~450 cal · 19g protein · 23g carbs · 33g fat (estimated, per serving)
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Thick fried corn cake with melting cheese
🇵🇦 Panama City
In Panama, the tortilla is a thick, hearty disc of ground corn, fried until crackling outside and tender within — closer to an arepa than a Mexican tortilla. Split and filled with fresh white cheese that melts against the hot corn, it is the breakfast that fuels the isthmus each morning.
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Make it yours
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
Ingredients
Serves 4 —
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2 cups masa harina (or ground corn)
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1.5 cups warm water
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1 cup fresh white cheese (queso blanco)
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3 cups neutral oil, for frying
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1 tsp salt
Instructions
1
Mix the masa with warm salted water into a smooth, moldable dough that holds its shape.
2
Shape into thick discs about half an inch high and smooth the edges so they do not crack.
3
Fry in hot oil until deep golden and crisp on both sides, about 4 minutes a side; drain.
4
Split each hot tortilla and tuck in the fresh cheese so it softens against the corn; serve warm.
Panamanian home and fonda breakfast.
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🌏 While it simmers — know your destination
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Panama City. Where the national chicken stew simmers with three roots.
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Panama. Two oceans’ worth of cooking at the crossroads of the Americas.
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North America. A collision of Indigenous, colonial, and immigrant tables.
The story behind this dish is up top — worth a read while the pot works.
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Richard Moore & Kelsey Tucker
Recipes cooked, tested, and researched by the creators of Spin the Globe. How we build our recipes →
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