2 DESAYUNO
Breakfast
People in Mexico enjoy a substantial breakfast. In Mexico City, it’s common to find bankers and art dealers tucking into plates of chilaquiles or huevos con chorizo at 10:00 AM.
The notion of brunch isn’t particularly popular, maybe because our regular breakfast foods tend to be considered brunch foods in the United States. We mostly eat savory foods in the morning; our morning sweet comes in the form of pan dulce (sweet rolls). Mexican breakfasts almost always feature eggs, cooked every conceivable way.
I never tire of eggs. An accessible and affordable protein, eggs have so much versatility, from how they’re cooked to what you eat them with and which salsas you pour over them. They give you tons of energy to get through the busiest days. And if you’ve overindulged the night before, they’re the perfect hangover cure. Also, the chile that’s often cooked with eggs (and prominent in salsas) gives an instant boost of vitamin C—always a good thing in the morning.
If you haven’t cooked a lot of Mexican food before, breakfast is a great entry point to the cuisine. Not only is it such an important meal in Mexican culture but these dishes are also hard to mess up and often more impressive than the sum of their parts, given how easy they are to put together.
I’ve given recipes to serve four to six people for almost all of my breakfast dishes so that you can make a quantity to serve friends or family. But everything can be scaled down to serve one or two very easily, and most of these dishes are simple enough that they’re worth cooking even if you don’t have company. I often throw together a pan of huevos a la Mexicana on a weekday morning. It’s one of my son Lucas’s favorite breakfasts.
While I’ll suggest certain salsas that are typically served with particular breakfast dishes, always feel free to substitute any of the staple salsas that you may already have in your fridge. There really isn’t a salsa that doesn’t taste good on eggs. You’ll notice a lot of the same ingredients repeat in breakfast dishes: onions, garlic, cilantro, chile, tomatoes. You can mix and match any of these dishes, and they will taste fantastic.
Breakfast food is comfort food, no matter the culture. And it’s an even greater comfort to enjoy these foods with family and friends first thing in the day before any distractions set in.
PATAS DE ANÍS ANISE ROLLS
Bread is actually a significant part of the Mexican diet, dating back to the arrival of the European colonizers. Their appetite for baked goods caught on, as you can tell by counting the bakeries in any neighborhood in Mexico City. When I opened Contramar, I wanted fresh-baked bread on every table alongside fresh-made tortillas, so next door, I also run a bake shop where I sell our bread as well as the kinds of pastries people typically eat with coffee or hot chocolate, like these patas. Patas translates to “hooves” (as in, the feet of a pig). This recipe comes from my paternal grandmother, Doña Concha, who was from Campeche, in southeast Mexico. The rolls are flavored with anise, and they are shaped by rolling flattened dough around the handle of a spoon that you slide out gently, letting the rolls rise in that baguette shape before baking them.
MAKES 20 ROLLS
2¼ tsp (1 package) active dry yeast
½ cup / 120ml warm water
1 tsp granulated sugar, plus ½ cup / 100g and more for sprinkling
4¼ cups / 530g all-purpose flour, plus more for sprinkling
1 tsp sea salt
4 eggs
3 egg yolks
1½ cups / 330g unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp aniseeds
½ cup / 120ml warm milk
In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the yeast, water, and 1 tsp sugar. Stir to dissolve the yeast, then let it rest for about 10 minutes, until bubbles form and it looks a bit frothy.
With the mixer running on medium speed, add the remaining ½ cup / 100g sugar, the flour, salt, eggs, 2 of the egg yolks, ¾ cup / 160g of the butter, and the aniseeds and mix for about 5 minutes, or until a soft and sticky dough forms. Add the milk and knead on medium speed for about 5 minutes more, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
Lightly flour your work surface. Portion the dough into 20 balls. Using a rolling pin, flatten a few balls into very thin disks (about ¼ inch / 6mm). Spread about 1¾ tsp butter on top of each dough disk and sprinkle with flour.
Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C. Butter two baking sheets.
Gently roll each flattened disk around the handle of your biggest wooden spoon, forming a long, baguettelike shape with the handle at the center of the cylinder. Ease the handle of the spoon out and place the roll on a prepared baking sheet. Continue with the rest of the dough balls, placing the shaped rolls approximately 2 inches / 5cm apart so they don’t stick together as they rise. Cover the pans with a dish towel and set aside to rise in a warm spot for about 40 minutes, or until they double in size.
