It’s often called Mexican pizza, so it’s fitting that the tlayuda from Flor de Oaxaca in Santa Ana arrives in one those generic boxes with “pizza” emblazoned across the top.
They do sort of look like pizzas. And I think people call them that because they have a hard time pronouncing tlayuda. Tip: Try saying klaYUda but press your entire tongue against the roof of your mouth when making the k.
Tlayuda dough is very similar to the masa used to make white corn tortillas, except these are flattened exponentially thinner, like crepes. And despite the nickname “Mexican pizza” they are typically griddled on a comal (or in most restaurants, a flattop grill) rather than baked in an oven. The dough quickly turns crisp and brittle, held together with a spiderweb of quesillo, or Oaxacan string cheese.
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Tlayuda with black beans, quesillo, chorizo, cecina and tasajo from Flor de Oaxaca in Santa Ana (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Tlayuda with black beans, quesillo, chorizo, cecina and tasajo from Flor de Oaxaca in Santa Ana (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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Tlayuda with mole negro and queso fresco from Flor de Oaxaca in Santa Ana (Photo by Brad A. Johnson, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Truly great tlayudas are rare in Orange County. There simply aren’t many places attempting this Oaxacan specialty. If you’ve never had one before, you don’t want your first one to be a bad one. (My first was from a Domino’s in Cancun in the ‘80s, one of the many regrettable choices made in that era). This is a good one. It actually comes very close to the tlayudas I’ve eaten in Oaxaca, although not quite as special as when they’re cooked on the wood-fired comal on a sidewalk at midnight.
Flor de Oaxaca opened in October, and you can get their tlayudas for takeout and delivery. Their signature version measures about 14 inches in diameter, slathered with a thin smear of refried beans and covered with a Jackson Pollock treatment of quesillo, which never really melts when heated. It’s topped with shredded cabbage, avocados, air-dried pork, salt-cured beef and little orbs of Oaxacan-style chorizo. They also make a version that is brushed with mole negro and sprinkled with queso fresco. Both are good, but the former is best.
Flor de Oaxaca
Where: 210 W. 1st St., Santa Ana
When: Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily
Cost: $15.99
Phone: 714-541-4414
Online: flordeoaxacaoc.com
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