Cooking in

Pemberton · the Sea to Sky

Nearest city · Vancouver Change

Mexican

Entomatadas

Entomatadas are folded tortillas bathed in a bright, chile-spiked tomato sauce rooted in Oaxacan home cooking. Diana Kennedy's version from *Oaxaca al Gusto* draws on the region's distinctive chiles de agua (*Capsicum annuum* var.), whose fruity heat and thin walls make them ideal for toasting and blending raw into a sauce that is then fried to concentrate its flavor. Epazote (*Dysphania ambrosioides*) gives the finished sauce its unmistakable herbal edge — slightly resinous, medicinal, and irreplaceable. The dish sits comfortably at breakfast or as a midday main, finished with crumbled queso fresco or pulled strings of quesillo and a scatter of flat-leaved parsley.

‹Swipe for the next dish›

Serves4 (3 tortillas each)

Within reach5of 11 in Pemberton

Five in town · six not yet within reach.

How the 11 are reached

In town: 5 · vegetable oil, white onion, thinly sliced, garlic cloves, peeled, vegetable oil, white onion, thinly sliced (garnish)
Not yet within reach: 6 · chiles de agua, toasted, skinned, and seeded (or 2 jalapeños, toasted), tomatoes, quartered and cooked in very little water, cooking liquid reserved, sprigs epazote (Dysphania ambrosioides), tortillas, approximately 15 cm (6 in) diameter, queso fresco, crumbled, or quesillo, shredded, bunch flat-leaved parsley, torn

Cook

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The Market List

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

2 tbsp

vegetable oil

In town · Kitchen Quickies · Squamish →

½ medium

white onion, thinly sliced

In town · North Arm Farm →

2 small

garlic cloves, peeled

In town · North Arm Farm →

chiles de agua, toasted, skinned, and seeded (or 2 jalapeños, toasted)

Not yet within reach of Pemberton · each reach is counted

1¾ lb (700 g)

tomatoes, quartered and cooked in very little water, cooking liquid reserved

Not yet within reach of Pemberton · each reach is counted

2 large

sprigs epazote (Dysphania ambrosioides)

Origin · MexicoNot yet within reach of Pemberton · each reach is counted

Salt to taste

Your own market

¼ cup (65 ml)

vegetable oil

In town · Kitchen Quickies · Squamish →

tortillas, approximately 15 cm (6 in) diameter

Not yet within reach of Pemberton · each reach is counted

¾ cup (190 ml)

queso fresco, crumbled, or quesillo, shredded

Not yet within reach of Pemberton · each reach is counted

1 medium

white onion, thinly sliced (garnish)

In town · North Arm Farm →

1 small

bunch flat-leaved parsley, torn

Not yet within reach of Pemberton · 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 Pemberton →

Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.

The Method

Warm 2 tbsp oil in a heavy pan over medium heat. Fry the half onion and garlic until golden, around 6–8 minutes.

Transfer to a blender with the toasted chiles and the tomato cooking liquid. Blend until smooth.

Add the cooked tomato quarters and blend again until the sauce is uniformly smooth.

Return the pan to medium-high heat, add the sauce, and fry — stirring frequently — until slightly reduced and deepened in color, about 8–10 minutes. The sauce should coat a spoon lightly.

Add the epazote sprigs. Season with salt. Keep the sauce hot over the lowest possible flame.

From the canon — Epazote (Dysphania ambrosioides) is one of Mexico's defining culinary herbs — a pungent, aromatic annual with a distinctive smell sometimes described as petr… Epazote — identification and usage →

In a separate wide pan, heat the ¼ cup (65 ml) oil over medium heat. Fry each tortilla briefly on both sides — roughly 10–15 seconds per side — until pliable but not crisp. Drain on paper briefly.

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 →

While still warm and flexible, dip each tortilla fully into the hot tomato sauce, fold in half, then in half again to form a quarter-circle. Arrange on a warm serving dish, overlapping slightly.

Spoon remaining sauce over the top. Garnish with sliced onion, crumbled queso fresco or shredded quesillo, and torn parsley. Serve immediately.

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 →

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