My good friend and fellow mom Gaby is from El Salvador. Although she came to the United States when she was young, she continues to make Salvadoran Breakfast, or desayuno Salvadoreño, on a regular basis. She invited Mazen and me over to breakfast last week to try salvadoran food and share the menu with you.
I love breakfast as a meal, probably because I wake up hungry everyday! And we all know hunger is the best sauce.
Traditional Salvadoran Breakfast
I also love experiencing different kinds of traditional food from cultures around the world. Typical breakfasts across the world vary so much. (Check out when I made ugali in Kenya!)
My friend Gaby is from El Salvador and offered to cook us a traditional desayuno Salvadoreño to feature on the blog. A typical salvadoran breakfast includes huevos rancheros, black beans, fried plantains, homemade tortillas, and horchata!
Salvadoran Breakfast Menu
Huevos rancheros
Sunny-side up eggs with fried tomatoes
Platano
Thinly sliced and fried plantains
Frijoles Negros
Dried black beans that have been boiled with salt and pureed
Fried Tomatoes
aka tomato sauce
Handmade tortillas
Freshly ground corn flour mixed with water to form a dough that is shaped into tortillas and fried. You could corn tortillas from the store in a pinch.
Crema or Sour Cream
Horchata
A sweet milky beverage made from morro seeds with cinnamon, vanilla and spices
Coffee with hot milk
Breakfast In El Salvador:
El Salvador Tortillas
Unlike tortillas you’d find in a grocery store, these are made with just one ingredient plus water. Real food for the win! They tasted so fresh and doughy with much more texture than a store-bought option.
All you need is masa harina corn flour, water, and a skillet to cook them in.
What is masa harina?
Masa harina is corn flour that has been treated with calcium hydroxide (lime) which makes it release the niacin in the corn, making it more nutritious and easier to digest. You can buy it in local Mexican market stores, places that sell Bob’s Red Mill, or online at places like Amazon.
How to make handmade tortillas
Mix water and corn flour in a bowl until a dough forms.
The perfect dough consistency!
Roll dough into small balls and then press them into tortillas.
Gaby used a secret trick to get them perfectly round…a ball pressed by a plate between parchment paper. You can also use a tortilla press like this one.
Cook the tortillas in a greased skillet until well formed. Basically corn pancakes! Mmmm doughy!
Here is a full recipe on making handmade tortillas: how to make homemade tortillas.
Fried Tomatoes
The tomatoes were fried in a little oil to make a salsa
Frijoles Negros
aka pureed Black Beans. I absolutely loved the pureed black beans! Gaby uses dried beans from her family’s farm in El Salvador.
Huevos Rancheros
And finally…the fried eggs.
How did it taste?
I loved everything – especially the plantains! It was one of those meals where everything went with everything else. I did a lot of dipping this in that.
Salvadoran Horchata
Salvadoran horchata is made from the seeds of the morro fruit, which looks like green coconut and grows on the morro tree native to southern Mexico and Central America south to Costa Rica. It is rich in vitamins C and E andis a significant source of magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, iron and potassium.
The seeds are dried in the sun and then are ground and mixed with water to make the horchata. In contract, Mexican horchata always uses rice.
How To Make Salvadoran Horchata
Traditional Salvadoran horchata is made by drying seeds in the sun and grinding them with spices.
You can make it yourself with spices and seeds and/or rice that you toast in the oven and then grind or blend into a powder. Add milk to serve it.
Here is a recipe to make it at home with rice: Homemade Horchata.
Gaby Used A Horchata Mix
But we used a mix! A big timer saver if you aren’t living under a morro tree.
Gaby prepared the horchata mix with milk. It tasted like a latte you’d buy at Starbucks minus the coffee – very sweet! A perfect “dessert” to breakfast
Thanks for the delicious meal Gaby!
Other Salvadoran Recipes To Try:
Sopa de pata: a hearty Salvadoran soup made from cow’s feet (!!), yuca, cabbage leaves, chayote squash, sweet corn, plantains, and green beans.
Tamales: Dried corn husks filled with masa dough and all kinds of delicious fillings. They can be filled with meat, beans, or veggies.
Yucca Fries: Yucca is a root that thrives in tropical climates in South America, Central American, and Mexico.
Pupusas: Pupusasare El Salvadorian stuffed corn cakes served with curtido and salsa roja. Like tamales, you can fill them with almost anything!
