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Empanadas de Hongos (Mushroom Empanadas Costeños)

A coastal Oaxacan antojito from Jamiltepec in which wild mushrooms, dried costeño chiles, garlic, and yerbasanta are blended to a loose, textured filling, spooned onto uncooked masa tortillas with dry grated cheese, folded, and cooked directly on a clay comal. The result is earthy, herbaceous, and gently spiced — a regional preparation that reflects the wet-forest foraging traditions of the Oaxacan coast rather than the better-known valley cooking of the capital.

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Serves6 large or 12 small empanadas
Sourced0 of 5 in WA
Cook
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I

The Market List

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

1¼ cups / 315 ml
wild mushrooms, cleaned, rinsed, strained, coarsely chopped
5
dried costeño chiles (Capsicum annuum var. costeño), rinsed, seeds removed, torn into pieces (or to taste)
3
garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped
Your own market
1 large
yerbasanta leaf (Piper auritum), central rib removed, roughly torn
approximately ½ cup / 125 ml water
Your own market
salt to taste
Your own market
finely grated dry aged cheese, as needed
6 large
or 12 small uncooked masa tortillas
II

The Method

1
Combine mushrooms, costeño chile pieces, garlic, yerbasanta, and water in a blender. Work in stages to reach a loose, coarse consistency — do not over-process to a smooth paste. Season with salt.
2
Heat a clay comal over medium-high heat (approximately 200–220°C / 390–430°F) without adding any fat.
3
Lay a raw tortilla flat. Spoon filling onto one half, leaving a border. Scatter grated dry cheese over the filling.
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 →
4
Fold the empty half of the tortilla over the filled half, pressing the edge lightly to enclose.
5
Transfer to the hot comal. Cook until the masa is set, dry, and lightly blistered on the underside, then flip and cook the second side through. Serve immediately.
III

Sensory Tests

◇Press the folded empanada lightly at its thickest point before it goes on the comal — it should feel like a firm pillow, not a rigid disc; if the masa cracks at the fold edge before cooking, it is too dry and will split open and leak filling during cooking.
◇Lift the empanada at the two-minute mark and check the underside: it should show a pattern of irregular pale-tan to light-brown spots with no blackening; uniform dark browning means the comal is too hot and the masa will be raw at center by the time the exterior scorches.
◇Break one open immediately off the comal and inhale before tasting — the first scent should be anise-forward from the yerbasanta carried on steam, followed by the loamy mushroom note; if the chile smell dominates entirely, the yerbasanta leaf was old, dried out, or omitted at insufficient quantity.
◇Where it lives or dies. The empanada lives or dies at the moment of folding: the masa must be hydrated just enough to bend over the filling in a single clean arc without cracking at the seam, then pressed firmly enough along the edge to seal without squeezing filling toward the fold — a split seam on the comal means the filling steams out, the masa dries, and the earthy-herbaceous character that defines the dish escapes before it reaches the table.
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V

What to Pour

Pouring for Western Australia ·

The filling carries the damp, loamy scent of wet-forest mushrooms — mineral and faintly funky — cut through by the resinous anise warmth of yerbasanta and the moderate, fruity heat of dried costeño chiles. On the comal, the masa develops a thin, lightly charred crust while the interior stays soft and yielding, trapping steam from the filling so that each bite releases a burst of herbaceous, earthy heat. The dry grated cheese adds a saline sharpness that keeps the filling from reading as too dark or heavy.

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