The standard method of making sopes (and also huaraches, chalupas*, and gorditas*) can be summed up as:
- form medium-thick masa patties
- griddle those on both sides on a dry griddle
- form the raised edges of the sopes
- let sopes cool
- shallow-fry the sopes on both sides
- add toppings and serve
The problem with the shallow-frying is that it's a very messy step, and sometimes you dip them in tomato sauce, making the frying even messier.
I'm wondering if step (5) could be replaced by baking them in a very hot oven, and if so what the optimal combination of time, temperature, and oil would be. I've found a few internet sources with oven-baked sopes, but none of them appear to be very well-tested. Has anyone actually tried this, or something similar, and if so what was your experience?
(* the traditional Mexican dishes by this name, not the Taco Bell versions, which are quite different)