Tlayudas in Oaxaca: What They Are & Where To Get One
If you come to Oaxaca and don’t eat a tlayuda, you haven’t really done Oaxaca properly.
A tlayuda is basically a huge, thin corn tortilla, usually around 30 cm across, that gets toasted over a comal or charcoal until it’s crisp around the edges but still flexible enough to fold. It’s one of the most famous foods in Oaxaca, and you’ll find them everywhere from markets to little street grills that fire up in the evening.
What’s on a tlayuda?
The basic starting point is asiento, a rich pork fat that’s spread over the tortilla. Then comes a layer of black refried beans, followed by quesillo — Oaxaca’s famous string cheese.
After that you’ll usually get shredded cabbage or lettuce, salsa and sometimes avocado or tomato.
Then comes the important decision: the meat.
The most common choices are tasajo, cecina or chorizo. Tasajo is thinly sliced, salted beef; cecina is thinly sliced, seasoned meat; and Oaxacan chorizo is a strongly seasoned pork sausage. They’re usually grilled over charcoal and added to the tlayuda.
You can also find variations with other meats, chicken or even chapulines, depending on where you eat.
Open or folded?
You’ll often see tlayudas served open, looking a little like an enormous Mexican pizza.
You can absolutely eat one that way.
But I prefer mine folded.
Once everything is piled on, the tlayuda gets folded in half and put back over the heat. The cheese melts, the tortilla gets smoky and crispy, and everything stays together much better.
It also makes it considerably easier to eat.
Trying to attack a fully loaded open tlayuda with a knife and fork can turn into a bit of an operation.
A folded tlayuda, on the other hand, is basically built for eating.
And that’s what you’ll often see at the nighttime tlayuda stands around Oaxaca — a big tortilla loaded up, folded over, and cooked over a hot grill until the edges are beautifully charred.
Where will you find tlayudas in Oaxaca?
Pretty much everywhere – Markets, restaurants, roadside stalls and, particularly, street stands at night.
Some of my favorite tlayudas aren’t fancy restaurant dishes at all. They’re the ones cooked over charcoal at a little stand, with smoke in the air and someone standing over the grill turning out tlayuda after tlayuda.
That’s the experience I’d look for. A couple of my favs – Street Food Las Tlayudas de Mina y Bustamante and the restaurant Tlayudas El Negro.
And don’t worry about making the “wrong” choice. Ask what meats they have, pick one you like, and let them build it.
If you’re in Oaxaca and see a tlayuda being cooked over charcoal, stop and try one.
It’s big, filling, smoky, cheesy and very, very Oaxacan.
