Huevos Revueltos a la Mexicana 
Mexican Scrambled Eggs
Huevos Revueltos con Chorizo Eggs Scrambled with Chorizo
Huevos Revueltos con Totopos y Jitomate Mexican Scrambled Eggs with Totopos
Huevos Revueltos del Rancho Farmhouse Scrambled Eggs
Salsa de Huevo Oaxacan Scrambled Eggs
Huevo a la Sorpresa Egg Surprise
Nopales con Huevo Nopal Cactus with Egg
Huevos en Rabo de Mestiza Eggs Poached in a Chile-Tomato Broth
Huevos Motuleños Eggs as They Are Prepared in Motúl
The hearty mid-morning almuerzo, the Mexican equivalent to brunch, is still very much in vogue—and many a successful business deal has been completed over it—for those who have the luxury of escaping from their offices to enjoy it. Almuerzo serves as a comforting cushion until the late afternoon comida. I, who had been brought up with typically English breakfasts, had long believed that they could not be equaled. However it did not take many years of living in Mexico to find that bacon and eggs accompanied by fried mushrooms and tomatoes, or grilled kippers—delicious as they can be—began to pale beside luscious fresh tropical fruits, eggs cooked in one of the many recipes that follow, fried beans, café con leche, and a freshly made pan dulce.
The following recipes are just a sampling of the many creative ways in which the Mexican cook varies the breakfast meal using whatever is left over and can be deliciously combined with eggs. (Many others can be found in The Art of Mexican Cooking.)
SERVES 1
This popular way of preparing eggs is also the one that is best known outside Mexico, and rightly so. It combines refreshing tastes and textures to make a very satisfying breakfast dish.
To serve the eggs a little more elegantly—as I have eaten them in a Mexican home—cut the tortilla to fit a cocotte, a small, round, shallow ovenproof dish, and mask the eggs with half red and half green sauce. They can be sprinkled with a grated melting cheese and lightly browned under a broiler.
Heat the oil in a skillet and fry the tortillas lightly on both sides, as you would for enchiladas—they should not become crisp. Drain them on paper toweling and place them on a warmed dish.
In the same oil, fry the eggs, then place them on the tortillas.
Cover the eggs with the warmed sauce and serve immediately.
SERVES 1
Next in popularity to huevos rancheros is Huevos Revueltos a la Mexicana, eggs scrambled with a mixture of lightly fried—some cooks leave the ingredients raw—onion, chile, and tomato. There are many variations on this theme (see the recipes that follow).
2½ TABLESPOONS VEGETABLE OIL
4 OUNCES (115 G) TOMATOES, FINELY CHOPPED (ABOUT ⅔ CUP/165 ML)
2 SERRANO CHILES OR TO TASTE, FINELY CHOPPED
2 TABLESPOONS FINELY CHOPPED WHITE ONION
SALT TO TASTE
2 LARGE EGGS
Heat the oil in a skillet and stir in the chopped ingredients with salt to taste. Cook for 1 minute.
Lightly beat the eggs with a little salt and stir into the tomato-chile mixture. Stir over medium heat until set.
Serve immediately with hot tortillas.
SERVES 1
1 CHORIZO, ABOUT 2 OUNCES (60 G)
2 LARGE EGGS
SALT IF NECESSARY
Heat the pan. Skin the chorizo and crumble it into the pan. Let it cook gently—if the heat is too high it will burn quickly—until the fat has rendered out of the meat. Drain off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat.
Break the eggs into the pan and stir until set. Add salt if necessary.
Serve immediately.
SERVES 4
This makes a very good brunch dish.
VEGETABLE OIL FOR FRYING
6 TORTILLAS, EACH CUT INTO 6 TRIANGULAR PIECES AND DRIED
¼ CUP (65 ML) VEGETABLE OIL, PLUS MORE FOR FRYING
3 TABLESPOONS FINELY CHOPPED WHITE ONION
8 OUNCES (225 G) TOMATOES, FINELY CHOPPED (ABOUT 1⅓ CUPS/335 ML)
4 TO 6 SERRANO CHILES, FINELY CHOPPED
6 LARGE EGGS
SALT TO TASTE
Heat the oil in a large skillet and fry the tortilla pieces, one half at a time, so they cook evenly. They should be just a little crisp but not too brown. Drain on paper toweling and keep warm.
