Ingredients
Tortillas
- 8corn tortillas
- oil, for frying
Meat
- 500 gminced beef
- 1onion, finely chopped
- 1green pepper, chopped
- 3garlic cloves, crushed
- 2tomatoes, chopped
- 2 tablespoonstomato paste
- 1 teaspoonground cumin
- 2 tablespoonsoil
- salt and black pepper
Cabbage salad
- half a cabbage, finely shredded
- 2carrots, grated
- juice of 2 limes
- 1 tablespoonvinegar
- salt
To top
- 150 gqueso seco, grated
- or a hard salty cheese, grated
- 4eggs, hard boiled and sliced
- tomato sauce or salsa
- pickled onion, optional
Directions
- Heat oil in a wide pan to a shallow depth. It should come about one centimetre up. Heat it until a corner sizzles at once. Lay a tortilla in the pan flat. Fry it for about a minute a side. Judging them takes a careful look.
- Lift them onto kitchen paper to drain. Heat the oil in a wide heavy pan. Add the chopped onion and green pepper. Cook them for about six minutes. Add the crushed garlic and the cumin.
- Add the minced beef and break it up. Brown it thoroughly over a high heat. Stir the tomato paste in as well. Add the chopped tomatoes to it. Cook it down for about twelve minutes. Season it with salt and black pepper. It should end up moist but not wet.
- Shred the cabbage as finely as you can. Grate the carrots into it as well. Squeeze the lime juice over them. Add the vinegar and the salt to it. Toss it thoroughly with your hands. Let it sit for twenty minutes. It softens slightly and takes up the acid.
- Set a fried tortilla on each plate. Spread the meat mixture over it. Spread it right out to the edges. Pile the cabbage salad over the meat. Use plenty of it on every tortilla.
- Lay slices of hard-boiled egg on top. Grate the cheese over everything. Spoon tomato sauce or salsa over.
- Add pickled onion if you have it. Serving them is done immediately. Assemble them at the last moment. Both ways of eating it are done. Assemble each plate entirely fresh.
Technique
- These are unrelated to Mexican enchiladas, which are rolled tortillas in chilli sauce, and Central American countries use the word for quite different dishes.
- Nicaragua also has enchiladas, but those are sealed fried parcels of tortilla around rice and meat, where the Honduran ones are open and flat.
- Curtido, the sharp cabbage and carrot salad, is not optional here, since without it the plate is heavy and dull.
Substitutions
- Any hard salty cheese works in place of queso seco.
- Minced chicken or pork can replace the beef.
Variations
- Some cooks add refried beans as a layer under the meat.
- A version with shredded chicken is equally common.
- Enchiladas nicaraguenses are the sealed fried parcels of the same name.
History
Fried tortillas layered with meat, cabbage and cheese, unrelated to Mexican enchiladas despite the shared name.
Frequently asked questions
What is Enchiladas hondureñas?
Enchiladas hondureñas is a snack from Honduras: flat fried tortilla piled with meat, egg, and cheese. Fried tortillas layered with meat, cabbage and cheese, unrelated to Mexican enchiladas despite the shared name.
How long does Enchiladas hondureñas take to make?
Enchiladas hondureñas takes 30 minutes of preparation and 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Enchiladas hondureñas?
Yes, within limits. Any hard salty cheese works in place of queso seco. Minced chicken or pork can replace the beef.
What is the most important thing to get right in Enchiladas hondureñas?
Add pickled onion if you have it. Serving them is done immediately. Assemble them at the last moment. Both ways of eating it are done. Assemble each plate entirely fresh.
