I am with Chef Carlos Capistran.
And we are in Akumal, Mexico.
Wo-Hoo!
Having a great time cooking meals for fifteen dollars or less.
Regional cuisine is talking to us today.
What are we having?
Today we are going to make a traditional Sopes.
It is a very traditional dish.
It is made out of masa, which is made out of corn,
Water, salt and pepper to season everything up.
We cook the masa and before it is completely cook,
We pinch the sides of the tortilla to make a little pocket.
There you go.
I have a little masa pocket here.
And we are going to put it right on?
Right on the pan to warm it up.
Great.
About three to four minutes.
The main ingredients for Sopes are beans,
Salsa, cheese.
And also you can do chicken Sopes,
Chorizo Sopes, beef Sopes,
Whatever you want to put in your Sopes.
These are black beans.
These are refried black beans, that is correct.
Okay.
So can I go ahead and put it on?
Go ahead and put it on there.
Alright, we will put in some black beans.
Which is this marvolous, rich, dark color.
Ut-oh, I missed.
Oh no!
And remember, cooking is not about perfection.
It’s about eating, that’s what it’s about.
And then, can I add other ingredients on top?
Everything you like.
Oh! Heavens!
Okay, I love the chicken.
Okay.
And so we will put,
How about we make three different types?
Perfect. Yeah.
We’ll put chicken on and then this is beef.
But I can see where if you only use a few ingredients,
That this can be very inexpensive.
And of course, chorizo. Which is one of my absolute favorite sausages.
And then I see that you have avocado here.
Can I put an avocado on top now?
What we do here now is that we heat everything up.
And then when everything is nice and hot,
We can put it on the plate
And then we can put everything on top.
Everything that is cold, we put it on top.
Alright, so we save that for later.
We are going to make sure this is hot.
Okay.
Mucho calor.
I’m learning Spanish.
We’re in Mexico for Pete’s sakes.
Plop that right in there.
It’s a delicate process.
Oh! That looks so good.
Ok, next.
Then we add everything else.
Okay.
Want me to hold that for you?
Sure, thank you.
Okay.
I don’t know what to put on first!
I guess I can put avocado on.
And so really, this is regional cuisine here.
But you can have anything you wanted at home.
If you have, for example, vegetables of all kinds
You can put on top, right?
Exactly. You can do everything you like.
The main ingredient here are the Sopes.
Oh, forget the spoon.
We’re going to put it on like this.
This is the easiest way.
Use your fingers.
And then a little sauce on top I think.
And this is simple to make.
And here I was worried. I thought it would be difficult.
Very simple, inexpensive, and delicious.
Delicious and now I get to try it.
This is always the best part.
No, you don’t get to try it. It’s just me.
Perfect.
Oh, this isn’t going to work either.
I’m just going to have to pick it up and eat it with my hands.
Messy is better.
Mmmm.
All the flavors marry.
I mean, it’s perfect.
Wonderful!
Easy, simple, and under fifteen dollars.