Dinner Dish: Panuchos on a Mexico Cooking Vacation

When people think of Mexican cuisine on our Mexico culinary vacations, their mind often jumps to tacos, but tostadas are an important entree in this North American country too. One delicious street food that is becomingly increasingly popular is the panucho, which elevates the tostada, and which you can learn how to make during a Mexico cooking vacation.

Primarily served in the Yucatan, including our Mexico culinary tour Culinary Yucatan, panuchos are a “dish [that] requires more of the corn tortilla than just sitting there as a platform for your food,” according to travel writer Jill Robinson. “In panuchos, the tortilla is puffed and filled with refried beans.” To do this, you’ll puff up a homemade corn tortillas, made with masa, on a skillet. Then, once you’ve removed the tortilla from the heat, you’ll cut a small slit on top of the tortilla and fill it with some black bean puree. Return the tortillas, now filled with beans, to the stove top to cook and brown.

How to Serve a Panucho

Once the tortilla and beans are done cooking, you’re free to add a number of toppings. Traditionally, chicken is used, but any meat, like chorizo, would be a delicious addition to this tasty treat on our Mexico cooking vacations. Other popular condiments include pickled red onions, avocados, salsa, and sometimes even cucumber. To take the panuchos up another notch, drizzle a spicy habanero sauce on top!

Panuchos originated in the town of Merida — which is also home to our Yucatan cooking vacation — when a street food vendor named “Don Hucho” served bread with beans and a boiled egg to passing travelers. As the dish evolved, the bread was replaced with tortillas.

For other delightful and traditional Mexican recipes that you can make on our Mexico culinary tours, such as tacos de mariscos empanizados, please search our blog.

“Dinner dish” is a blog series, in which The International Kitchen discusses recipes and the history of particular regional foods. Have a food you want to learn more about? Contact us today.

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Other “Dinner Dish” blogs:
Italy (Lucca): Tortelli Lucchese
Spain: Paella
Italy: Meatballs
Italy (Puglia): Ran-Away Fish Soup