thrintone
Assistant Cook
Can masa be cooked in the oven? I've only ever made tortillas...I'm trying to branch out!
Question about cooking masa
- Thread starter thrintone
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Callisto in NC
Washing Up
Masa is a corn flour. What are you trying to do? It's not a matter of this or that where it can be cooked. It's about the recipe that it's in.
MexicoKaren
Head Chef
Welcome to DC, thrintone! I have never heard of masa being cooked in the oven. The only uses I am aware of are tortillas, various snacks like sopes and tamales. Because most Mexican cooks do not have ovens, I would imagine that it is not generally baked...Mexicans cook on a comal, alot like a big griddle. Since there is no leavening in masa, I'm guessing you would end up with a big lump of something not very good...
Seven S
Senior Cook
Although I am assuming you are referring to the mexican "masa harina" used primarily for making tortillas on a comal, in spanish, "masa" just means "dough". You can make meat-filled patties (called empanadas) in the oven using dough... somehow I dont think that is what you are referring to however.
MexicoKaren
Head Chef
True enough, forgot about empanadas, but here in Mexico they are almost always fried, not baked. Seven S is right: in Spanish, masa is "dough." One of the ways you make it is with masa harina, but that is an "instant" process, and many cooks choose to grind their own corn, which is first treated with slaked lime. You can buy masa at a tortilleria, or you can make it yourself. Let us know how your experiments with masa turn out!
thrintone
Assistant Cook
Yes, I am refering to masa harina.
There is a fabulous restaurant here in Salt Lake City called the Red Iguana. They have this dish called potisinas, I think. Anyway, it seems to me to be an uncooked tortilla stuffed with maybe ranchero cheese, green onions and chilies. Then they deep fry them. It's my favorite thing and I want to try to recreate them, but possibly a little lighter...hense the baking. They probably only taste so good because they're fried. lol...I guess if they're baked it almost becomes a quesadilla.
There is a fabulous restaurant here in Salt Lake City called the Red Iguana. They have this dish called potisinas, I think. Anyway, it seems to me to be an uncooked tortilla stuffed with maybe ranchero cheese, green onions and chilies. Then they deep fry them. It's my favorite thing and I want to try to recreate them, but possibly a little lighter...hense the baking. They probably only taste so good because they're fried. lol...I guess if they're baked it almost becomes a quesadilla.
Seven S
Senior Cook
you could try brushing them with oil with a brush and grilling them on a panini press, to avoid frying... but yeah, frying is unbeatable sometimes!
MexicoKaren
Head Chef
Thrintone said:
Actually, authentic quesadillas are exactly what you described: uncooked tortillas with cheese and other goodies inside, then fried, but not deep-fried - fried on a comal, or griddle. They are never baked - as I said earlier, most Mexicans do not have ovens. Many of my neighbors, in fact, have outside kitchens, i.e, a round comal over a 55-gallon drum with a fire inside. If they want to cook something big (like carnitas), they build a makeshift "stove" out of bricks in the yard, and make a fire, then put the pot on top of it. Or if they are grilling a big red snapper, they put a grill on top. Pretty simple and pretty good.
Par-boiled corn flour.