Whisk the remaining egg yolk. Using a pastry brush, gently brush the tops of the rolls with the egg and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature the day they are baked.
CONCHAS DE PINOLE PINOLE SWEET BUNS
Conchas (pictured on this page) are one of the best-known pan dulce, or sweet roll, often found heaped in the windows of panaderías, or bakeries. The base of the concha is a briochelike bread, shaped into a round bun. On top is a cap of butter cookie dough that gets baked right onto the bread dough, so it forms a sweet, crumbly crust on the soft roll. The conventional concha topping is flavored with vanilla or chocolate, but you can add whatever you want to it. I like to use ingredients native to Mexico, like pinole or mesquite (see variation). Pinole is toasted corn, ground very finely, sweetened and seasoned with a hint of cinnamon or cocoa powder. You can purchase pinole at Mexican markets and online.
Like all pastries, conchas are the most delicious on the day they’re baked. But conchas can also get a second life, toasted, as a sandwich bun. Salty refried beans, spread on a sweet and buttery pinole concha, taste especially good. (An Asian friend of mine remarked that this is reminiscent of the salty beans sometimes found in Asian sweet breads.) I also love to toast half a split bun and use it as the base for an open-face dessert “sandwich” of arroz con leche.
MAKES 12 BUNS
Concha Dough Buns
2¼ tsp (1 package) active dry yeast
½ cup / 120ml warm water
½ cup / 120ml warm milk
1 tsp granulated sugar plus ½ cup / 100g
½ cup / 110g unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp sea salt
2 eggs, at room temperature
4 cups / 500g all-purpose flour
1 tsp vegetable oil
Pinole Topping
⅓ cup / 40g powdered sugar
¼ cup / 30g all-purpose flour
¼ cup / 30g pinole flour
¼ cup / 55g cold butter, cut into small cubes
Pinch of sea salt
To make the dough: In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, dissolve the yeast in the water and milk. Add the 1 tsp of the granulated sugar and wait for the liquid to bubble and become slightly frothy—5 to 10 minutes. Add the remaining ½ cup / 100g granulated sugar, the butter, salt, eggs, and all-purpose flour. Mix on medium speed for about 10 minutes, until the dough forms a smooth and elastic ball that pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Oil the dough with the oil and then return it to the mixing bowl. Cover the bowl with a dish towel and set aside to rise in a warm spot for about 2 hours, until doubled in size.
Butter a baking sheet.
When the dough has risen, divide it into 12 balls. They should weigh about 2.5 oz / 75g each. Place the rolls on the baking sheet, positioning them approximately 2 inches / 5cm apart so they don’t stick together as they rise.
To make the topping: In a clean bowl for your mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the powdered sugar, all-purpose flour, pinole flour, butter, and salt and mix until it achieves a cookie dough consistency.
Lay a large sheet of parchment paper on your work surface. Gather up the dough and place it on the parchment. Top with another large sheet of parchment and, using a rolling pin, roll out the dough as you would roll out butter cookie dough to ⅛ inch / 3mm thick. Remove the top piece of parchment and, using a 2-inch / 5cm biscuit cutter (to match the diameter of the rolls), punch out twelve circles. Carefully lay a circle on each roll. For a simpler method, you can use moistened fingertips to gently pat about 1 Tbsp of the topping onto each bun, spreading it (without pressing it into the dough) so that it covers most of the surface area.
Cover the baking sheet with a dish towel and set aside in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes, or until they’re about doubled again.
Preheat the oven to 375°F / 190°C.
Bake the conchas for about 20 minutes, until the topping is nicely browned. Let cool just until cool enough to handle and then serve. The fresh rolls are best eaten the same day. Store leftover rolls in a sealed container to be split and used for sandwiches the next day.
CONCHAS DE MESQUITE / MESQUITE SWEET BUN VARIATION
To make these rolls with mesquite flour, which comes from the mesquite plant and tastes subtly piney, substitute ¼ cup / 40g for the pinole flour. It’s available in bulk at most health foods stores.
