It's National Grilled Cheese Month, and while I've made my fair share with two slices of bread, I wanted to celebrate with a traditional Salvadoran dish, the pupusa. Essentially a pancake-like corn cake, pupusas are stuffed with a thin layer of cheese, beans, or pork. I was a little nervous, but preparing the masa is easy — you just add water and stir.
I tried a couple of different techniques to get the perfect pupusa and found the best way was to use my hands. I lightly oiled them, flattened the masa ball, placed the shredded cheese in the center of the masa, and pulled the edges up around the cheese. Once the masa sealed the cheese, I patted it into a small, flat disk.
With this process, the pupusa doesn't crack or let the cheese leak out while cooking. Serve these cheese-filled corn cakes hot topped with spicy slaw and a touch of sour cream. Now that I have the method down, I can't wait to make pork- and cheese-filled pupusas. To skip taco night and surprise your family with pupusas, keep reading for the recipe.
