Chef Lupita
Animalitos de Yema Comitecos
Comitán's pan de yema shaped into little pigs, birds, and rabbits, a Chiapas bakery bread rich with egg yolks, manteca de cerdo, and anís, baked golden on hoja de plátano.
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Tabasco Tortilla de Yuca
Created by
Tabasco's Chontalpa tortilla de yuca is grated cassava worked into nixtamal masa with manteca de cerdo, then cooked on a comal until soft, speckled, and faintly sweet.
Breads
Mexican
Weeknight
Comfort Food
35 min
Active Time
20 min cook•55 min total
Yield12 tortillas
Tabasco, especially the Chontalpa, is where this tortilla belongs: low, humid land, cacao country, plantain country, yuca country. This is not a northern flour tortilla and it is not a central Mexican corn tortilla pretending to be universal. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
The yuca gives the dough its softness and that quiet sweetness you taste before the salt and lard come forward. The masa gives structure. The manteca de cerdo gives tenderness. La manteca es el sabor. If you leave it out, the tortilla turns dry and stiff, and then you will blame the yuca. Don't blame the yuca.
I learned this kind of cooking from women who grated roots by hand because that was what the kitchen required. You press the grated yuca well, because too much liquid makes the tortilla gummy. You cook it on a dark comal until brown freckles appear and the edges stop looking wet. No me vengas con atajos. The work is small, but it matters.
Yuca, also called cassava or mandioca, was cultivated in the tropical lowlands of Mesoamerica and the Caribbean long before the Spanish arrived, and it remains important in Tabasco, Chiapas, Campeche, and the Yucatan Peninsula. In Tabasco's Chontalpa, yuca entered everyday breads and masa preparations because the crop thrives in humid soil where corn harvests can be uneven. Tortillas and cakes made with yuca show the Gulf lowlands' older root-crop tradition alongside the national corn tradition, a reminder that Mexican bread is not one thing.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
fresh yuca
Quantity
1 pound
peeled, woody core removed, finely grated
fresh nixtamal masa or prepared masa harina dough
Quantity
2 cups
manteca de cerdo (pork lard)
Quantity
3 tablespoons
softened
fine sea salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon
warm water (optional)
Quantity
2 to 4 tablespoons
only if the dough feels dry
manteca de cerdo for handling and comal (optional)
Quantity
as needed
frijoles negros de olla (optional)
Quantity
for serving
salsa de chile amashito (optional)
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fresh yucapeeled, woody core removed, finely grated | 1 pound |
| fresh nixtamal masa or prepared masa harina dough | 2 cups |
| manteca de cerdo (pork lard)softened | 3 tablespoons |
| fine sea salt | 1 teaspoon |
| warm water (optional)only if the dough feels dry | 2 to 4 tablespoons |
| manteca de cerdo for handling and comal (optional) | as needed |
| frijoles negros de olla (optional) | for serving |
| salsa de chile amashito (optional) | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Box grater or hand grater
- •Clean cotton towel for pressing yuca
- •Tortilla press or two flat plates
- •Cast iron comal
- •Woven tortillero with cotton servilleta
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the yuca
Peel the yuca deeply, past the brown skin and the pinkish layer underneath. Cut it lengthwise and remove the tough woody core. Grate the white flesh on the fine holes of a box grater. Yuca is not a potato. That center core stays hard and fibrous, and it does not belong in your tortilla.
- 2
Press the liquid
Wrap the grated yuca in a clean cotton towel and squeeze hard over a bowl until it stops dripping. You want damp grated yuca, not wet pulp. Too much liquid makes the tortilla gummy on the comal. The señoras in Tabasco know this by feel: the yuca should clump in your hand but not leak between your fingers.
Let the squeezed liquid sit for 10 minutes if you want to see the starch settle at the bottom. You can scrape a spoonful of that white starch back into the dough for extra tenderness, but leave the watery liquid behind. - 3
Mix the dough
Put the pressed yuca, nixtamal masa, manteca de cerdo, and salt in a wide bowl. Knead with your hand for 4 to 5 minutes, pressing the yuca evenly into the masa. The dough should feel soft, cohesive, and a little tacky, never soupy. If it cracks badly when pressed, add warm water one tablespoon at a time. If it smears like paste, you did not press the yuca enough.
- 4
Rest the masa
Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let the dough rest for 15 minutes. This gives the masa time to drink in the moisture from the yuca and lets the lard soften the dough. A tortilla made immediately can tear at the edges. Patience fixes what force cannot.
- 5
Shape the tortillas
Divide the dough into 12 balls, each about the size of a small lime. Lightly grease your hands with manteca. Press each ball between two pieces of plastic in a tortilla press, or pat it by hand, into a tortilla about 5 inches wide and a little thicker than a standard corn tortilla. Yuca dough is tender. Do not bully it.
- 6
Cook on comal
Heat a cast iron comal over medium. Lay one tortilla down and cook for 60 to 90 seconds, until the surface looks drier and small brown freckles appear underneath. Flip and cook the second side another 60 to 90 seconds. Flip once more for 20 to 30 seconds to finish. It may puff in spots. Good. That means the dough is hydrated and the comal is doing its work.
- 7
Hold and serve
Move the cooked tortillas to a woven tortillero lined with a clean servilleta. Keep them covered while you cook the rest. Serve warm with frijoles negros de olla and salsa de chile amashito if you have it. This is Tabasco comfort food, quiet and serious. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.
Chef Tips
- •Buy firm fresh yuca with no gray streaks, sour smell, or soft wet spots. If the market vendor has already waxed and trimmed it, ask when it was cut. Old yuca tastes tired before it reaches the comal.
- •Chile amashito is the small, fiery Tabasco chile that belongs with this table. If you cannot find it, use chile piquin as a compromise. It is not the same, but it understands the job better than jalapeño.
- •Fresh nixtamal masa is best. If you use masa harina, hydrate it first and let it rest before mixing with the yuca. Dry masa harina dumped straight into grated yuca gives you gritty tortillas.
- •Do not use butter. Do not use coconut oil. Manteca de cerdo gives the tortilla its soft bite and keeps the yuca from turning rubbery. Así se hace y punto.
Advance Preparation
- •The yuca can be peeled, grated, pressed, and refrigerated up to 6 hours ahead, covered tightly so it does not dry out.
- •The mixed dough can rest covered at room temperature for up to 1 hour. For longer holding, refrigerate up to 12 hours and bring back to room temperature before pressing.
- •Cooked tortillas are best the same day. Reheat on a dry comal until pliable, then keep wrapped in a servilleta.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 115g)
Calories
210 calories
Total Fat
5 g
Saturated Fat
2 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
3 g
Cholesterol
5 mg
Sodium
320 mg
Total Carbohydrates
38 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
5 g
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