Heat the ¼ cup oil, then add the chopped ingredients to the pan and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring the mixture from time to time.
Beat the eggs together with the salt and add them, with the dried tortilla pieces, to the pan. Cook, stirring, until the eggs are set but not too dry.
The dish should be eaten immediately.
SEÑORA MARÍA LUISA DE MARTÍNEZ
SERVES 1
¼ CUP (65 ML) VEGETABLE OIL
1½ SMALL TORTILLAS, CUT INTO STRIPS AND DRIED
2 LARGE EGGS
SALT TO TASTE
3 TABLESPOONS SALSA DE CHILE PASILLA, AT ROOM TEMPERATURE
1 TABLESPOON FINELY CHOPPED WHITE ONION
1 TABLESPOON CRUMBLED QUESO FRESCO
Heat the oil in a large skillet and fry the tortillas until they are just crisp and a light golden brown.
Leaving the crisps in the pan, drain off all but about 1 tablespoon of the oil.
Beat the eggs together with the salt and add them to the crisps in the pan. Stir the eggs over medium heat until they are set.
Serve the eggs topped with the sauce and sprinkled with the onion and cheese.
SEÑORA MARÍA LUISA DE MARTÍNEZ
SERVES 1
2 TABLESPOONS VEGETABLE OIL
2 SMALL TORTILLAS
3 TABLESPOONS SALSA DE CHILE PASILLA
2 LARGE EGGS
SALT TO TASTE
A SLICE OF QUESO FRESCO
1 TABLESPOON FINELY CHOPPED WHITE ONION
1 TABLESPOON CRÈME FRAÎCHE OR THICK SOUR CREAM
Heat the oil in a large skillet and fry the tortillas lightly on both sides. They should not get crisp. Drain them on the paper toweling and put them onto a warmed plate.
In the same oil, cook the sauce for a few seconds over high heat.
Beat the eggs lightly with the salt and add them to the sauce in the pan. Stir the eggs until they are set.
Serve the eggs on top of the tortillas and top with the cheese, onion, and crème fraîche or sour cream.
SEÑORA DOMATILA SANTIAGO DE MORALES
SERVES 2
I had been served huevos en chilpachole at La Flecha restaurant in Tlacotalpan, but checking up again on the recipe I couldn’t find a Veracruzano who knew anything about them. Then, in Oaxaca, when I was cooking with Señora Domatila, she prepared them for a late breakfast. They were the same, with the addition of the nopales typical of that area.
It has always fascinated me to see just how recipes travel, and perhaps this one had gone by my most favorite route in all Mexico, across the Sierra Madre Oriental. The road begins in the basin of the Papaloapan River and winds steeply and seemingly endlessly up through a dense and wonderfully lush rain forest that gives way at about nine thousand feet to silent pine forests, brilliant and fragrant in the crystal-clear air. As you look back toward the east you can see endless ranges of mountains and three snowy-capped volcanoes emerging through the light clouds that speck a brilliant blue sky.
10 OUNCES (285 G) TOMATOES, BROILED
1 OR 2 FRESH SERRANO CHILES OR ANY FRESH, HOT GREEN CHILE, CHARRED
2 TABLESPOONS ROUGHLY CHOPPED WHITE ONION
1 GARLIC CLOVE, ROUGHLY CHOPPED
¼ TEASPOON SALT, OR TO TASTE
3 TABLESPOONS VEGETABLE OIL
½ CUP (125 ML) WATER
1 LARGE SPRIG EPAZOTE
⅓ CUP (85 ML) CHOPPED NOPALES, FRESHLY COOKED (OPTIONAL)
3 LARGE EGGS
Blend the unskinned tomatoes with the chile, onion, garlic, and salt. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a skillet and fry the mixture for 5 minutes, stirring from time to time. Dilute with the water, add the epazote and nopales, and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes more. Set aside.
Heat the remaining oil in a heavy pan. Beat the eggs briefly with a little salt and cook very lightly in the oil, turning them constantly, until they are just set. Add to the sauce, stirring constantly for a few minutes, and cook for about 3 minutes more.
NOTE: You could prepare the sauce ahead, but cook and add the eggs just before serving.
