Huaraches with salsa roja

The huarache gets its name from its distinctive oval shape, which resembles the sole of a traditional Mexican sandal. According to local lore, the dish was born at Mexico City's Mercado Jamaica when vendor Carmen Gómez Medina began stretching her masa to make room for more fillings.

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 300 g scotch fillet steak
• 1 cup refried beans
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 spring onions
• salt and pepper, to season
• 1 avocado, cut into wedges
• cotija (or feta) cheese, to serve
• lime wedges, to serve
• hot sauce, to serve

Salsa roja

• 3 tomatoes
• 3 jalapenos
• ½ onion, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• salt, to taste

Huaraches

• 2 cups masa harina
• ¼ tsp salt

Instructions

1. With a meat mallet, flatten the steak to about ½ cm thickness and season well with salt and pepper. 
2. For the salsa roja, bring a small saucepan of water to a simmer and boil the tomato and jalapenos whole for about 12 minutes. Remove and blend with the onion and garlic to a mostly smooth salsa. Season with salt and set aside. 
3. For the huaraches, combine the masa, salt and about 375 ml of warm water and mix to a smooth dough. Divide the dough into 4 pieces and roughly flatten the pieces to an oval shape. Add ¼ cup of refried beans to the centre of the oval and close the dough around it, forming a large oval, football shape. With a large tortilla press, press the oval to about 1 cm thickness. 
4. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and add some the vegetable oil. Fry the huaraches one at a time until crisp and golden, adding more oil each time. Keep the huaraches warm while you cook the steak in a warm oven, or wrapped in a clean tea towel.
5. Add a little more oil to the pan and fry the steak and spring onions until cooked to your liking. Remove from the pan and slice. 
6. Serve the steak and onions on top of the huaraches with avocado, salsa roja, cotija or feta cheese and hot sauce of your choice.

As featured in Adam Liaw’s North American Fan Feasts showing on SBS On Demand.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.