There’s magic when you bite into a perfectly fried corn tortilla—the crunch, and then it dissolves in your mouth. Throw on some salt and you could be done right there. I’m covering my favorite three—nachos, tostada and chilaquiles, and I’m going to try to convince you of three things. First, that they’re all the same thing. Second, crispy tortillas are the ultimate, universal platform for flavor. Finally, except in case of hangover, you should learn how to deep-fry them yourself. It’s worth the effort.
Nachos first, tortillas cut into quarters and then deep fried. (See 1 below) While they cool you can make the cheese sauce, there’s a number of methods, but I vote for starting with a good chicken stock, beurre manié, and then gobs of cheese, salt and hot sauce to taste. While that sets, it’s off to see what you have in the way of leftovers—chicken, beef, salsa, fresh cut peppers. Every chip gets some cheese sauce and then a spread of toppings. Sprinkle some more of that hot sauce around for variety, maybe spoon on some sour cream and done. It so simple you almost can’t go wrong, unless you drown the chips. There’s no disappointment like soggy nachos.
For something more traditional, try chilaquiles. Usually, you fry the tortilla in quarters like nachos, but for hangovers, you can use the chips you nicked from the bar the night before—If you were able to plan this after several house margaritas, you have my sincere respect. If the headache is bearable, or you’re looking to score some style points, you’ll want to avoid day old nachos. Salsa can hide some sins but it’s fucking-impressive if you can find a way to fold your tortilla while it fries. Stand it up on the plate, drizzle hot salsa over it (note 2) and then pile up the fixin’s next to it. Avoid plating where the tostada/chips end up swimming in salsa or you’ll lose that wonderful crispy texture. There’s no disappointment like a plate of soggy chilaquiles. Do yourself a solid and serve a fried egg with it. (Note 4)
We all have a thing for tacos, so I’m not looking for friends when I say that crispy taco shells are the worst. (Note 5) Tostada is better. It’s easy to eat and it looks amazing—let those beautiful ingredients be seen. Tostadas only need a thin layer of sauce on one side, like a spread, before adding the toppings. For savory you can do a spicy mayo or sour cream with your choice of fish, pork, chicken or even tofu, garnish with anything that compliments, think texture. You can also go sweet with a yogurt spread and fresh or stewed fruit, maybe a dash of cinnamon or nutmeg to finish. That crispy texture will satisfy with every bite so long as you don’t leave them swimming in liquid or sauce. Soggy tortillas are not tostada, they are a disappointment.
They all come down to a crispy delicious fried tortilla, a careful layer of sauce that doesn’t soak through and whatever toppings you have to add—and hot sauce. The value is the tortilla, the rest is just window dressing.
TLDR; If you take the time to make the tortilla excellent, they rest takes care of itself. You can do all this with pre-made tostadas, chips and taco shells, but you’ll never get that fresh, warm, dissolve-in-your-mouth feel unless you put in the effort and fry it yourself.
Comments:
- Bring a pot of cooking oil to 175C/350F. Use an oil with little flavor that can stand high heat, like canola. I prefer to aim for 180C/360F to account for heat loss when the tortillas drop. The time will depend on how old the tortillas are, and what, if anything they’re flavored with. After about a minute, start to listen for the sizzling to subside and then pull them out to drain. You can flip halfway through to even out the color and texture.
- There are so many recipes for chilaquiles salsa. Green or red, flavored with spicy sauce—it’s your chance to be unique, just make sure you serve it hot and simmer out all the moisture you can. Do not disappoint.
- Many so-called recipes say to cook the fried chips in salsa, but that only makes sense if you’re using stale tortillas that can stand some extra hydration. Have I made my point? No one wants to eat nasty-ass soggy tortillas.
- Friendly vibes to those of you who’ve been traumatized by undercooked eggs. Whoever hurt you should be disciplined, severely. Find a good cook to rehabilitate you because, you are missing out.
- Don’t hate me, I love me some Taco-Tuesday, but if we hired engineers to design food we’d never get a crispy taco shell. The fail point is exactly where the goodness is all held in place. Gravity is a heartless bitch and I don’t want taco juice and sour cream running down my wrists. On second thought, just get me a margarita first.
- If you can get tortillas from someone who makes them by hand you should do that, partly to get great food but mostly to keep them in business. In the apocalypse we’ll all be fed through tubes and the cries across the land will be from shame for buying shit-for-food while there was quality to be had.
- Forget baking tortillas at home, that’s a scam.
- Books have been written about Mexican flavor combinations. Have a look if you need to—but you can do whatever you want. I refer you to Chef Cámara’s leek and tuna tostada with chipotle mayo. Like her, what you’re trying to do, with nachos, chilaquiles, tostado or even tacos is bring the elements together. Texture, flavor and heat, all in balance.
