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Pueblan-Style Cemita Sandwiches Recipe

Daniel Gritzer
Pueblan-Style Cemita Sandwiches Recipe

A cemita sandwich, as made in Puebla, Mexico. [Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

Cemitas are a Mexican sandwich that originally hails from the State of Puebla and gets its name from the bun itself, also known as a cemita. This recipe shows you how to make a Pueblan-style cemita with a fried milanesa beef, chicken, or pork cutlet filling. Loaded with fine strands of shredded Oaxacan cheese, plenty of ripe avocado, chipotles or pickled jalapeños, and papalo, a fragrant Mexican herb with a flavor all its own, it's a masterpiece of sandwich construction.

Why It Works

  • Pulling some bread from the top buns helps make a slightly more compact (though still gloriously overstuffed) sandwich.
  • Pulling the cheese into hair-thin strands creates a texture in each bite that can't be beat.

Read more: How I Fell Hard for the Cemita in All its Forms: A Love Story With Recipes

  • Yield:Serves 4
  • Active time: 45 minutes
  • Total time:45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4 (6-ounce) pieces beef, pork, or chicken cutlets, very thinly pounded
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup bread crumbs
  • Canola or vegetable oil, for frying
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 ripe medium Hass avocados, halved, pitted, and sliced
  • 4 homemade or store-bought cemita buns (see note), sesame-seed buns, or brioche buns, halved
  • 2 cups shredded Queso Oaxaca from 1 (14-ounce) ball of cheese (see note), or fresh mozzarella or string cheese, divided
  • 12 raw onion rings (about 1/4 inch thick)
  • 4 chioptle chiles from 1 (7-ounce) can whole chipotle chiles in adobo, or pickled jalapeños from 1 (12-ounce) can
  • 20 leaves papalo (see note), or fresh cilantro leaves
  • Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Directions

  1. 1.

    Set wire rack on a sheet pan. Place milk in a shallow dish. Place flour in another shallow dish. Place bread crumbs in third shallow dish. Working one at a time, dip cutlets in milk, then dredge in flour, shaking off excess. Return to milk, then dredge in bread crumbs, pressing to adhere. Place breaded cutlets on a baking sheet.

  2. 2.

    Heat about 1/2 inch oil in a cast-iron skillet to 375°F. Working in batches and adding oil as needed to maintain level, fry cutlets, turning once, until golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a clean paper-towel-lined baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper when still hot.

  3. 3.

    Spread avocado on bottom bun halves. Top with fried cutlets. Mound half of the cheese on the cutlets.

  4. 4.

    Arrange onion rings on top of cheese. If using chipotles, tear into pieces and arrange on onion rings; alternatively, arrange pickled jalapeños on top of onion rings. Top with papalo and mound the remaining cheese on top. Drizzle with olive oil.

  5. 5.

    Scoop some bread from each of the top buns and discard. Close sandwiches and serve right away.

This Recipe Appears In
How I Fell Hard for the Cemita in All its Forms: A Love Story With Recipes
Culinary Director

Daniel cooked for years in some of New York's top American, Italian and French restaurants - starting at the age of 13, when he began staging at the legendary restaurant Chanterelle. He spent nearly a year working on organic farms in Europe, where he harvested almonds and Padron peppers in Spain, shepherded a flock of more than 200 sheep in Italy, and made charcuterie in France. When not working on, thinking about, cooking and eating food, he blows off steam (and calories) as an instructor of capoeira, the Afro-Brazilian martial art.

Filed Under

Mexican Food

(and Tex-Mex favorites)
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