Enchiladas
Recipe by Walumachoncha - submitted by Lumpy
Warning: This recipe involves deep frying wet stuff. A lot of splattering may occur. Be careful.
Real enchiladas are called so because the tortilla is dipped in a chile sauce before serving. Also real enchiladas are served invidually, instead of being baked in rows and layers. Here's how. Again, be aware you're gonna have to fry something that will make hot oil splatter all over, including your arms.
Ingredients
- corn tortillas, thinnest possible.
- chilaca chiles, dry
- garlic
- tomato puree
- oregano
- shredded cooked chicken or crumbly cheese for filling and topping.
- chopped onions
- lots of corn or canola oil
- a deep, heavy cast iron skillet.
Prep Work
Prepare the chilacate (chile wash). Soak some chilaca chiles in a tiny amount of warm water to moisten them. Usually microwaving for a minute or two helps. Throw the chiles, the garlic, some oregano, salt and a small amount of tomato puree into a blender and blend on high speed until the wash is really smooth. Now strain it.
The wash should be rid of any chile skins. It should also have a runny consistency. If it is goopy, put a tiny bit of water, mix and see if you got it right. The consistency should be like tomato juice or clamato. Add half a spoonful of oil to make it easier to fry, and mix well.
Cooking
Heat up your oil. The pan should have plenty of oil, but also plenty of vertical overhead to catch the splatter.
Take the cold tortillas and dip them in the chilacate. Shake gently some of the excess wash off and place the tortilla in a big slotted spatula. Use the spatula to SLIDE the tortilla into the oil. The oil needs to be at med high, and the heating up should take less than one minute. You're only warming the tortilla and cooking the chilacate into the tortilla. Take the warmed tortilla from the oil, drain and put in a plate. Put some chicken or cheese in the middle of the tortilla and roll tightly into a tube shaped taco. Put two or three enchiladas saide by side, crumble some queso fresco or creamy, crumbling cheese on top, and also spinkle some chopped onions. That's it.
Most of mexico uses corn tortillas for everyday eating. The reason seems to be that corn is more readily available in most of central and southern mexico, and corn tortillas have been around since forever. Flour tortillas are popular in northern mexico, where it is sometimes easier to grow wheat than corn, and are much more recent, culturally speaking. Corn tortillas don't have any fat, while flour tortillas have shortening in them to make them pliable. Just something else to consider.
