Plate 08 of 10

Salbutes

Name: Salbutes
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 75 min
Yield: 12 salbutes
Cuisine: Belize
Ingredients: 1 Red onion, thinly sliced; 150 ml Sour orange juice; 3 g Fine salt; 500 g Fresh corn masa; 5 g Fine salt; 750 ml Neutral frying oil; 500 g Shredded stewed chicken, warm; 250 g Cabbage, finely shredded; 2 medium Tomatoes, sliced; 1 Avocado, sliced

The puffed street tortilla of the north. Fresh corn masa pressed into small thick rounds and fried at 180 °C until each one balloons and turns gold but stays tender, then topped hot with shredded recado-stewed chicken, cabbage, tomato, avocado, and red onion pickled half an hour in sour orange juice until pink and sharp. Eaten at once, in three bites.

Prep: 45 min
Cook: 30 min
Serves: 12 salbutes
Difficulty: Medium

Researched · Kitchen testing pending

Six small puffed golden masa rounds on a plate, each topped with shredded orange chicken, cabbage, tomato, pink pickled onion and a slice of avocado.

Salbutes are the Yucatec street food of Belize’s north and west, and they are sold wherever people gather in the evening: fairs, football, the park after mass. A round of fresh corn masa is pressed thick, fried until it puffs into a soft, gold dome, and topped while hot with shredded chicken stewed in recado rojo, cabbage, tomato, avocado and the pink onion pickled in sour orange that finishes half the food in this part of the country.

They are eaten standing up, in three bites, before the masa can soften.

Ingredients

Pickled onion
1Red onion, thinly sliced
150 mlSour orange juiceor 100 ml orange juice with 50 ml lime juice
3 gFine salt
Salbutes
500 gFresh corn masaor 400 g masa harina mixed with 350 ml warm water and rested 15 minutes
5 gFine salt
750 mlNeutral frying oil
Toppings
500 gShredded stewed chicken, warmsee the note below
250 gCabbage, finely shredded
2 mediumTomatoes, sliced
1Avocado, sliced

The chicken

Any recado-stewed chicken will do: the stew chicken from the rice and beans, shredded, is ideal. From scratch, simmer 600 g of thighs with 1 tablespoon of recado rojo, ½ teaspoon of salt and 300 ml of water for 25 minutes, shred, and toss with a spoon of the liquid.

Why they puff

A thick round of fresh masa hits hot oil, the outside sets in seconds and the moisture inside turns to steam and inflates it. It must be pressed by hand, not rolled thin: a thin disc fries into a tostada.

The five tastes on this plate

Salt is in the masa and the pickle. Fat is the frying oil and the avocado. Acid is sour orange. Heat is habanero sauce, or a sliver of habanero in the pickle. Umami is the recado chicken.

Equipment

Small bowl, for the pickle
Tortilla press, or two plates and a plastic bag
4-quart heavy pot with a deep-fry thermometer
Slotted spoon and a rack lined with paper

A tortilla press gives an even 5 mm round; pressing between two plates works if you press gently and stop early.

Method

Pickle the onion30 min
Toss the sliced onion with the sour orange juice and salt in the small bowl. Leave 30 minutes; it turns bright pink and loses its bite.
Toss the sliced onion with the sour orange juice and salt in the small bowl. Leave 30 minutes; it turns bright pink and loses its bite.
Knead the masa5 min
Knead the masa with the salt and, if needed, a splash of water until it is supple and does not crack at the edges when a ball is flattened. Divide into 12 balls of about 40 g.
For the masa-harina option, mix 400 g with 350 ml warm water and rest 15 minutes. Knead masa with salt, adding a splash of water if needed, until supple without cracking when flattened. Divide into 12 balls, about 40 g each.
Press8 min
Press each ball between sheets of plastic into a round about 9 cm across and 5 mm thick, thicker than a tortilla. Keep them under a damp cloth.
Press each ball between sheets of plastic into a round about 9 cm across and 5 mm thick, thicker than a tortilla. Keep them under a damp cloth.
Fry15 min
Heat the oil to 180 °C. Slide in 2 or 3 rounds at a time and spoon hot oil over the tops; they puff within 30 seconds. Fry 1 minute a side until pale gold and puffed but still tender inside. Drain on the rack.
Heat the oil to 180 °C. Slide in 2 or 3 rounds at a time and spoon hot oil over the tops; they puff within 30 seconds. Fry 1 minute a side until pale gold and puffed but still tender inside. Drain on the rack.
Top and serve5 min
Working fast while they are hot, top each salbute with shredded chicken, a tangle of cabbage, a slice of tomato, some pickled onion and a slice of avocado. Serve at once; they soften within minutes.
Working fast while they are hot, top each salbute with shredded chicken, a tangle of cabbage, a slice of tomato, some pickled onion and a slice of avocado. Serve at once; they soften within minutes.
06
Sensory cues of doneness
- Visual: a domed, pale gold round that gives under a finger rather than cracking.
- Auditory: a soft, steady sizzle, quieter than a tostada's.
- Olfactory: toasted corn, then the sour orange and annatto of the toppings.
Look for a domed, pale gold round that gives under a finger rather than cracking. Listen for a soft, steady sizzle, quieter than a tostada's; smell toasted corn, then the sour orange and annatto of the toppings.

Storing it

Salbutes are eaten within minutes of frying. The chicken keeps 3 days refrigerated and the pickled onion a week; the masa balls keep overnight under a damp cloth in the fridge.

Troubleshooting

They did not puff.: Pressed too thin, or the oil was cool. Five millimetres thick, 180 °C, and baste the top with oil.
Hard and crunchy.: Fried too long. A minute a side; a salbute is soft, not a tostada.
Masa cracks at the edges.: Too dry. Knead in water a spoon at a time until a ball flattens without splitting.

Substitutions

One-to-one swaps, with the technique change each one needs.

Ingredient substitutions

Ingredient	Replace with	Culinary impact and technique adjustment
Fresh masa	Masa harina and warm water, rested 15 minutes	Slightly drier; knead in an extra spoon of water
Stewed chicken	Shredded roast chicken tossed with a spoon of recado and stock	Faster; less depth
Sour orange juice	Two parts orange juice to one part lime juice	The standard substitute everywhere outside the Yucatán

Scaling

Half

Six salbutes; use 500 ml of oil in a smaller pot.

Double

Press all 24 first, then fry in steady batches of 3. Two people topping keeps them hot.

What to serve it with

Habanero sauce, a drop on each
A second round of the pickled onion for the table
A cold soft drink or a lime juice

Questions

What is the difference between a salbute and a garnache?

Both are fried corn rounds, but a salbute is fresh masa fried soft and puffed and topped with chicken; a garnache is a tortilla fried crisp and topped with beans and cheese.

Can I bake them?

No; the puff and the tenderness come from hot oil.

How far ahead can I make the chicken?

Three days. Warm it in its liquid before topping.