Gordita

A gordita in Mexican cuisine is a pastry made with masa and stuffed with cheese, meat, or other fillings. It is similar to a pasty and to the Colombian and Venezuelan arepa. Gordita means "chubby" in Spanish. There are two main variations of this dish, one which is typically fried in a deep wok-shaped comal, consumed mostly in central and southern Mexico, and another one baked on a regular comal. The most common and representative variation of this dish is the "gordita de chicharrón", filled with chicharron which is widely consumed throughout Mexico. Gorditas are often eaten as a lunch meal and accompanied by several types of sauce.

A gordita is typically prepared as a thick tortilla. The dough is most commonly made of nixtamalized corn flour, as also used for tortillas, but can also be of wheat flour, particularly in northern Mexico close to the U.S border. An old variant of corn gorditas uses masa quebrada (broken dough) where the cornmeal is coarsely ground, leaving bits of broken grain.

In the deep-fried version, once the masa has been prepared, it is separated in small portions, then each one is filled with meat, and shaped like an oblong disc. The pastry is immersed in boiling oil until golden and crispy on the outside. After cooking, the gordita is allowed to stand to drain excess oil, then a small slit is cut into one side to allow vapor and excessive heat to release, and lime juice and salsa are poured inside, which gives the gordita its characteristic flavor. In some regions of Mexico, the slit is also used to stuff additional ingredients, mostly dressings such as fresh cheese, nopal salad, tomatoes, guacamole, potatoes, beans or rajas (sautéed strips of chile). By tradition, gorditas are filled with chicharron, but there are local variations which substitute it by chicken stew, shredded beef, carne al pastor, eggs with chorizo sausage, carnitas or picadillo.

The baked version is prepared almost identically to the preparation of a common tortilla, except it is thicker. When the masa is prepared, chicharrón is mixed directly in the dough, instead of being added later. Shaped like a flat circle, then it is placed in a comal until cooked, in most cases not adding additional oil. When slit and filled, this gordita looks like a sandwich made with tortillas instead of bread. This variation is known as Gordita de migas.