SEÑORA MAURA RODRÍGUEZ
SERVES 1
A student in an early cooking class at Rancho Santa Fe brought along this recipe from her maid, who came from Jalisco. Somewhere, sometime I had eaten this before and forgotten just how delicious it was. Topped with some shredded lettuce, Salsa Mexicana Cruda or Salsa de Tomate Verde, and slices of avocado, this makes a delicious brunch dish served with Frijoles Refritos.
Make a tortilla so that it puffs up. Make a small slit in the puffed side to form a pocket, then crack open an egg and slide it into the pocket. Press the cut edges of the dough to seal in the egg and fry in hot oil until it is golden brown and crisp. Drain well, cover with the toppings, and serve immediately.
SERVES 4
This recipe for nopales combined with eggs, given to me by Señora Hortensia de Fagoaga, is unusual in that the nopales are not cooked before they are added. They are thus crisper in texture and add more flavor to the eggs.
Señora Fagoaga served this dish as a first course in a comida, but it could be served for breakfast or as a filling for tacos.
2 TABLESPOONS LARD OR VEGETABLE OIL
1 POUND (450 G) NOPALES (ABOUT 3½ CUPS/875 ML) CLEANED AND DICED (SEE THIS PAGE)
8 OUNCES (225 G) TOMATOES, FINELY CHOPPED (ABOUT 1⅓ CUPS/335 ML)
2 GARLIC CLOVES, FINELY CHOPPED
⅓ CUP (85 ML) FINELY CHOPPED WHITE ONION
4 SERRANO CHILES, FINELY CHOPPED
SALT TO TASTE
3 LARGE EGGS
Heat the lard in a skillet and add the rest of the ingredients (except the eggs). Add salt to taste. Cover the pan and cook over medium heat, shaking the pan from time to time, for about 25 minutes—until the mixture is dry and well seasoned.
Break the eggs into the nopales and stir rapidly until set.
SERVES 6
Although I recommend this as a substantial and delicious brunch dish, Huevos en Rabo de Mestiza were first served to me many years ago at the then renowned restaurant in San Luis Potosí, La Lonja, at a comida followed by Fiambre Potosino.
Some cooks add hard-cooked eggs to the sauce, but this is frowned upon by traditional cooks in San Luis.
The sauce with the rajas can be made well ahead of time and the dish assembled at the last moment. I do not recommend freezing the sauce.
⅓ CUP (85 ML) VEGETABLE OIL
1½ CUPS (375 ML) THINLY SLICED WHITE ONION
7 POBLANO CHILES, CHARRED AND PEELED, CLEANED, AND CUT INTO NARROW STRIPS
2 POUNDS (900 G) TOMATOES, BROILED
3 CUPS (750 ML) WATER
SALT TO TASTE
12 LARGE EGGS
6 SLICES QUESO FRESCO
Heat the oil in a large skillet and cook the onion until translucent—about 2 minutes. Add the chile strips to the pan and let them cook for about 3 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid sticking.
Blend the broiled tomatoes for a few seconds—do not overblend—and add them to the onion-chile mixture. The sauce should have some texture. Let them cook over fairly high heat for about 10 minutes, or until the sauce is well seasoned and has reduced somewhat. Add the water and salt and continue cooking for a minute or so more.
Crack the eggs, one by one, onto a saucer and carefully slide them into the hot broth. Arrange the slices of cheese on top. Cover the dish with a lid and let the eggs poach very gently until set—6 to 8 minutes.
NOTE: The sauce can, of course, be made well ahead of time.
SERVES 1
This way of preparing eggs was presumably invented in the small Yucatecan town of Motúl; I always think of it (them) as huevos rancheros with a Yucatecan flourish. When I first went to research recipes in Mérida many years ago, I was struck by the number of restaurants that were doing a roaring trade at breakfast time with businessmen, all in their white guayaberas, consuming to a man huevos motuleños accompanied by tall glasses of café con leche while they heatedly discussed politics and the financial events of the day.
All the component parts of this recipe can be prepared well ahead, but the final assembling should be done at the last moment.
I could never figure out why peas. They are always as hard as bullets, and tasteless, or mushy if they have come out of a can.
