Pambazo

Pambazo is a Mexican sandwich made from a soft wheat roll dipped in a red guajillo chili sauce, pan-fried until the bread is firm and stained red, and filled with potato and chorizo. It is sold as street food and in market stalls, most often in Mexico City and central Mexico.

What it really is

The bread is a small, soft white roll, the kind called pambazo, which is split almost through. Its outside is dipped briefly in a sauce made by blending dried guajillo chiles with garlic, cumin, oregano and vinegar, then strained. The dipped roll is fried in lard or oil on a griddle, so the bread turns crisp on the outside and keeps its softness inside. The filling is cooked potato and chorizo, sometimes with shredded lettuce, crumbled fresh cheese and sliced onion added on top, and the sandwich is often finished with a little more sauce and a spoonful of salsa.

Pambazo is not a torta, even though the name "torta de pambazo" is used. The defining step is the chili dip and the frying of the whole roll in its red coat. A plain torta is built on a toasted or fresh bread roll without being dipped in sauce, and a chilaquile or enchilada is a different dish altogether, with tortillas cut and cooked in sauce rather than a bread roll.

How it's served

• Served hot, straight off the griddle, usually wrapped in paper or a napkin.
• Eaten by hand; the sandwich is messy because the sauce runs.
• Often accompanied by a bottle of salsa or pickled chilies on the side.
• Commonly sold from street stalls and markets, sometimes with a squeeze of lime.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the key ingredients: guajillo chili-dipped bread roll, potato and chorizo, with cheese and lettuce if served.
• State that the roll is dipped in chili sauce and fried, and that the sandwich is spicy.
• Flag wheat (the roll), and milk if fresh cheese is included; pork in the chorizo should be named.
• Note whether the frying fat is lard, since the classic version is fried in lard.