Welcome to our Authentic Mexican Holiday Recipes Series!
Today's recipe is Papadzules and you can find it below.
The other days we'll be doing
And now: Papadzules
Papadzules (pah-pahd-zoo-lays) are a delicious dish of tortillas filled with eggs (or substitute other cooked meat) and covered in a pumpkin sauce. And like the other dishes we will be sharing this week, these are authentic Yucatecan Mexican recipes from our area (Campeche and the Yucatán). They are quite distinct from any other area of Mexico.
The first time I had this dish was at a local restaurant down on the wharf and the sauce was green (from a green pumpkin I guess) and the meat inside was cooked, shredded crab meat, and adorned with the boiled egg. It was different, but delicious!
Ingredients:
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 2 chicken bouillon cubes
- 1 sprig epazote (optional)
- ½ lb. papadzul paste (see recipe below)
- 16 corn tortillas
- 8 hard-boiled eggs, sliced (or substitute other cooked, shredded meat)
- pinch of salt.
- 2 cups tomoato sauce (see below)
Directions:
Boil chicken broth with bouillon and epazote. Boil 1 minute and strain. Moisten the papadzul paste with a small amount of broth, to make a thick sauce.
Make tacos by dipping a whole tortilla in the sauce and rolling it up with slices of egg (or substitute other meat) and a pinch of salt inside.
Cover with more of the papadzul sauce and tomato sauce. Add a bit of hard-boiled egg as garnish and serve at once.
You can see various photos of this dish here. None of my pictures turned out well enough to share.
Papadzul Paste:
1 lb. thick, peeled pumpkin seeds. Salt to taste.
Directions: toast the seeds on a griddle, but do not let them get brown. Grind the seeds by hand or blend; season with salt and gradually add water to form a thick paste.
Tomato Sauce:
- 1 lb plum tomatoes
- ¾ cup white onion
- 3 oz. oil
- 1 chicken bouillon cube
- salt to taste
Directions: Add a bit of water to tomatoes and onion and blend. Fry in oil an add the bouillon seasoning and salt. Simmer uncovered on a low heat, stirring constantly, for about 30 minutes, until the sauce thickens.