Enfrijoladas, entomatadas and enmoladas: the home-cooked cousins of enchiladas

Three dishes that only change the sauce

Outside Mexico almost everyone has heard of enchiladas. What very few people know is that, in Mexican homes and fondas, they have three cousins that are eaten just as often, if not more: enfrijoladas, entomatadas and enmoladas. All four follow the same logic: a corn tortilla is passed through a hot sauce, folded or rolled, and served topped with more sauce, cream, cheese and onion. What sets them apart is precisely that sauce, and that is why each has its own name.

• Enchiladas: chilli sauce.
• Enfrijoladas: bean sauce.
• Entomatadas: tomato sauce, traditionally with no chilli or very little.
• Enmoladas: mole.

They are thrifty, everyday dishes: made with whatever is in the kitchen, served at breakfast or lunch, and rarely seen on the menu of a Mexican restaurant abroad.

A home-grown and poorly documented origin

Unlike other dishes with legends of their own, these three have no founding story and no date. Popular sources agree that there is no document establishing where they were born, and the likeliest explanation is that they appeared in many kitchens at once, as a way of using up the day's tortillas and the pot of beans, the tomato sauce or the mole left over from a party.

Several sources associate them particularly with Oaxaca, where they are described as part of a single quartet with enchiladas and are a regular sight at breakfast, often served with tasajo or cecina enchilada. But they are eaten all over the country, each region adding its own touches.

Enfrijoladas: tortillas in bean sauce

Enfrijoladas are made with cooked beans, usually black beans in the centre and south, blended with their cooking liquid into a thick, silky sauce. The tortillas are first passed through hot oil so they do not tear, then dipped in the beans, folded into quarters or in half and covered with more sauce, crumbled fresh cheese, cream and onion.

In Oaxaca the beans are often scented with toasted avocado leaf or with epazote, which gives them a faintly aniseed perfume; some of the recipes we consulted say so, although every family has its own formula. Oaxacan enfrijoladas follow that line and are usually served with grilled meat. In other areas they are filled with scrambled egg or topped with chorizo, as in enfrijoladas con chorizo. If you want to go deeper into the basics, our guide to Mexican chillies will help you choose a chilli for the sauce, should you decide to add one.

Entomatadas: the gentlest version

Entomatadas are bathed in a sauce of tomato cooked with onion and garlic, blended and briefly fried. What distinguishes them from red enchiladas is that, traditionally, the sauce contains no chilli or very little: if the sauce is genuinely hot, they count as enchiladas. That is why they are such a common dish for children and for anyone who cannot handle heat.

They can be served plain, folded, with cheese and cream, or filled with shredded chicken, cheese or egg. In many homes they are the quick midweek supper, made in twenty minutes with day-old tortillas.

Enmoladas: mole for every day

Enmoladas are the everyday way of eating mole. Instead of serving it over a piece of chicken or turkey, as at celebrations, the tortilla is passed through hot mole, folded or filled with chicken and topped with toasted sesame seeds, onion and cheese. They can be made with mole poblano, with Oaxacan mole negro or with whatever mole is left over from a celebration, which is why they are so common in the days after a wedding or a birthday.

When the mole is served on rolled, filled tortillas people tend to talk of enchiladas de mole; when the tortilla is folded without a filling, of enmoladas. The line between the two names is not strict and shifts from family to family and region to region.

How to make them well at home

All three share the same tricks. The first is the tortilla: use day-old corn tortillas, which tear less, and pass them through hot oil for a few seconds before dipping them in the sauce. The second is the texture of the sauce: it should coat the back of a spoon without being pasty; if it thickens too much, loosen it with stock or with the bean cooking water. The third is timing: assemble and serve straight away, because the tortilla absorbs the sauce and turns too soft within a few minutes.

To finish, tradition calls for crumbled fresh or aged cheese, cream, onion rings or chopped onion and, if you like, avocado. Enfrijoladas and entomatadas welcome a fried egg on top; enmoladas, sesame seeds.

What to serve with them

None of the three is usually served alone on a large plate, as restaurant enchiladas are. In a fonda or a home, you would normally get three or four folded tortillas covered in sauce, alongside something that adds protein and contrast. At breakfast, a fried or scrambled egg; in Oaxaca, a portion of grilled tasajo or cecina enchilada; at lunch, shredded chicken, a piece of grilled meat or a little fried chorizo. On the side there is almost always a hot salsa for anyone wanting more fire, and a cup of café de olla or an agua fresca.

Another classic combination is to serve them with red rice and pot beans, as the main course of a set menu of the day. In that format their origin really shows: they are a way of turning tortillas and a simple sauce into a complete, filling and inexpensive meal, with no need for an oven or a long list of ingredients.

Where they fit on the Mexican table

These three dishes belong to the cooking that is never seen outside Mexico: the cooking of set-menu fondas, market breakfasts and home suppers. They are not ordered to celebrate but to eat well every day, which is why they barely feature in travel guides. If that world appeals, have a look at our guide to red, green and regional chilaquiles, another tortilla-and-sauce dish, or the one on tacos de guisado, which brings together the stews cooked in those very same kitchens.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between enchiladas and entomatadas?

The sauce. Enchiladas are bathed in chilli sauce; entomatadas, in tomato sauce with no chilli or very little. If the sauce is clearly hot, people call them enchiladas.

Do enfrijoladas have a filling?

They may or may not. The basic version is a tortilla folded in bean sauce with cheese and cream; many families fill them with egg, chicken or cheese.

Which mole is used for enmoladas?

Any: poblano, negro, rojo or whatever is in the house. They are often made with mole left over from a party.

Are they vegetarian?

Enfrijoladas and entomatadas can be, provided they contain no meat and no lard or chicken stock is used. Mole, on the other hand, usually contains chicken stock or lard, so it is worth asking.

Sources

• Wikipedia, «Enchilada» (enchiladas and their variants according to the sauce: enfrijoladas, entomatadas and enmoladas).
• Salt & Wind, «Enfrijoladas (black bean enchiladas) recipe» (black beans, Oaxacan and Veracruz styles, entomatadas without chilli).
• Barry Popik, «Enfrijolada» and «Enmolada» (record and use of the terms).
• Milk Street, «Enfrijoladas» (the quartet of sauced tortillas, use of epazote or avocado leaf).
• Matador Network, «13 señales de que aprendiste a comer en Oaxaca» (Oaxacan breakfast of enfrijoladas, entomatadas or enmoladas with tasajo).