Gordita facts for kids
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| Course | Breakfast, lunch, dinner |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Mexico |
| Associated national cuisine | Mexico |
| Serving temperature | Hot, room temperature |
| Main ingredients | Corn tortillas, guisados (meat stew), salsa |
A gordita is a tasty Mexican dish. It's made from a special dough called masa. This dough is often stuffed with yummy fillings like cheese, meat, or other ingredients.
The word gordita means "chubby" in Spanish. This name fits because gorditas are usually thicker than a regular tortilla. They are a bit like the Colombian and Venezuelan arepa.
There are two main ways to make gorditas. One way is to fry them in a special pan called a comal. This is common in central and southern Mexico. The other way is to bake them on a comal. The most popular type is the "gordita de chicharrón." It's filled with chicharron, which is a spiced stew made from pork rind. Gorditas are often eaten for lunch with different kinds of salsa.
Contents
What are Gorditas Made Of?
A gordita is usually a thick corn tortilla. The dough is often made from corn flour that has been prepared in a special way called nixtamalization. This is the same flour used for regular tortillas.
Sometimes, especially in northern Mexico near the U.S border, gorditas are made with wheat flour. An older type of corn gordita uses "masa quebrada." This means the cornmeal is ground roughly, leaving small pieces of grain.
How are Gorditas Cooked?
There are two main ways to cook gorditas: deep-fried or baked.
Deep-Fried Gorditas
For deep-fried gorditas, the masa dough is divided into small pieces. Each piece is filled with meat and shaped like a flat oval. Then, this pastry is cooked in hot oil until it's golden and crispy on the outside.
After cooking, the gordita rests to let extra oil drain off. A small cut is made on one side to let out steam and heat. Then, lime juice and salsa are poured inside. This gives the gordita its special flavor.
In some parts of Mexico, the cut is also used to add more fillings. These can include fresh cheese, nopal (cactus) salad, tomatoes, guacamole, potatoes, beans, or rajas. Rajas are sautéed strips of chile peppers.
While chicharron is a traditional filling, other options are popular. These include chicken stew, shredded beef, carne al pastor (spicy pork), eggs with chorizo sausage, carnitas (slow-cooked pork), or picadillo (minced meat stew).
Baked Gorditas
The baked version of a gordita is made almost like a regular tortilla, but it's thicker. For this type, the chicharron is mixed directly into the dough from the start. It's not added later.
The dough is shaped into a flat circle and cooked on a comal. Usually, no extra oil is added. When cut and filled, this gordita looks like a sandwich made with tortillas instead of bread. This baked style is sometimes called Gordita de migas.
Where are Gorditas Eaten?
Gorditas come in different sizes depending on where you are in Mexico. In central Mexico, they are often small and thick, about the size of a child's fist. In northern Mexico, they tend to be larger and flatter.
Most gorditas are shallow-fried in a deep comal with vegetable oil. However, they can also be deep-fried, which makes them even crispier on the outside.
In Durango and other northern Mexican states, gorditas are often made from wheat flour. They look a bit like small pita breads. The dough is the same as for a wheat flour tortilla. They are cooked on a comal with a hot metal piece on top. This makes the gordita puff up with steam. A small cut is made to fill it with guisados (stews).
Dishes Similar to Gorditas
- The Salvadoran dish pupusa is similar to a gordita. But a pupusa is completely sealed and usually served with curtido. This is a lightly pickled cabbage salad.
- In Venezuela and Colombia, an arepa is a type of cornbread. It's often filled with different ingredients. Arepas are made in a similar way to Mexican gorditas, but they are usually smaller and thinner.
- In China, the Roujiamo is a similar dish. It means 'meat sandwiched in bread'. This street food comes from Shaanxi Province and is popular all over China.
Other Types of Gorditas
The fast food restaurant chain Taco Bell sells a wheat flour gordita. It's not exactly like the gorditas you find in Mexico. It's more like a pita bread taco.
In eastern and central Mexico, you can find "gorditas de nata." These are sweet cakes often eaten for breakfast or as a snack. They are like tiny, very thick pancakes. They are made with milk cream (called nata in Mexico), cinnamon, sugar, and white wheat flour. They are called "gordita" because they look similar to the fried gordita. However, they are sweet, not savory.
The same flour mix used for gorditas de nata can also be used to make a flat, crispy cookie. This cookie is also called "gordita" because of the shared ingredients. To tell them apart, these flat cookies are called "sugar gorditas."
See also
In Spanish: Gordita para niños
