Guatemalan Garnachas – A Style for Journey

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Vital at gala’s, household celebrations, and festive gatherings, Guatemalan garnachas are crispy, fried corn tortillas topped with savoury beef, crunchy cabbage slaw, tomato sauce, and a sprinkle of crumbly cheese.

These conventional Guatemalan snacks are so scrumptious you’re going to need to make an enormous batch!

Why You’ll Love This Garnachas Recipe

Bursting with flavour, satisfying and simple to make, garnachas are some of the well-liked appetizers in Guatemala. I discovered methods to make these tasty snacks at our household ranch in Zacapa.

This area of Guatemala is cattle nation so conventional Guatemalan dishes that includes beef — comparable to hilachas (shredded beef stew), salpicón de res (radish and beef salad) and garnachas — are well-liked snacks at household gatherings, events, festivals and celebrations.

Since then they’ve turn out to be a favorite appetizer to serve at Thanksgiving, Christmas and New 12 months’s Eve as they pair completely with different worldwide appetizers and festive drinks comparable to ponche de frutas (vacation scorching fruit punch).

This garnachas recipe can be the model most popularly served as road meals in Guatemala. They’re:

• Easy to make. Not like some Guatemalan appetizers that require delicate batters or distinctive components, making garnachas could be very simple. You may also do some duties upfront.
• Versatile. Garnachas are splendidly versatile! Whereas they’re historically made with shredded beef, you possibly can simply change issues up by utilizing floor beef, shredded rooster, and even refried black beans for a scrumptious (and vegetarian) twist.
• Excellent for events. With their means to pair effortlessly with quite a lot of tapas and appetizers, garnachas are the final word crowd-pleaser for any celebration.
• Rooted in Custom: These appetizers are a beloved conventional Guatemalan meals and an genuine dish price attempting!

Substances

• Beef: Chuck, blade or brisket roast are very best as they turn out to be tender over time releasing deep, savoury, and hearty beef flavour that deepens throughout sluggish cooking.
• Masa Dough: Masa dough tortillas deliver a heat, earthy, and barely nutty flavour with a young but rustic texture. My mother-in-law takes her nixtamalized (alkaline handled) corn to the molinero to be floor into dough however this recipe requires Maseca, the moment masa flour. Observe that it’s not the identical as cornmeal or corn flour as Maseca is nixtamalized earlier than being dried and floor, giving it a definite flavour and texture.
• Curtido: Cabbage slaw (curtido) has a tangy, mildly bitter style with a refreshing crunch. Make my recipe for curtido (takes 5 minutes) or simply use finely shredded cabbage.
• Tomato Sauce: Easy tomato sauce that’s easy and evenly seasoned.
• Crumbled Cheese: For a success of saltiness, conventional recipes for garnachas use the well-known queso seco (dried cheese) of Zacapa. It’s not simply out there outdoors of Guatemala so you possibly can substitute crumbled cotija, Greek feta or grated Parmesan or Romano cheese. You desire a cheese that provides a salty, tangy, and barely crumbly richness to boost the opposite flavours.

Substitutions and Variations

• Floor Beef for Stewing Beef: Browned floor beef is a highly regarded substitute for the shredded beef. Add a splash of thyme for a flavour enhance.
• Make it Vegetarian: Like my Black Bean Soup recipe, you may make this dish vegetarian. Use complete or refried black beans, ideally cooked from scratch fairly than canned.
• Flat vs Fluted: Some Guatemalan cooks form the masa dough into cups with fluted edges fairly than flat crisps. The crispy flat technique is the way in which our households in Zacapa and Guatemala Metropolis makes garnachas. However fluted cups (just like Mexican sopes) do maintain extra filling in order that’s an choice should you’d like to present it a go.

Make Garnachas Guatemaltecas

Please scroll all the way down to recipe card for full technique and portions.

• Steps 1 and a pair of: Simmer beef, onion and garlic in bouillon and water for two hours or in a sluggish cooker till tender. Take away the meat and shred it into small items. 

• Steps 3 and 4: Mix Maseca flour with 1 1/2 cups water. Combine throughly for two minutes till it varieties a tender dough. If dough feels dry, add water by the teaspoonful as wanted. 

• Steps 5 and 6: Divide dough into 15 equal balls of dough.
• Flatten the balls in a tortilla maker lined with plastic wrap. Or use two plates. The balls ought to be about 3/8 inch (9.5 mm) thick.    
• On a preheated griddle or non-stick skillet over excessive, prepare dinner the tortillas till executed, turning as soon as. Take away from griddle.   

• Steps 7 and eight: When cool sufficient to deal with, slice every tortilla in half via the center so you’ve got two skinny rounds.
• Panfry the tortilla halves in vegetable oil till crispy and golden brown. Drain on paper towel or serviette.

