For this variation on a Yucatán dish at Bacalar, a restaurant in the Rainey Street Historic District of Austin, Texas, chef and owner Gabe Erales presses masa into a circular round “as you would a tortilla,” and then fills it with a mixture of cooked lentils, ground pumpkin seeds, habanero pepper, scallion, garlic, edam cheese, hoja santa, Yucatán allspice, cloves, and oregano. Then it’s folded into the shape of a serpent head (“polkan” means serpent head in Mayan), fried and served with an herbaceous green emulsion of cilantro, epazote, hoja santa, parsley, pipícha, and green habanero peppers in oil.
Erales said the traditional version of this dish doesn’t normally have cheese, and is made with a local white bean instead of lentils.
Price: $16