Mexican · Oaxaca · snack

Memelas con Asiento y Quesillo

Name: Memelas con Asiento y Quesillo
Prep time: 24 min
Total time: 24 min
Cuisine: Mexican · Oaxaca
Ingredients: corn masa for tortillas — 500 g; salt — 5 g; asiento — 100 g; refried black beans cooked — 300 g; quesillo — 200 g; dried arbol chiles — 600 g; tomatillo — 150 g; garlic — 6 g; white onion — 80 g

Memelas con Asiento y Quesillo reads richness 5.4, umami 4.8 and heat 4.4 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Mexican · Oaxaca snack, about 24 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

Umami & Savory — 5.1 / 10
Sweet & Fruity — 3.4 / 10
Sour & Bright — 4.1 / 10
Bitter & Earthy — 1.6 / 10
Rich & Fat — 5.7 / 10
Aromatic & Spice — 5.2 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Richness 5.4 · Umami 4.8 · Heat 4.4 · Allium 4.1 · Salinity 3.6 · Sourness 3.5 · Fruity 2.9 · Warm Spice 2.7 · Citrus 2.3 · Sweetness 1.8 · Herbaceous 1.7 · Bitterness 1.4 · Floral 1.1 · Earthy 1.1 · Nutty 0.8

What's in it (9)

corn masa for tortillas — 500 g
salt — 5 g
asiento — 100 g
refried black beans cooked — 300 g
quesillo — 200 g
dried arbol chiles — 600 g
tomatillo — 150 g
garlic — 6 g
white onion — 80 g

Time & effort: about 24 min · effort: medium

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 102 kcal, 3.3 g protein, 1.8 g fat, 22 g carbs

Dietary: Contains dairy — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (5 steps)

Knead the salt into the masa for 3 minutes until it is the texture of soft clay and no longer cracks at the edge when you press a ball flat.
Char the tomatillos and unpeeled garlic on a dry comal until blackened in patches, 8 minutes, and toast the chiles de árbol alongside for 20 seconds a side — árbol goes from red to acrid in the time it takes to turn away. Blend to a loose salsa with a little water and salt.
Press the masa into ovals about 12 cm long and 5 mm thick and cook them on a medium comal, 3 minutes the first side and 2 the second, until they are freckled and dry to the touch.
While each is still too hot to hold comfortably, pinch a rim right around the edge with your fingertips — this is the step that turns a tortilla into a memela, and it only works hot.
Smear the face with asiento, spread the beans, scatter the quesillo, and set them back on the comal 2 minutes to melt. Spoon salsa over, strew with raw onion, and eat standing up.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Bifana — Portuguese
Picadas Veracruzanas — Mexican · Veracruz
Sopa de Lima Yucateca — Mexican · Yucatán
Chalupas Poblanas — Mexican · Puebla
Cochinita Pibil en Hoja de Plátano — Mexican · Yucatán

Keep reading: what richness, umami, heat mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.