Pupusas are a griddle cake that originated in El Salvador and Honduras. They are usually made of corn flour, but can sometimes be made with rice flour. The pupusa is filled with meats, beans, or cheeses. It’s traditionally served with a pickled cabbage slaw to offset the heaviness of the cake.
To make a pupusa, you’ll first prepare a simple dough made of masa harina, salt, and cold water. The dough will then be divided into balls and set aside with a light covering to keep them moist. You can fill the dough with your choice of beans, often refried. Or a stewed meat dish can be prepared for the filling. Many people also include cheese in their pupusas.
Rice-based pupusas seem slightly more difficult to find outside EL Salvador, but people say that they offer a more delicate and sweeter-tasting dough. The process of making a pupusa with rice flour is slightly different. For this type, you’ll use boiling water instead of cool water when making the dough. This is done to cook the rice starch and make it more pliable. The rice pupusa sometimes include butter in the dough as well. Because rice flour pupusas aren’t as common outside El Salvador, most relevant videos and recipes are in Spanish, as are those linked below.
The curtido served with the pupusa is considered to be pretty essential, kind of like kimchi is to korean food. You’ll make the curtido by thinly slicing cabbage, onion, and jalapeno. You’ll also grate carrots. Once this is prepped, everything (besides the jalapeno) is sprinkled with salt to bring out the natural juices and start the fermentation process. When the juices have released, layer jalapenos into a jar and add the brined vegetables. This will ferment over the next few days and you’ll have your curtido! I’ve linked an easy recipe below: