Panuchos Yucatecos

Ingredients

• 400 g masa harina, or 600 g fresh corn masa
• 550 ml warm water, if using masa harina
• 1 tsp fine salt, plus a pinch for finishing
• 250 g cooked black beans
• 100 ml black bean cooking liquid
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 large sprig epazote
• 3 tbsp lard, plus 300 ml lard or vegetable oil for frying
• 400 g shredded cochinita pibil or poached chicken
• 1 red onion, halved and very thinly sliced
• 1 habanero chilli
• 120 ml sour orange juice, or 80 ml orange juice mixed with 40 ml white vinegar
• 1 tsp dried Mexican oregano
• 1/4 white cabbage, finely shredded
• 2 tomatoes, sliced
• 1 avocado, sliced

Before you cook

• Slice the red onion as thinly as you possibly can and put it in a bowl.
• Prick the habanero twice with the tip of a knife.
• Mix the sour orange juice, oregano and half a teaspoon of salt into the onion, tuck in the habanero and leave it for at least 30 minutes.
• Mix the masa harina with the remaining salt and the warm water, then knead until the dough feels like soft modelling clay and holds a fingerprint without cracking at the edges.
• Divide the masa into 12 balls the size of a golf ball and cover them with a damp cloth.
• Shred the cabbage finely and slice the tomatoes and avocado.

Steps

1. Put the black beans, garlic, epazote and the bean cooking liquid in a blender and blend to a thick, smooth paste.
2. Heat 3 tablespoons of lard in a frying pan over medium heat until it shimmers.
3. Pour in the bean puree and fry it for 7 minutes, stirring constantly, until it is thick enough to hold a line drawn through it with the spoon.
4. Scrape the beans into a bowl and leave them to cool to just warm.
5. Heat a dry comal or heavy frying pan over medium-high heat for 3 minutes.
6. Press one masa ball between two sheets of plastic into a disc about 13 cm across and 3 mm thick.
7. Lay the disc on the hot comal and cook it for 30 seconds.
8. Turn it and cook for 60 seconds, then turn it back and press gently around the edge with your fingertips until it balloons up with steam.
9. Lift the tortilla onto a plate and, while it is still hot, slit a wide opening along one edge through the top skin only.
10. Shape, cook and slit the remaining masa balls the same way, keeping them soft under a cloth.
11. Spoon a heaped tablespoon of bean paste into each tortilla and press it flat so the pocket closes again.
12. Heat the frying lard in a deep pan to 180C, or until a scrap of masa sizzles briskly the moment it goes in.
13. Fry the panuchos two at a time, bean side down, for 1 minute.
14. Turn them and fry for another minute, until the base is crisp and blistered.
15. Lift them onto kitchen paper and season with a pinch of salt.
16. Top each panucho with warm shredded cochinita, then cabbage, tomato and avocado.
17. Finish with a tangle of pickled onion and a spoonful of its pink juice, and serve at once.