Mexican · Veracruz · snack

Picadas Veracruzanas

Name: Picadas Veracruzanas
Prep time: 36 min
Total time: 36 min
Cuisine: Mexican · Veracruz
Ingredients: masa harina — 500 g; salt — 5 g; pork lard — 120 g; tomatillo — 500 g; serrano chiles — 400 g; tomatoes — 400 g; dried arbol chiles — 400 g; garlic — 12 g; white onion — 100 g; queso fresco — 150 g; white onion — 120 g

Picadas Veracruzanas reads heat 4.8, richness 4.5 and allium 4.1 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Mexican · Veracruz snack, about 36 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

Umami & Savory — 3.9 / 10
Sweet & Fruity — 3.6 / 10
Sour & Bright — 4.2 / 10
Bitter & Earthy — 2.1 / 10
Rich & Fat — 4.8 / 10
Aromatic & Spice — 5.5 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Heat 4.8 · Richness 4.5 · Allium 4.1 · Salinity 3.6 · Sourness 3.5 · Fruity 3.0 · Umami 2.9 · Warm Spice 2.2 · Sweetness 2.1 · Citrus 2.1 · Herbaceous 2.0 · Earthy 1.8 · Bitterness 1.4 · Nutty 1.1 · Floral 1.1

What's in it (11)

masa harina — 500 g
salt — 5 g
pork lard — 120 g
tomatillo — 500 g
serrano chiles — 400 g
tomatoes — 400 g
dried arbol chiles — 400 g
garlic — 12 g
white onion — 100 g
queso fresco — 150 g
white onion — 120 g

Time & effort: about 36 min · effort: medium

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 185.3 kcal, 4.4 g protein, 7.6 g fat, 27 g carbs

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

How it's cooked (6 steps)

Picadas are the Veracruz breakfast: a thick little masa cake with a pinched wall, a slick of hot lard, salsa, cheese and raw onion. Xalapa eats them by nine in the morning.
Knead the salt into the masa 3 minutes until smooth and pliable, then press 9 cm discs about 8 mm thick — noticeably thicker than a tortilla.
Cook them on a comal over medium heat 3 minutes a side until they are dry, freckled and slightly domed. While each one is still burning hot, pinch a wall right around the rim; wait and it will crack instead.
For the green salsa, char the tomatillos and serranos 8 minutes until slack and blistered and blend with half the garlic and onion and salt.
For the red, char the tomatoes alongside, toast the chiles de árbol just 15 seconds a side — they are thin and turn acrid fast — and blend with the rest of the garlic and onion.
Brush the hot picadas generously with melted lard, flood them with one salsa or the other, and finish with crumbled queso fresco and raw onion. Serve at once, while the base is still crisp underneath.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Memelas con Asiento y Quesillo — Mexican · Oaxaca
Sopa de Lima Yucateca — Mexican · Yucatán
Palak Paneer — Indian
Poc Chuc — Mexican · Yucatán
Menemen — Turkish

Keep reading: what heat, richness, allium 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.