Chipotle Pulled Pork Masa Cakes

A welcome change from your regular tacos, these these yummy masa cakes are the perfect vessel for some delicious chipotle pulled pork, a little melted cheese, pickled red onion and cilantro! You will absolutely LOVE these as an appetizer or meal!

Before I begin telling you about the dish I wanted to give a special shout out to Slateplate for my special engraved Picture The Recipe Slate serving platter pictured above. They sent it to me months ago with no strings attached (so this isn’t a sponsored post) and I absolutely love it! Not only does it make a fabulous cheese plate (you can chill it in the fridge to keep your cheese & meat fresher for longer) but it also makes a great surface for serving up dishes and appetizers where you want to make the colors pop. Not only is the laser engraving option cool and fantastic for gifting, but they come with a slate chalk if you want to add a little label or note for your guests. Another huge plus about these slateplates are that they are dishwasher safe. Yay! Check them out at SlatePlate.com for more.

This summer while visiting family in Minneapolis, we went to a restaurant called BRASA that served up some of the most delicious food inspired by Southern U.S, the Caribbean and Mexico. Everything we ordered (which was over half the menu) and tasted was amazingly non-fussy, clean and very delicious. Their flavors were unique and precise and everything from the yucca fries with a citrus garlic Mojo sauce that you could drink plain…to their perfectly crispy skin creole dry-rub rotisserie chicken was memorable and left you wanting more. But there was one little dish I really couldn’t stop thinking about even weeks after I got back home- their Spicy Masa Cakes (pictured below). It was a simple corn masa cake (very much like a sope but without the raised edges) with a little melted cheese, a spicy red sauce topped with some pickled red onions and fresh cilantro. Boy was it was good! …oh so good I had dreams about it!…and I just had to recreate it.

To start of, I had to perfect the pickled red onion. See recipe HERE. I then decided to top off the Masa cakes with a little more than just a hot sauce…for a full meal instead of just an appetizer….so I whipped up some delicious chipotle pulled pork in the instant pot making extra for left overs. It was delicious! The masa cakes might be a little bit of work to make (it’s not hard…just a little tedious), but they are a welcome change from the standard tacos you see & get every where. They really just make the best vessel for the spicy pulled pork topping….and the pickled onion and cilantro take it to a whole new level. Plus they are gluten-free! Leave out the cheese and it’s dairy- free too.

You have to try them! Please do comment below if you like and try this recipe. Also I would love to see your dishes on Instagram and Facebook so tag me @noreen_picturetherecipe (instagram) and share them on https://www.facebook.com/PictureTheRecipe/ or simple tag them with #picturetherecipe.

Watch A Video Of the Recipe:

Chipotle Pulled Pork Masa Cakes

2017-09-18 15:43:58

Yields 10

A welcome change from your regular tacos, these these yummy masa cakes are the perfect vessel for some delicious chipotle pulled pork, a little melted cheese, pickled red onion and cilantro! You will absolutely LOVE these as an appetizer or meal!- Inspired by Brasa, MN

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Prep Time

30 min

Cook Time

55 min

Total Time

1 hr 30 min

Prep Time

30 min

Cook Time

55 min

Total Time

1 hr 30 min

For the Chipotle Pulled Pork

1. * 1 1/2lb Pork Butt (Shoulder)
2. * 1/2 Onion, big diced
3. * 4 Garlic Cloves, peeled
4. * 2 Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce
5. * 1 (8oz) Can Tomato Sauce
6. * 2 Tbsp Honey
7. * 2 Tbsp White Wine Vinegar
8. * 1 Lime, Juice
9. * 1 tsp Cumin Powder
10. * Salt, to taste
11. * 1-2 Tbsp Olive Oil
12. * 1/2 stick of cinnamon
13. * 1 Bay leaf

For the Masa Corn Cakes

1. * 1 Cup Masa Harina (gluten-free)
2. * 1 tsp salt
3. * 1 Tbsp Sugar
4. * 3/4 Cup Hot Tap Water
5. * Oil for frying

For the toppings

1. * Cheese
2. * Pickled onions (recipe link http://picturetherecipe.com/index.php/recipes/quick-easy-pickled-red-onions/)
3. * Cilantro

Instructions

1. - In a blender jar add the onion, garlic, chipotle peppers with adobo sauce, tomato sauce, honey, white wine vinegar, the juice of 1 lime, cumin and salt. Blend to make a smooth paste.
2. - Turn your Instant pot to Saute mode and once heated add a touch of olive oil. Season the pork butt with salt and pepper to taste and sear the meat on all sides.
3. - Take out the meat and set aside.
4. - Add a touch more olive oil to the pot, add the cinnamon stick and bay leaf. Saute for a minute to release their flavor.
5. - Add the blended puree and saute for 4-5 minutes.
6. - Cut the meat into 4 chunks and add them to the pot in the sauce.
7. - Close the lid and set vent to sealing. Set on manual mode- high pressure- 45 mins- natural release
8. - Once the float valve sinks, carefully take of the lid.
9. - Take out the meat, shred it with forks and return the shredded meat to the pot and let it sit in the sauce to soak up the flavors.
10. - For the Masa corn cakes: In a bowl, mix together the masa harina, salt and sugar.
11. - Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the hot water.
12. - Mix with a spoon until to wet all the masa, then using your hands knead the dough briefly to form a ball.
13. - Cover the dough with a damp kitchen towel and let it rest for 10 minutes
14. - While the dough is resting. Cut the sides of a large ziploc bag (or you can use cling wrap or wax paper if you want).
15. - Take a palm size scoop of the masa dough and roll it into a ball.
16. - Place the ball on the ziploc plastic and flatten the dough slightly. Fold the bag over the dough and using a flat bottom dish /or plate (preferably glass so you can see what you are doing) press to flatten the dough evenly into 1/4 inch thick disc.
17. - Unfold the ziploc and using a cookie cutter, or jar lid of your choice...cut out the cracked edges. (You can also just smoothen the edges with your hands instead of cutting them out)
18. - Transfer the masa cakes to a cling film lined tray and cover with a damp cloth while you repeat the process to form the remaining masa cakes. (the dough typically makes about 10-12 masa cakes depending on the size you cut them)
19. - Heat some avocado/grapeseed/canola/corn/ vegetable oil in a small frying pan on medium-high heat.
20. - Fry the masa cakes one-at-a-time or in small batches (depending on the size of your pan) for a couple minutes on each side until they turn a golden brown. Drain on paper towels to remove excess oil.
21. - Transfer the masa cakes to a sheet pan and sprinkle some cheese over each one (you can skip this step if you want to keep the recipe dairy-free). Broil in the oven for 2-3 minutes until the cheese melts.
22. - Top the masa cakes with some pulled pork, pickled red onions (see recipe link below) and some fresh cilantro.
23. - Serve immediately and Enjoy!

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