HUEVOS POCHADOS EN SOPA DE FRIJOLES EGGS POACHED IN BEAN SOUP
Eggs poached in a blended black bean soup make a simple and satisfying meal at any time of day. You can make a single serving by poaching just one or two eggs in a cup of soup. But if you are practiced at poaching eggs, go ahead and poach more at the same time to feed a group. When your spoon breaks into the egg, the runny yolk blends with and enriches the broth, creating a satisfying meal from humble components.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
1 recipe Frijoles Aguados (this page)
4 to 6 eggs
Maldon sea salt or another finishing salt
Salsa of your choice for serving
In a saucepan, using an immersion blender, blend the beans and enough bean broth so that you end up with the consistency of a creamy soup, not refried beans.
Bring the pureed beans to a boil over medium heat, then decrease the heat to low and bring to a simmer.
When the beans are simmering, crack an egg into a small measuring cup, ideally one with a long handle. Gently lower the measuring cup into the simmering bean soup, submerging the bottom of the measuring cup in the soup and then easing the egg out. Repeat with the remaining eggs, distributing them evenly in the saucepan.
The cooking time will depend on how you like your poached eggs. Cook for 4 minutes for eggs with well-set whites around a still-runny yolk. If you poach more than 6 eggs at once, you will need to increase the cooking time by about 30 seconds per egg, since each one absorbs heat and lowers the temperature of the soup.
When you think your eggs are cooked, ladle each one with the bean soup in which it was poached into individual serving bowls. Top with a sprinkle of salt and a spoonful of salsa, and serve immediately.
HUEVOS CON MIGAS SCRAMBLED EGGS WITH FRIED TORTILLA BITS
When a tortilla is a few days old, it becomes too stiff to fold into a taco without cracking in half and starts to turn a bit glassy at the edges. That’s when you should cut the tortillas into little squares and let them dry out completely. Then you can store them in an airtight container and have them ready when you want to make these eggs. Migas means “crumbs or bits,” and refers to the dried-out pieces of tortilla. When you fry them, first they soak up the oil and become soft and then they turn crispy. Scrambled with eggs, they’re absolutely delicious, making another breakfast dish that somehow manages to be much more than the sum of its parts. Stale tortillas? Who knew they could taste this good. But nothing goes to waste in my kitchen, which is one reason I love to make these eggs.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
8 to 12 eggs
2 Tbsp Crema Ácida (this page) or crème fraîche
½ tsp sea salt, plus more as needed
⅓ cup / 80ml safflower oil
4 or 5 stale corn tortillas, cut into ⅜-inch / 1 cm squares and dried out
Salsa of your choice for serving
1 avocado, cut in half, pitted, peeled, and cut into ½-inch / 12mm-thick slices
In a bowl, whisk the eggs, crema or crème fraîche, and salt until well combined.
Warm the oil in a pan over high heat until it’s hot but not smoking. It may seem like a lot, but you’ll see that the tortillas are very absorbent. Drop a piece of tortilla into the oil and listen for a sizzle. When you hear it, add the rest of the tortillas and stir them with a wooden spoon while they cook. They will soften as they soak up the oil, and then they’ll turn crispy. Right after this happens, carefully discard the excess oil and turn the heat to low.
Add the egg–crème fraîche mixture to the pan and scramble together with the fried tortillas. Taste and add more salt if needed. Serve immediately, topped with a spoonful of salsa and the sliced avocado.
HUEVOS A LA MEXICANA MEXICAN-STYLE EGGS
This is a slightly fancier version of a very common and basic Mexican breakfast, although it still comes together in minutes if you have the salsa already made. (When you make this salsa, be sure to core the tomatoes well—completely removing the seeds and their surrounding juices—if you don’t remove them, they’ll make your eggs watery.) Custardy, soft-scrambled eggs complement the creamy texture of the chèvre cheese and get a nice hit of acid from the tomatoes and chile in the salsa. If tomatoes aren’t at their prime or you want a simpler variation, you may omit the tomatoes; these eggs will still be delicious when cooked with just the fried onion and serranos.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
1 recipe Salsa Mexicana (this page)
8 to 12 eggs
½ tsp sea salt, plus more as needed
3 oz / 80g soft chèvre, cut into ½-inch / 12mm rounds
1 Tbsp butter
Cilantro, chopped
8 to 12 Tortillas de Maiz (this page)
1 recipe Frijoles Aguados (this page; optional), warmed
1 or 2 avocados, cut in half, pitted, peeled, and cut into ½-inch / 12mm-thick slices (optional)
Warm the salsa in a large skillet over medium heat.
