Traditional Purépecha Corn Corundas
Mise en Place / Ingredients[12]
- 3 cups Nixtamalized Corn Masa Flour (Maseca)
- 0.75 cup Pork lard, aerated
- 1 tbsp Baking powder (Clabber Girl)
- 1.5 tsp Fine sea or kosher salt
- 2.5 cups Warm chicken broth or water
- 15 leaves Fresh green cornstalk leaves (hojas de milpa) or banana leaves
- 4 whole Ripe Roma tomatoes (for ranchero sauce)
- 2 whole Fresh serrano chiles (for ranchero sauce)
- 0.5 whole White onion, quartered
- 2 cloves Garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 cup Mexican sour crema (Cacique)
- 1 cup Aged Cotija cheese, crumbled (Cacique)
🛒 US Supermarket Brand Guide
Reliable hydration and texture. • 📍 Flour/Hispanic aisle.
Cooking Sequence & Checkpoints
Beat pork lard with baking powder and salt for 8 minutes until light, airy, and chalk-white.
✓ Checkpoint: Fluffy white fat base.
Alternate adding nixtamalized corn masa flour and warm chicken broth (or water) while kneading until a soft, pillowy dough forms.
✓ Checkpoint: Dime-sized ball of masa floats in cold water.
Place a portion of dough onto the base of each fresh green cornstalk leaf (hoja de milpa) and fold diagonally into 5-sided triangular polyhedral pockets.
✓ Checkpoint: Sealed triangle pockets.
Steam corundas vertically over boiling water for 60 minutes. Meanwhile, simmer or roast the Roma tomatoes, serrano chiles, white onion, and garlic, then blend into a warm red ranchero sauce. Unwrap corundas and serve bathed in the warm sauce, Mexican crema, and crumbled Cotija cheese.
✓ Checkpoint: Leaf unpeels with zero residue; fluffy steamed corundas.
🔬 Why It Works:
Aerated Fat: Whipping lard encapsulates air pockets that expand when steamed.
⚠️ Troubleshooting:
Dry cracked dough: Add 1/4 cup warm broth and knead until supple.