With the growth of tortas to (literal) new heights, something had to take over the reins as official snack sandwich, and marinas have seized the opportunity. The small size keeps these from getting too complicated, so the fillings tend to have the spread and filling mixed together, such as ‘Russian Salad’ (a chicken salad with mayonnaise), chicken in mole sauce, mushrooms in chipotle, or tuna salad. The two-bite sandwiches are made using hojaldras, which are a small, shiny rolls, rich with eggs and were traditionally made for the holidays. Santibañez’s recipe suggests challah or brioche rolls make a good substitution. Due to their size and easy assembly, these are far more common to serve when entertaining at home than to find in a restaurant, since the buns are simply split and filled with chicken in mole sauce or similar. There’s little that makes for a better street food than hot carb-on-carb action, and the tamal-stuffed bolillo known as a guajolota drives yakisoba pan, the Mission burrito, and apple pie made of Ritz crackers to the back of the starch-overload line.
