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.
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2 tbsp
vegetable oil
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½ medium
white onion, thinly sliced
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2 small
garlic cloves, peeled
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2
chiles de agua, toasted, skinned, and seeded (or 2 jalapeños, toasted)
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1¾ lb (700 g)
tomatoes, quartered and cooked in very little water, cooking liquid reserved
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2 large
sprigs epazote (Dysphania ambrosioides)
Origin · MexicoNot yet stocked in British Columbia
Salt to taste
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¼ cup (65 ml)
vegetable oil
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12
tortillas, approximately 15 cm (6 in) diameter
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
¾ cup (190 ml)
queso fresco, crumbled, or quesillo, shredded
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 medium
white onion, thinly sliced (garnish)
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1 small
bunch flat-leaved parsley, torn
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
II
The Method
1
Warm 2 tbsp oil in a heavy pan over medium heat. Fry the half onion and garlic until golden, around 6–8 minutes.
2
Transfer to a blender with the toasted chiles and the tomato cooking liquid. Blend until smooth.
3
Add the cooked tomato quarters and blend again until the sauce is uniformly smooth.
4
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.
5
Add the epazote sprigs. Season with salt. Keep the sauce hot over the lowest possible flame.
6
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.
7
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.
8
Spoon remaining sauce over the top. Garnish with sliced onion, crumbled queso fresco or shredded quesillo, and torn parsley. Serve immediately.