Meanwhile, in a bowl, whisk the eggs and salt. Add the chèvre and keep whisking until it’s fairly well incorporated, although it’s fine if some clumps remain since they will melt during cooking.
In a large skillet over low heat, melt the butter. Add the egg-cheese mixture and cook, stirring constantly so the eggs stay moist and creamy. Continuously agitate the eggs while they cook, never letting them stick to the bottom of the pan. When the scrambled eggs are a creamy yellow and just beginning to set, remove the pan from the heat and top with the hot salsa. Garnish with the cilantro. Serve immediately with the tortillas, beans, and avocado.
HUEVOS RANCHEROS FRIED TORTILLAS, FRIED EGGS, AND SALSA
For huevos rancheros, fried eggs are laid on top of fried corn tortillas, and then hot salsa is ladled on top. You can use any salsa you want. This is another great vehicle for Salsa Mexicana, but it’s equally good with Salsa Verde (this page) or Salsa de Chile Morita (this page). The trick, especially when making huevos rancheros for a group, is to time the frying of the tortillas and the eggs so that both are hot when you’re ready to serve them. I recommend prefrying a stack of tortillas and keeping them warm in a covered container so that you can focus on the slightly more sensitive task of frying eggs, which must be served immediately upon cooking. It’s too hard to fry both eggs and tortillas at the same time. You don’t need much oil for tortilla frying. In fact, less oil is better; too much can result in a soggy mess.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
1 recipe Salsa Mexicana (this page) and/or another salsa of your choice
About ½ cup / 120ml vegetable oil, plus more if needed
8 to 12 fresh Tortillas de Maiz (this page)
8 to 12 eggs
Sea salt
¼ white onion, finely minced
1 avocado, cut in half, pitted, peeled, and cut into ½-inch / 12mm-thick slices
Heat the salsa in a saucepan over low heat. Let it simmer while you fry the tortillas and then the eggs.
Start by frying as many tortillas as you’re going to need, so that you’ll have two per person. You need a container with a lid to keep them warm after you fry them. I have a basket that I like, but a stainless-steel pot with a lid works, too. Line the bottom of the container with a brown paper bag to absorb the oil and place next to you when you start frying the tortillas.
Warm 1 Tbsp of the oil in a skillet over medium heat. (You’ll know it’s hot enough when the edge of a tortilla sizzles slightly when dipped in the oil.) Drop in one tortilla at a time and let it fry for no more than 30 seconds per side, flipping it with tongs. Remove the tortilla from the pan, letting the excess oil drain off into the pan, and then place the tortilla on the paper bag at the bottom of the pot and cover with the lid. Continue in this way, stacking each fried tortilla on top of the one you just fired, adding more oil to the pan when needed. Once the tortillas are done and staying warm in a container with the lid on, it’s time to fry the eggs.
Pour ¼ cup / 60ml of the oil in the same pan in which you fried your tortillas and bring it back up to that sizzling temperature. In my family, we always fry eggs in a fair bit of oil, because it results in lacy, crisp-edged eggs every time, and you don’t need a nonstick pan. Once the oil is hot, gently crack 2 eggs into the pan at once. The oil may splatter a bit, so be on guard. Using a spoon, baste the whites with the hot oil while they’re frying, making sure they cook completely and get crispy on the edges. Fry until the whites are totally set but the yolks are still a little runny. The eggs should cook in about 1 minute.
Place 2 fried tortillas on a serving plate. Using a slotted spoon, remove the eggs one at a time, shaking off the excess oil and depositing them on the fried tortillas. Ladle the warm salsa in a ring around the egg whites, leaving just the yolks exposed. Season the yolks with a pinch of salt, sprinkle with onion, and lay a few slices of avocado on top and serve. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and eggs.
HUEVOS DIVORCIADOS / FRIED EGGS WITH RED AND GREEN SALSAS VARIATION
If you ladle green salsa on one half of the plate, over one fried egg, and red salsa on the other half, over a second fried egg, this dish becomes huevos divorciados (divorced eggs), for obvious reasons. Use any green- and red-colored salsas that you like. You can apply the same principle to other dishes, too, like chilaquiles (see this page) to make chilaquiles divorciados, for example.
