Those flavorful sopitos are prepared with meat, refried beans, cabbage, onion, tomato, and radishes. All generously drizzled with tomato sauce and lots of queso cotija.
Cotija cheese(or queso fresco, or any farmer's cheese of your choice)
Instructions
Prepare the meat
Form 4 balls with the ground meat pressing it hard between your hands.
In a large pot, bring plenty of water (about 10-12 cups) to a boil with 1 tablespoon of salt, bay leaf, and garlic.
Add the meatballs to the water and cook for 30-40 minutes.
While the meat is cooking, add the tomatoes along and cook them until tender. Remove from pot and place meat and tomatoes in a bowl to cool down.
Strain the cooking water, then return to the pot and keep it aside.
Put the meat in a food processor and pulse two or three times until it is finely minced. Transfer to a bowl and keep covered until needed.
Prepare the sauce
Add tomatoes, garlic, oregano, cumin seeds, and black peppercorns to a blender.
Add a cup of meat cooking water and blend at high speed for 2 or 3 minutes.
Pour the sauce into the pot with the meat broth and add the remaining oregano.
Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Adjust salt to taste and turn off the heat.
Make the sopito shells
Mix masa harina and water in a bowl until combined, then knead until you’ll have a soft dough that doesn’t stick to your hands (read notes).
Divide the dough into 30 portions and roll them into balls. Cover the balls with a damp kitchen towel to prevent them from drying.
Now, take one ball and flatten it between your hands until you get a small thick circle about 2.5 inches (6cm) in diameter. Read notes.
Tip: You can also use a heavy dish or a tortilla press to flatten them, just remember that they should be a little thick.
Heat a griddle or a nonstick skillet over medium heat and cook the sopito for about 1 minute on each side.
Remove from the griddle and use a paper towel to pinch the edges to form a rim that will keep the toppings in place.
Repeat the steps with all dough balls keeping the cooked sopito shells spread on a clean kitchen towel to allow them to cool down.
Fry & assemble
Heat plenty of manteca or oil in a frying pan and fry the sopes on both sides until golden brown (read notes).
Place them on a plate lined with kitchen towels to remove excess oil.
Arrange five or six pieces on each plate and first add a layer of refried beans.
Then add some meat on top and a bit of chopped onion.
Top with cabbage followed by slices of tomato and radish. Drizzle with lots of sauce and finish with cheese sprinkled on top.
Notes
Dough should have the texture of play dough, so adjust the water accordingly.
If you are going to make sopitos delgaditos, they have to be less thick but more or less the same size, so make the balls with less dough and flatten them a little more so that they are thinner.
How long you should fry the sopitos shells depends on the taste of each person, personally I like them soft but some people prefer them crispy.