Chipotle Chicken Sopes for Cinco de Mayo

One of our favorite Mexican lunches that we make in Cabo are sopes. In Mexico we purchase the pre made masa  sope shells and fill them with our favorite toppings.

A sope  is a traditional Mexican dish. Sometimes called a gordita too. Which at first sight looks like an unusually thick tortilla with beans and meat toppings. The base is made from a circle of fried masa of ground maize soaked in lime (also used as the basis for tamales and tortillas) with pinched sides.

So in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week the luncheon I prepared for my staff I decided to go with the Cinco de Mayo theme and one of the dishes I made was homemade Sopes.

I practiced making them first at our weekend patio party to make sure they'd come out okay.

I first made the masa dough using masa harina and melted lard. I had never purchased lard before but I knew they'd be better if I went with it so I did.

After the dough was kneaded and chilled in the fridge the hard part began. Making the what seemed like a million little sope shells by dividing the dough, rolling them into little balls and flattening them into little circular shells. This is tedious and time consuming for sure.

I then prepared my chipotle chicken filling. I shredded a rotisserie chicken.

Then in a food processor I combined one whole chipotle with adobo sauce with 1 cup prepared salsa and a couple dashes of habenero sauce and two tablespoons of melted butter. I mixed the chipotle sauce with the chicken.

Next I fried the sopes in vegetable oil. Luckily it was warm enough that I could use the attachment on grill and fry them outside. I hate the smell of fried food inside my house.

A few of them cracked a bit when frying but the majority of them came out fine.

I then filled the sope shells with the chicken mixture topped with cilantro and served with mexican crema.

They were very tasty and basically worth the effort, maybe a bit too time consuming to become a regular made recipe at my house but with a couple of extra hands the shell shaping could go a lot faster I'm sure. Or maybe worth making if you're not making them for a staff of 50 might be the trick in retrospect.

SOPES Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens Special Mexican Recipes

1 1/2 Cups masa harina

3 tblspns flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup water

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup lard, melted

Vegetable oil for frying

Combine masa harina, flour, and salt. Stir in water & egg. Add melted lard, mix well. Knead dough until moist but holds shape. Cover & chill for 1 hour.

Divide dough into 24 balls. Roll each ball individually on a oiled surface and make a shell by pinching the edge.

Cook shells in vegetable oil over medium heat. Cook 30-60 minutes, flipping half way through. Drain well on paper towels. Fill with your favorite filling.