• Steps 9 and 10: Construct your garnachas by topping every tortilla with a spoonful of meat, tomato sauce, curtido (or shredded cabbage), sprinkle of cheese and parsley. 
• Serve instantly.    

Serving Options and Professional Ideas

• Masa Dough: The dough ought to be the consistency of putty after you’ve added the water. If it’s too moist the dough gained’t maintain its form in a ball. If too dry, the tortillas could have cracked edges when cooked.
• Making the Tortillas: You’ll want to make the tortillas thick sufficient so you possibly can slice them in half. In the event that they’re too skinny, they’ll disintegrate whenever you add the topping. Garnachas are supposed to be messy enjoyable however you need them to remain collectively for not less than a couple of minutes.
• Shredded Cabbage: If you happen to decide to make use of shredded cabbage fairly than the marinated slaw (curtido), use a small, tender cabbage and slice it thinly. If the cabbage is outdated and hard, it will likely be too laborious to eat.
• Cocktail Get together Pairings: Take pleasure in your garnachas with Guatemalan guacamole, Chojín, Russian salad or some other enjoyable and engaging appetizer recipes you like.
• Dinner Get together Pairings: Pre-dinner get pleasure from with appetizers adopted by conventional Guatemalan major dishes comparable to Pollo Jocón (Hen in Tomatillo Sauce), Pepián de Pollo, Tapado Seafood Soup or this Bacalao Salt Cod Stew. After dinner, wrap it up with this No-Bake Mango Pie.
• Drink Pairings: Add additional Guatemalan aptitude to events with this picosita beer cocktail, horchata or these different conventional Guatemalan drink.

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Recipe

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Guatemalan Garnachas

Guatemalan garnachas (garnachas Guatemaltecas) are deliciously crispy, corn tortillas topped with shredded beef, tomato salsa, marinated cabbage, and a sprinkle of crumbled dry cheese. They are a well-liked road meals snack and appetizer at gala’s, events and gatherings.

Prep Time30 minutes minutes

Cook dinner Time2 hours hrs

Whole Time2 hours hrs 30 minutes minutes

Course: Appetizer, Snack

Delicacies: Guatemalan, Latin American, Mexican

Servings: 30

Energy: 90kcal

Creator: Michele Peterson

Price: $15

Cook dinner ModeForestall your display from going darkish

Directions

• Simmer beef, onion and garlic in bouillon and water for two hours or in a sluggish cooker for six hours till tender. Take away the meat and shred it into small items.

• Mix Maseca with 1 1/2 cups water. Combine throughly for two minutes till its varieties a tender dough. If dough feels dry add water by the teaspoonful as wanted.

• Divide dough into 15 equal-sized balls.

• Flatten the balls in a tortilla maker lined with plastic wrap. Or use two plates. The balls ought to be about 3/8 inch (9.5 mm) thick.

• On a preheated griddle or non-stick skillet over excessive, prepare dinner the tortillas till executed, turning as soon as. Take away from griddle.

• When cool sufficient to deal with, slice every tortilla in half via the center so you’ve got two skinny rounds.

• Panfry the tortilla halves in vegetable oil till crispy and golden brown. Drain on paper towel or serviette.

• To assemble high every tortilla with a spoonful of shredded meat, tomato sauce, curtido (or shredded cabbage), sprinkle of dried cheese and parsley.

• Serve instantly.

Notes

• • The masa dough ought to be the consistency of putty after you’ve added the water. If it’s too moist the dough gained’t maintain its form in a ball. If too dry, the tortillas could have cracked edges when cooked.

• • When making the tortillas, remember to make them thick sufficient so you possibly can slice them in half. In the event that they’re too skinny, they’ll disintegrate whenever you add the topping. 

Substitutions: 

• • Floor Beef for Stewing Beef: Browned floor beef is a highly regarded substitute for shredded beef. Add a splash of thyme for a flavour enhance.
  • Make it Vegetarian: To make this dish vegetarian, use complete or refried black beans, ideally cooked from scratch fairly than canned.
  • Flat vs Fluted: Some Guatemalan cooks form the masa dough into cups with fluted edges fairly than flat crisps. The crispy flat technique is the way in which our households in Zacapa and Guatemala Metropolis makes garnachas. However fluted cups (just like Mexican sopes) do maintain extra filling in order that’s an choice should you’d like to present it a go.

Observe: Dietary data is created by an internet calculator so figures are solely estimates. 

Diet

Energy: 90kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 5g | Fats: 5g | Saturated Fats: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 2g | Monounsaturated Fats: 1g | Trans Fats: 0.02g | Ldl cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 201mg | Potassium: 117mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 82IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 1mg

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