Curtido Blanco
So as I am working on perfecting my pupusa making skills….I decided to share my curtido blanco recipe. Before someone scolds me and says “pupusas are not Guatemalan!”, Guatemalans (and gringos!) do eat them in Guatemala. Carlos and I went around in circles for days when I said I wanted to learn to make pupusas. In the end I won! Yes pupusas are from El Salvador but Guatemalans have been eating them as street food for years.
On my last trip when we stayed overnight in Zacapa, Tita went across the street and got some pupusas from the street vendor. They were delicious queso y loroco pupusas! We ate them while sitting around the pool at Hotel Longarone before dinner. Of course again Carlos would not eat them since they were from a street vendor. Needless to say I did not get sick. Although the pupusas in Zacapa were not served with curtido or salsa roja, they usually are served topped with either of them.
This curtido recipe is so simple and is basically pickling the cabbage, carrots and onions. I guess you could call it the Central American version of sauerkraut or kimchee.
Recipe: Curtido Blanco
Summary: Simple pickled vegetables commonly eaten in Central America especially on pupusas.
Ingredients
- 1/2 large head of green cabbage, shredded
- 2 large carrots, shredded
- 1 small onion, sliced thinly
- 4 cups white vinegar
- 4 cups water
- 1 tbs dried oregano
- 1 tsp red chili flakes
- 1 tbs salt
Instructions
- Place shredded cabbage, shredded carrots and sliced onion in a 2 quart glass bowl.
- Place vinegar, water, dried oregano, red chili flakes and salt in a medium pot and bring to a boil. Immediately pour it over the cabbage, carrot, and onion mixture. Let cool on the counter.
- Once the curtido has cooled you can then store in canning jars for at least a month in the refrigerator.
Preparation time: 20 minute(s)
Cooking time: 20 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 12
My rating
P.S. I got a tweet from Carlos the other night when he was home eating pupsas and I was out at Smolak Farm, “..the curtido is right on the nose”. YES! I knew it was and I have only had it once before.
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Curtido Blanco looks good…Do you have some recipes for Pupusa? Thanks, JP
Thanks JP. Curtido is a great thing to have on hand, not only for pupusas but for sandwiches, burgers and hot dogs. I am in the final days of developing a pupusa recipe and should post soon (if all goes well this week). Keep your fingers crossed.