Tragona: what stuck to my ribs, pulled on my heartstrings, and got me in my feelings this month.
Empanada de Mole Amarillo at Empandas del Carmen, Oaxaca de Juarez, Oaxaca
Across the from the Carmen Alto templo in Oaxaca's center, Empanadas del Carmen is a tiny street stall where, true to the name, empanadas are the whole point.
The tortilla is crepe-like and drapes deftly around scalding yellow mole. Curiously, and wonderfully, there is not a lick of bread within a hundred kilometers of the Oaxacan empanada. Instead, from fresh masa on hand, each tortilla is pressed and set on the comal to order, a ladle of yellow mole, shredded chicken, and fresh herbs go down before sealed up and left to crisp golden.
The empanada concept, a species of stuffed bread, arrived in Mexico during the colonial era, but here it was adapted with Mesoamerican ingredients, specifically corn and chiles. “Amarillo” is one of Oaxaca’s seven moles, mole amarillo is made with the endemic yellow chile huacle that is native to the Cuicatlan Valley.
In a previous post, I waxed poetic about the huevo al comal calling it my grounding meal. That remains true, and this empanada is my ultimate Oaxaca comfort meal.
Empanadas El Carmen sets up in the evenings to prepare empanadas, quesadillas, memelas, and tacos blandos (by request), all from scratch. Their flor de calabaza quesadilla was my first-ever Oaxacan bite some 17 years ago.
Pro tip: open it up to let the mole cool before digging in.
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