Sopapillas: Bread--or Dessert?

At many New Mexican restaurants the other question servers ask besides "Red or green?" is "Tortilla or sopapilla?" Sopapillas are a New Mexican regional fried bread used to mop up that puddle of green or red chile on your plate or drizzled with honey for a sweet ending to your meal. I've also had them covered in cinnamon sugar, tasting kind of like a doughnut. Sopapillas can also be stuffed with beans, meat, eggs, or a little bit of all those things as an entree.

 

They are fried pillows of dough, light, airy and bready. 

Charlie's Spic and Span Cafe and Bakery in Las Vegas offers the "sopa" (short for sopapilla) and what they call "Stuffys." For breakfast the sopapillas are stuffed with eggs and your choice of meat, red or green on top. Lunch offers sopas stuffed with beans and your choice of meat.

Ham and Egg Breakfast Stuffy

My good friend Shela grew up eating New Mexican sopapillas. During high school she worked  in a Mexican cafe where she learned how to make them. The cafe owner, Dee, said to knead until you are tired, then knead some more. This is not Dee's recipe, but one I found in New Mexico magazine's The Best From New Mexico Kitchens.

Sopaipillas

Sopaipillas are an incredibly light, puffy fry bread. To eat, poke or tear them open and spread with honey or honey butter. They must be eaten immediately while steaming hot! This dish is a delight for all ages.

Sopaipillas Recipe:

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons lard* or vegetable shortening
1/2 cup lukewarm water
shortening or oil for frying
Directions:
1. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. Work the lard and water in to make a soft dough. Cover and leave in refrigerator until chilled.
3. Roll out to 1/4-inch thickness on a floured surface, then cut into 3-inch squares or similar-sized triangles (about a 4 1/2-inch square, cut diagonally).
4. Deep fry a few at a time at 400F degrees until light golden brown, turning once.
5. Drain on paper towels.
6. Sprinkle with powder sugar or open and spread with honey.
*Using lard in the recipe, and frying with shortening rather than oil will make the sopaipillas lighter and is traditional.

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