Molotes (Oaxacan “cigars”)
Molotes (“cigars”) is popular dish of Oaxaca, Mexico, consisting of corn masa for tortillas and usually filled with chorizo and potato. The antojito (appetizer or snack) slowly entered the menus of Mexican restaurants in the United States in the 1990s and 2000s.
Glossary - Mexican food recipes, cooking terms
Molotes Corn masa for tortillas, sometimes with a little wheat flour added, is mixed with some lard, rolled into small oblongs, filled and pressed into oblong shaped little packages which are then fried until golden and crisp.
Mexican Cooking Terminology
Molote—mix of corn, chorizo and potato
Oaxacan Foods
Molotes - are a very special “holiday street food”, found in Oaxaca during Guelaguetza, Easter, and Christmas times. It is made with a disk of fresh masa then filled with a Chorizo and Potato filling, fried, then topped with Black Bean Puree, Queso Fresco and garnished with sliced radishes.
Traditional Foods of Puebla
Molotes—small cornmeal-and-cheese-based “biscuits” with a variety of stuffings, such as pig brains, macerated meat, potatoes with pork sausage, squash flowers, or corn-smut fungus
El Restaurante Mexicano
Molotes de Tinga Poblana
Makes 8 servings
(...)
The molotes
2-1/2 lbs. Maseca
3-1/2 c. warm water
Combine ingredients.
Using a tortilla maker, press out small rounds with 2 ounces of the masa mixture. Fill with a rounded tablespoon of the filling. Seal the edges tightly.
Fry molotes in the fryer for approximately 3 to 4 minutes.
Open Subscriber
[ANTOJITO-RECIPE]
Molotes Potosinos
by Palma Sola
Ingredients
2 c masa de maiz (corn dough)
1/2 lb ground pork
1 ts baking powder
1 ts lard
2 tomatoes, peeled and finely chopped
1 onion, finely diced
6 almonds, peeled and chopped
2 tb raisins
1 candied citron coarsely chopped
1/2 c queso anejo (or romano or dry ricotta)
1 TBS salt
Instructions
Mix together the corn dough, cheese, baking powder and lard.
To make the picadillo, fry the ground pork with the onion, almonds raisins and the candied citron.
Make a thick tortilla with the corn dough.
Fill it with the picadillo and roll it up to form the molote.
Wrap up the molotes in corn husks and steam.
Take off the husks and fry.
Culinary Institute of America DVD Series
Molotes
Google Books
Eating In Mexico
by Amando Farga
Mexican Restaurant Association
1963
Pg. 103
Famous for enchiladas, quesadillas, and molotes.
Google Books
The Food and Drink of Mexico
by George C. Booth
Los Angeles, CA: Ward Ritchie Press
1964
Pg. 149:
In Vera Cruz one tortilla is filled, rolled like a cigar and called a molote, and in Nogales the rolled, meat-filled snack staggers under the name of chimichanga.
Fillings are as individual as the Mexican character. Molotes are stuffed with fried banana while a national favorite is a filling of chopped calf brains flavored with nutmeg.
25 October 1995, New York (NY) Times, “Feast for the Dead Celebrates Life” by Elaine Louie, pg. C3:
Ms. Martinez is cooking food from Oaxaca, in honor of the Mixe (pronounced MEE-heh) tribe, who cultivate pasilla chiles. There will be two-inch-long molotes, or turnovers, with crisp corn crusts enfolding minced chorizos and potatoes, and an earthy white bean soup flavored with toasted pumpkin seeds and tiny dried shrimp.
Google Books
Frommer’s Mexico ‘94 on $45 a Day
by Marita Adair
New York, NY: Prentice Hall
1993
Pg. 505:
Besides zacahuil, be sure to try delicious molotes, a small football-shaped creation fried masa that’s served as an appetizer.
Frommer’s Mexico
by Marita Adair
New York, NY: Macmillan Publishing Company
1996
Pg. ?:
Here you can try cemitas (the local name for a sandwich made with a special delicious bread), chanclas (a sandwich covered in a delicious red pepper sauce), extraordinarily good mixiotes and mole poblano, plus a full range of meal-size appetizers such as molotes, which in Puebla is a deep-fried flour wrapper stuffed with cheese, potatoes, or meat, epazote, and jalapeño pepper—it’s not picante.
Google Books
Mexican Memoir:
A Personal Account of Anthropology and Radical Politics
by Howard Campbell
Westport, CT: Bergin & Garvey
2001
Pg. 54:
Octavio would then light the stove with crude petroleum and Angelita would begin preparing her popular delicacies: tacos, tostadas, molotes, garnachas, and quesadillas.
Google Groups: austin.food
Newsgroups: austin.food
From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (Victor M. Martinez)
Date: 15 May 2001 15:22:21 GMT
Local: Tues, May 15 2001 10:22 am
Subject: Re: I give up! Food question….
ps-> to add to the confusion, there’s also sopes, garnachas, panuchos, picadas, salbutes, tlacoyos, molotes, pambazos, etc. all made with masa.
Google Books
Patricia Unterman’s San Francisco Food Lover’s Guide
by Patricia Unterman
Berkeley, CA; Ten Speed Press
2003
Pg. 402:
Molotes, Oaxacan-style “cigars” of cornmeal with lots of tasty chorizo and potato filling and a drizzle of crema, become a little meal in themselves with the accompanying pile of pickled cabbage slaw, a great combination.
Google Groups: alt.food.mexican-cooking
Newsgroups: alt.food.mexican-cooking
From: “Smac”
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2003 09:12:04 -0600
Local: Mon, Dec 15 2003 10:12 am
Subject: Re: Salbute?
“The word antojito comes from the Spanish word antojo, which means whim.”
Antojito is not an entrée or a specific recipe but a (LARGE) category of Mexican dishes (based on tortillas) encompassing:
Burritos, Chimichangas, Enchiladas, Entomatadas, Flautas, Garnachas, Gorditas, Molotes, Panuchos, Papadzules, Pellizcadas, Quesadillas,
Salbutes - “Tortilla masa, often with flour added, is formed into a small, fairly thick tortilla, fried until crisp and light, then topped with shredded meat and vegetables. A specialty of the Yucatan”,
Sopes, Tacos (of all sorts), Tamales, Taquitos, Tlacoyos and
Tortas compuestas.
Google Books
Hometown Santa Monica: The bay Cities Book
by Jenn Garbee, Tippy Helper, Margery L. Schwartz
Pasadena, CA: Prospect Park Publishing
2007
Pg. 135:
The bar makes a decent margarita on the rocks, and the kitchen turns out barbecued goat tacos on handmade tortillas, hearty fried dumplings (molotes) filled with chorizo and potatoes, wonderful chicken soup with rice and avocado, and a roster of tasty moles.
Google Books
MOON Baja:
Tijuana to Cabo San Lucas
by Joe Cummings and Nikki Goth Itoi
Emeryville, CA: Avalon Travel
2007
Pg. 59:
Especially recommended are the…molotes (chicken and cheese wrapped in corn-flour dough and fried, somewhat like piroshkis),...