Vaporcitos: a traditional Yucatecan dish that dates back to pre-Hispanic times

Vaporcitos are a traditional dish of Yucatecan gastronomy that dates back to pre-Hispanic times in Mexico. It is a food that is prepared for any social event and is also used as an offering for the Day of the Dead.

Yucatecan vaporcitos are rich tamales that have become very popular for Candlemas Day, but they are also eaten during the rest of the year. Their name comes from the way they are steamed, which is typical of most tamales and is used in this recipe.

Small tamales are used to prepare this delicious dish, which are then filled with ground beef, pork or chicken and served with cabbage made with red cabbage or tomato sauce.

Yucatecan tamales can be cooked in different ways, either baked, steamed or even buried, and are wrapped with different leaves, such as banana, almond or hoja santa.

The vaporcitos are also called torteados tamales because of the way in which the dough is rolled out in order to put the filling. They are made with a thin dough on which espelon or achiote seeds are added.

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