2 TABLESPOONS VEGETABLE OIL
2 SMALL TORTILLAS
2 TABLESPOONS FRIJOLES COLADOS YUCATECOS
1 OR 2 LARGE EGGS
½ CUP (125 ML) SALSA DE JITOMATE YUCATECA, HEATED
1 TABLESPOON CHOPPED HAM
1 TABLESPOON COOKED PEAS
½ TABLESPOON GRATED ROMANO CHEESE
Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet and fry the tortillas lightly on both sides. They should not be crisp. Drain them and set aside on the warm plate.
Cover one of the tortillas with a thick layer of the bean paste.
In the same fat, fry the egg and put it on top of the bean paste. Cover the egg with the second tortilla. Mask with the sauce, sprinkle the ham and peas over the tortilla, sprinkle it with cheese, and serve.
SEÑORA HORTENSIA QUINTANILLA DE GARCÍA
SERVES 6
Many years ago I was given a completely different recipe for machacado that was published in The Cuisines of Mexico. Some years later I received a letter from Abel Quezada—the distinguished artist whose cartoons had kept the newspaper-reading public amused for decades. It was delightfully illustrated, telling me that his mother never put tomato in her machacado. Of course, he was right, as I found out later from more traditional cooks in Nuevo León.
This more traditional recipe comes from a friend’s mother. It reflects perfectly the simplicity of the ingredients and cooking of the north that are nevertheless totally delicious.
The small round piquín chile that grows wild in the mountains of Nuevo León is used most of the year in its ripened and dried state and green and fresh in the rainy season. Indeed it is known as chile de monte (mountain chile) or pajarito (little bird).
The Machacado is served with a tomato sauce and mashed and lightly fried beans—usually pintos brought from the United States—accompanied, of course, by flour tortillas.
Put the dried beef into a bowl, cover with cold water, and soak 1 minute to soften slightly. Drain, then squeeze to extract as much water as possible. Shred the beef coarsely.
Heat the lard in a skillet, stir in the beef, and fry lightly until the moisture has evaporated—do not brown—about 3 minutes.
Break the eggs into the mixture—do not beat beforehand—stir, and mix until they are set and curdy, about 2 minutes. Serve the eggs immediately with the tomato sauce.
The beef is usually salty enough that no extra salt should be required, but that is a matter of taste.
THE TOMATO SAUCE
1¼ POUNDS (570 G) TOMATOES
1½ TABLESPOONS LARD
½ CUP (125 ML) FINELY CHOPPED WHITE ONION
7 DRIED PIQUÍN CHILES
SALT TO TASTE
Cut the tomatoes into quarters lengthwise and, using the coarse side of the grater, grate the flesh and seeds of each section until you have only the skin left in your hand—take care not to grate your knuckles or nails in the process. Save all the juice that exudes. You should have about 2 cups (500 ml) of juicy flesh with seeds.
Heat the lard in a large skillet, add the onion, the chiles, and salt, and fry over medium heat until translucent—about 2 minutes. Add the grated tomatoes and continue cooking over high heat until seasoned—about 15 minutes, or until you have a juicy, textured sauce. Serve warm.
SERVES 2
As usual, Señora Tencha came back from a visit to her tierra in the Sierra Norte de Puebla with a new plant, a new idea, and this time a new recipe for eggs that her sister had served her with a corn tortilla fresh off the comal.
For regular egg eaters—and there are still some around—or Sunday brunchers who like a good chile pickup on a Sunday morning, this will do it. I have now adapted this recipe and serve it with an unchilied tomato sauce.
I was told to just break the eggs into the pan and stir a little just to mix, but you could mix in a bowl first if you wish—just more washing up.
⅔ CUP (165 ML) WATER
6 SERRANO CHILES, BROILED UNTIL SOFT AND ROUGHLY CHOPPED
⅓ CUP (85 ML) FIRMLY PACKED, ROUGHLY CHOPPED EPAZOTE
SALT TO TASTE
3 TABLESPOONS VEGETABLE OIL
4 LARGE EGGS
Put the water into the blender jar, add the chiles, epazote, and salt, and blend to a rough-textured consistency.
Heat the oil in a large skillet, break the eggs into it, add a little salt, and stir just to mix. Cook the eggs over medium heat, folding them over so that they cook evenly until well set. Pour the sauce over the eggs and continue cooking, without stirring, still over medium heat, until the sauce has reduced and seasoned a little—about 2 minutes.