Mexican cuisine is one of the most popular cuisines in the world, and its popularity keeps growing every year! Therefore, lesser-known dishes are becoming more popular. Huaraches and sopes are two examples of such dishes. Unfortunately, the differences between them are unclear.
How do huaraches and sopes differ from one another? Huaraches are made with masa dough filled with pinto beans, shaped into an oblong shape. They are also very large and about 1/4-inch thick. The sole ingredient used in sopes is masa dough, which is shaped into a thick disc and pinched to create a unique edge.
Here’s a breakdown of huaraches and sopes, including how they are made, so we can compare their similarities and differences.
What Are Huaraches?
In Mexican cuisine, huarache, or guarache as it is often spelled, is an extremely popular dish. It is most common in Mexico City, but it can also be found in American cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York.
Locals originally called them “huaraches” because the dough’s oblong shape resembled a popular sandal at the time.
Huarache is a Mexican flatbread topped with a variety of delicious toppings. The way the dough base is made varies from family to family, but it all includes two elements: dough dough and pinto beans.
After the dough is shaped like an oblong and fried, it is topped with ingredients such as salsa, vegetables, herbs, and meat. Finally, a queso fresco sauce finishes the dish.
A traditional accompaniment for huarache is fried cactus leaves (or nopales). In Western eateries, huarache is typically served with beer, nachos, and empanadas.
How It’s Made
When making traditional huarache, you will need to prepare the dough and mashed pinto beans separately.
Pinch the top closed and shape the perfect round ball once again. Shape a hole or well in the middle of the dough and fill it with the mashed pinto beans. Pinch the top closed and reshape it again.
The next step is shaping the balls. Many people use a tortilla press (this one is pretty versatile), but you can also use a rolling pin.
If you can’t find a huarache press (like this one), you can use a tortilla press (like this one). Each layer should be about 1/4 inch thick. If the beans are oozing out of the dough, it’s okay.
The next step is to heat a skillet over medium-high heat and fry the huarache for roughly 2-3 minutes on each side.
As soon as the huarache is cooked, you can top it with tomato salsa, followed by the remaining toppings and sauce.
You can also make this dough by kneading mashed pinto beans directly into the prepared dough. This method will allow the beans to be more evenly distributed throughout.
Physical Characteristics
They measure roughly 10 to 12 inches in length, although they can be larger or smaller. The dough is shaped into an oblong sandal-like shape.
You usually see a fresh tomato sauce, meat, herbs, and queso fresco sauce on top of the dough after it has been fried in a hot pan.
Flavors Or Toppings
Huarache is made with a wide variety of toppings. The most important is the salsa. The salsa is always added at the bottom. Think of it as the tomato sauce for pizza.
The most common types of salsa are red or green. Many people also like to add spicy red onions and cilantro. And, lemon juice adds a tangy taste!
Other vegetables and herbs can be added after the salsa has been added. Popular choices include onions, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, cilantro, parsley, and fennel.
As a final note, protein isn’t essential, but it is highly recommended. Traditional options include minced beef or pork, as well as pickled tongue (or lengua). However, you can use nearly any meat.
Lastly, a delicious queso fresco sauce tops off the dish.
What Are Sopes?
In fact, sopes served as an inspiration for huarache, but sopes are prepared differently and have a wider variety of toppings.
In Mexico, virtually every town has its own variation of sope, and families even argue over which is the best!
In addition to being called sopes, picaditas and pinches are other names for sopes.
How do you make your own version of sope? Let’s go over each element.
How It’s Made
In sope, the masa dough does not contain any mashed pinto beans. The dough is slightly flattened, then rolled out into a small, thick disc.
After the sope is rolled out and rounded, the sides are flipped up and pinched around the edges. This makes it look almost like a small plate with a lip. Another variation is flat sopes.
These types of sopes are both fried in a hot pan, but they are not crisped up. This leaves them quite soft and pliable.
All of the toppings are served in a sturdy vessel due to the thickness of the dough.
The sopes are cooked, the toppings are added, and the dish is served right away. Sometimes the crumbled cheese is melted in the oven, but this is not necessary.
Physical Characteristics
The diameter of a sope is usually between 4-6 inches, but it can be smaller. Its thickness is usually half to one inch.
There is no denying that these dishes are shaped into a round disc that’s often as perfect as you could make it. And let’s not forget about the brilliant lip that surrounds each dish.
The masa dough is fried, then the toppings are added, and the dish is served immediately.
Flavors Or Toppings
You can top your sopes with anything you like. It may seem silly to top them with a lipped dough plate, but it’s more accurate to call them a lipped dough plate rather than a topping.
There are various toppings that are usually very popular, including crispy deep-fried beans, crumbled cheese, onions, sour cream, lettuce, and various sauces.
Sopes are often served with a red sauce called salsa roja, which consists primarily of red tomatoes, chilies, garlic, onions, salt, and pepper.
The green sauce, salsa verde, is another commonly used Mexican sauce made from tomatillos, onions, jalapenos, and cilantro.
The addition of meat is also popular, but you can really add anything to it.
What’s The Difference Between Huaraches And Sopes?
There are no set toppings for either dish, so people often confuse these two traditional Mexican dishes. Huarache was even created as an inspiration for sopes.
There is a huge difference in the dough and shape between these two dishes.
The huarache is made from pinto bean-stuffed masa dough, while the sopes are made from plain masa dough.
In the case of huarache, the dough is pressed into a large, oblong-shaped sheet. On the other hand, sopes are much smaller, thicker, circular, and have pinched sides.
The outside of sopes is browned in a hot pan, while the inside remains soft and pliable. But huaraches are fried for 2-3 minutes, so they become crisp and rigid.
There are no specific toppings that distinguish them from each other. You can use any topping you like.
Huaraches are traditionally topped with salsa, onions, meat, and queso fresco sauce, while sopes are traditionally topped with fried beans, sour cream, crumbled cheese, meat, onions, and red or green sauce.