Fried Eggplant Pambazos (Mexican Guajillo-Soaked Sandwich) Recipe

If you've never had a pambazo, it's time to roll up your sleeves and give it a try. Roll up your sleeves, we recommend, because pambazos aren't exactly a tidy affair. Pambazos are Mexican sandwiches made with large round rolls and stuffed, typically, with chorizo, potatoes, lettuce, and sour cream. This large and super-stuffed sandwich is already reminiscent of a sloppy Joe, but it gets better. The bread, intentionally left to get stale, is soaked in a bright red chile-garlic sauce and pan-fried, becoming a fiery outer layer for the pambazo. But that chile sauce? You can't go without it, nor can you slather it on inside and get the same result. No, this is a sandwich meant for napkins.

Like many culinary favorites, pambazos were most likely created as the answer to an economic problem. According to the Sandwich Tribunal, even the name seems to point to the traditional bread used, pan basso, which was considered a poor man's bread and needed salsa guajillo to become edible. Stuffed with common taqueria ingredients, the bread turned into a sandwich so good, that it's sometimes referred to as a "meal fit for an empress."

The many variations of pambazo sandwiches offer options for vegans and vegetarians, all while keeping the same guajillo-soaked bread and messy toppings. This recipe developed with Michelle McGlinn is a filling vegetarian alternative made with thick slices of fresh eggplant. Fried crispy, the eggplant makes the perfect addition to the spicy sandwich without losing any of its salsa-soaked charm.

To make the guajillo sauce, you'll need guajillo chiles, chiles de árbol, garlic, onion, oregano, thyme, salt, and pepper. You won't find these chiles in the produce aisles, though, because they're sold dried. Look for dark red, dehydrated chiles — large ones for guajillo, and small, thin peppers for árbol. While the chiles de arbol can be swapped or omitted, we don't recommend leaving the guajillo chiles out.

For the sandwich filling, you'll need a large eggplant, flour, egg, breadcrumbs, oil for frying, shredded lettuce, sour cream (or crema), cotija cheese, and ripe avocado. The most important ingredient, of course, is the bread, which you'll want to try and source a few days before cooking. For this, look for telera or bolillo rolls, which are both dense rolls that resemble giant hamburger buns. If you can't find these, use hamburger buns and make smaller pambazos.

Because Guajillo peppers are sold dried, the chiles need to be rehydrated before using. The good news, though, is that the rehydrating liquid can be reused to flavor the sauce. Simmer the peppers in water until they are soft and bright red, then transfer to a blender with garlic, onion, and the spices. Add some of the rehydrating liquid, then blend until very smooth. Straining the sauce is up to you; if you have a great blender, your sauce may be smooth enough to use as-is. If you'd rather strain spare seeds out, simply run the sauce through a fine strainer.

If you've ever made eggplant or chicken parmesan, you'll be familiar with this step. Set up a dredging station with the eggplant slices, flour, beaten egg, and breadcrumbs. Dredge the eggplant first in flour, then in egg, and then finally coat it generously with breadcrumbs and set aside. The breadcrumbs will start to soak into the eggplant, so try to dredge quickly right before frying.

To fry, pour enough oil to coat the bottom of a skillet and heat until shimmering. Add the dredged eggplant and fry until golden brown on either side, then remove and drain onto paper towels.

There are two ways you can do this, and neither way is wrong. First, you can pour the guajillo mixture into a saucepan and add the bread, soaking each side in warm sauce. You can also let the bread soak in guajillo sauce, then heat a skillet and fry the soaked bread until crispy and browned. The first method will result in a softer sandwich, while the second will yield a crispier bread.

With the bread soaked and the eggplant breaded, you can start building the sandwiches. Add the eggplant slices to the bread, then top with a mound of lettuce and a generous drizzle of sour cream. Sprinkle with cotija cheese, then spread sliced avocado across the top. Press the top bun onto the sandwich and wrap it in parchment or foil (this helps avoid staining your fingers). Eat as soon as possible — not only is a whole sandwich hard to reheat, but the eggplant will get soggy overnight. Planning pambazos for dinner? Serve with refried beans and rice, chips and pico de gallo, and fresh margaritas.