Papas estilo Zamora translates to potatoes Zamora style. Zamora de Hildalgo is a city in the state of Michoacan, Mexico. Zamora is an important agricultural area which exports large amounts of produce to the United States. This uniquely tasting Mexican street food is not as popular in the states as Mexican street corn.
My morning routine of browsing through food videos on You Tube led me to this recipe for papas estilo Zamora. The great thing about it is the I already had recipes of my own for the salsa recipes and fresh ground chile powder. For years I have garnished my potatoes with all kinds of homemade salsa and store bought hot sauce. As soon as I saw this combination, I knew I would love it!
So what exactly is papas estilo Zamora? It’s a simple potato that is boiled until tender. It is sliced or cut into cubes and then garnished with an uncooked jalapeño salsa, salsa macha(chile oil), fresh ground dried chile pasilla or chile de arbol and fresh lime juice.
Papas Estilo Zamora. Spicy Potatoes!
Ingredients
- 4 medium red or white potatoes peeled
- Chile Pasilla Powder see link
- Chile de arbol Powder see link
- Lime
- Salt to taste
Jalapeño Salsa
- 4 large jalapeños roughly chopped
- Water just enough to cover jalapeños
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- See link for preparing chile powders. Once you prepare those, move onto the next step.
- Transfer peeled potatoes to a pot. Cover with water and cook at medium heat. When the come to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Continue cooking for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
- While potatoes cook, transfer jalapeños to the blender. Add just enough water to cover the jalapeños. Season with salt to taste. Blend on high until very smooth. Pour into serving dish and set aside.
- To serve, slice each potato and transfer to individual serving plates. Garnish with jalapeño salsa cruda, chile powders, salsa macha and fresh lime.
Preparing fresh ground chile powder requires just a small investment, a coffee grinder! I only use mine for spices, nuts and chiles. Click the link to see the easy recipe. In the picture above, the dark chile pasilla powder required 6 dried chiles. For the fiery red toasted chile de arbol, you want to toast the dried chiles on a dry comal(griddle) until they become aromatic and blackened in most spots. I toasted about 20 peppers. Please be aware that when you toast or fry dried chiles that are spicy, make sure you have good ventilation. Otherwise the smoke will make you cough!!! Lol! https://pinaenlacocina.com/how-to-prepare-basic-chile-powder/
Most times when we think of a fresh salsa, we immediately think of pico de gallo(salsa mexicana). But there a re a few blended salsa’s that are quite delicious, like this fresh jalapeño salsa. You can add a few fresh tomatillos, susbstitute with chile serrano and even add avocado! The Green Sauce!! https://pinaenlacocina.com/tomatillo-avocado-salsa-the-green-sauce/
And what can I say about salsa macha, except that I absolutely love it! Although it is prepared with mostly dried chile de arbol, it really isn’t as spicy as one would think. I use it mostly as a garnish to finish dressing my tacos. I also love it for marinating shrimp, chicken and sometimes steak. A little mixed with lime and garlic is delicious! https://pinaenlacocina.com/dried-chiles-staples-of-a-mexican-kitchen/ I recently prepared a mild version of salsa macha because my followers begged me, lol! Posting it next week!
Because I can’t leave well enough alone, what would I do differently to tweak this recipe? I would, fry, fry, fry those potatoes! Yes! Don’t get me wrong, the original recipe is delicious too!
In my opinion, red, white and yellow potatoes work best for this recipe.
One medium potato per serving was just the right amount.
Back in the day the potatoes would be served up on paper and nothing else.
These days they are served cubed in a plastic bag to avoid the mess of soaked through paper.
I always say that the simple dishes, recipes and combinations are truly the most satisfying. But, that’s just my opinion.
The last picture below is with added cucumbers on top! I had to try it! I strangely really loved it!
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I could find the link to to powder chilies
It’s on the blog post. The link is highlighted in purple below the text where I am talking about chili powder.
https://pinaenlacocina.com/how-to-prepare-basic-chile-powder/