
◇Hold the molote briefly in a paper napkin — a small grease bloom is normal, but if the napkin saturates through within thirty seconds, the frying temperature was too low and the dough has absorbed oil rather than cooked in it.
◇Where it lives or dies. The dish lives or dies at the moment the molote enters the oil: if the lard or oil is not held at 175–180 °C (347–356 °F), the shell cannot set fast enough to form its crust, the seams soften and split, and the interior fat renders out into the fryer rather than remaining inside to keep the filling cohesive and aromatic.
Pillar IV
Cross-cuisine parallels are part of membership.
The dishes this one teaches you, across the cuisines — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year
V
What to Pour
The pairing
Beer
From Western Australia
Nothing from Western Australia holds against this yet.
Without alcohol
Non-alcoholic
Why each one works is part of membership — Enter · from $49 a year →
The whole pairingPillar VI
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year
The working kitchen