Sopes (masa boats) with Pork al Pastor

I was first introduced to Sopes last year from a street vendor in Ensenada, Baja California. Wanting to taste something different from the usual taco, I decided to try these little tortillas shaped like boats (sopes) and fried in a little oil. My sope was simple but delicious- filled with beans and salsa and topped with fresh onion, coriander and some queso fresco.

There are many toppings for Sopes, including chicken, pork, beef and fish. Although my sope in Ensenada was quite simple, I decided to ‘raise the bar’ a bit and make my sope filling with slow-cooked pork and al pastor flavorings- hence my recipe for Sopes Pork al Pastor.

What is Pork al Pastor?

When Lebanese immigrants started to settle in Mexico in the late 19th century, they began to combine their own traditional Middle Eastern flavors with those of Central Mexico. Al Pastor style (or ‘shepherd style’) combines flavors of dried chiles, tomatoes, onion, orange and lime juice, garlic, coriander, achiote paste, and fresh pineapple.

The mixture of pungent chiles with sweet citric fruits produces some mouth-watering flavors! Pork al Pastor, then, is the combination of slow-cooked pork with these spicy/citrus al pastor flavors (see note below).

Some of the ingredients used in al pastor style recipes

How to Cook the Pork

The pork shoulder is first marinated in a blend of chopped chipotles in canned adobo sauce, achiote paste, water, salt and olive oil. The pork is then covered with water and chicken stock and cooked for several hours until tender.

A separate al pastor-style sauce is then made and will be used to flavor the pork and other ingredients used in the sopes filling.

How to Make the Sopes (masa boats)

The Sope dough is usually made with Masa Harina, dehydrated powdered corn masa, often sold in American supermarkets and in Mexican specialty stores.

After the masa is mixed with water, salt, and olive oil, the dough is kneaded then divided and rolled into about ten balls (each weighing about 60 grams or two ounces).

Many recipes call for flattening the dough using a tortilla press. However, since I don’t own one, I used my hands to pat the dough into a disk shape, passing the dough back and forth between the palms of my hands. In fact, the doyenne of Mexican cooking, Diana Kennedy, prefers this technique and laments the gradual demise of this ‘lost art’ of making tortillas through the hand-patting method.

Next, place the tortilla on your cutting board or bench top and continue pressing with your fingers to form a uniform circle about 4 inches wide and 1/4 inch thick. If the edges of your little ‘fat’ tortilla are a bit uneven, wet the edges with a little water, then use the edge of a pastry scraper to round off the edges.

Smoothing the edges of the tortilla using a pastry scraper

Next, turn the edges of the dough up 1/2 inch to form a ‘boat’ shape, using your thumb and index finger.

While you are working on one tortilla, cover the remaining balls with a damp towel so they won’t dry out.

When all tortillas are ready, fry them one at a time in a shallow pan of hot oil for about 2 minutes each side, or until they become crisp and golden; let drain on kitchen paper. Each sope should be crispy on the bottom and soft on top.

Putting it all together

Now it’s time to put it all together! After the sopes are fried, add the fillings of the tender pork, the al pastor sauce, diced red onion, pineapple pieces, coriander and radishes (optional). Or, you can be creative and add other ingredients! Serve immediately.

What to do with your leftover pork and braising liquid

You will probably have some leftover pork, al pastor sauce and braising liquid. You could either use these to make some more sopes or to make some Tacos al Pastor. I combined the braising liquid, pork and al pastor sauce in a pot, added some vegetables and a little more liquid and made a delicious stew!