HUEVOS EN CAMISA “EGG IN A SHIRT”
There’s a saying in Mexico that when a girl’s tortillas puff up, it’s a sign that she is ready to get married. In that case, I would’ve been in trouble, because I became my family’s tortilla maker at age seven, studying what Victoria—the woman who helped at our house—did and practicing dutifully until I got my tortillas to puff up like hers. Once I could make tortillas, I learned how to cook huevos en camisa, which was one of my favorite childhood snacks and is now one of my son Lucas’s favorite things to munch on whenever we’re making tortillas together.
Huevo en camisa translates to “egg in a shirt.” In this case, the tortilla is the shirt that the egg is wearing. This is the way it works: right after the second flip, when the masa is puffed with air, you make a quick slit in the tortilla, break an egg right into it, and put the whole thing back on the comal or skillet so that the egg cooks inside the tortilla. It’s incredibly simple—and delicious.
If you can cook huevos en camisa, it means you’ve mastered the technique of making fresh tortillas, and this dish lets you show off your skills.
MAKES 1 SERVING
1 ball freshly made Tortillas de Maiz dough (see this page)
1 egg
Sea salt
Salsa of your choice for serving
Warm an ungreased comal or skillet over medium-high heat.
Following the instructions on this page, form a tortilla and drop it onto the comal or into a skillet over medium-high heat. After the second flip, when the tortilla puffs up, transfer it to a cutting board and quickly use a paring knife to make a slit in the puffed edge. Crack an egg directly into the slit. Return the tortilla, now encasing the raw egg, to the comal or skillet. Fry the tortilla for about 1 minute on each side, until the egg is fried inside its tortilla “shirt.”
Season with the salt and serve with salsa. Eat immediately.
HUEVOS LIBANESES LEBANESE-STYLE EGGS
Mexico is a melting pot of cultures and culinary influences. The Lebanese are one of the more recent groups to have settled there, and at markets in places such as Oaxaca, Puebla, and Veracruz, pan árabe (freshly baked pita) and labneh (strained yogurt cheese) are sold alongside tortillas and chiles. Labneh is a key ingredient in huevos Libaneses and is easy to make from scratch if your market doesn’t sell it. In my version, eggs are baked in ramekins on top of sautéed minced onion and serrano chiles that keep the cooked egg from sticking. Right when they come out of the oven, you slide a dollop of tangy labneh under each one so that it melts, blending together with the hot yolk after the egg is pierced. Sprinkle with za’atar—a blend of sumac, thyme, oregano, sesame seeds, and salt—and serve with warm pitas instead of tortillas.
While you can find labneh for sale at some markets, it’s very easy to make at home. The process is similar to making fresh ricotta, only you strain yogurt instead of cooked milk. You can make it interesting by adding minced fresh herbs or experimenting with different kinds of yogurt. Goat’s milk yogurt, for instance, will make labneh that tastes more like chèvre. After an hour or two, it will resemble ricotta. After 8 hours, it will have the texture of cream cheese.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
Labneh
2 cups / 490g full-fat yogurt
¼ tsp sea salt
Squeeze of lemon
Up to 1 Tbsp finely minced fresh herbs, such as chives, mint, tarragon, or basil (optional)
¼ cup / 60ml olive oil
1 white onion, finely minced
3 serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded, veins removed (or not, depending on how spicy you want this to be), and finely minced
1 tsp sea salt, plus more as needed
8 to 12 eggs
4 to 6 rounds pita bread, wrapped in aluminum foil
2 Tbsp za’atar
To make the labneh: Line a colander with several layers of cheesecloth and set the colander over a bowl. In a second bowl, combine the yogurt, salt, lemon juice, and herbs. Pour the mixture into the colander and set aside to drain, or gather the edges of the cheesecloth and suspend it over the sink, hanging it from the faucet. The liquid (whey) will drain out, leaving just the solids behind. After a few hours (8 hours at most), open the cheesecloth and scrape the labneh into a container with a lid. It will keep in the sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
When you’re ready to make the eggs, preheat the oven to 400°F / 200°C.
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, warm the oil until hot but not smoking. Drop in the onion and chiles at the same time (the onion keeps the chiles from burning). Sauté, stirring constantly, until the onion is translucent but has not browned. Add the salt.
Divide the sautéed onion-chile mixture evenly among four to six 8 oz / 240ml ramekins or other oven-safe dishes. Immediately crack 2 eggs into each ramekin, place on a baking sheet, and bake for about 8 minutes, until the whites have set. (You want the yolks to stay a little runny.) After 5 minutes, add the foil-wrapped package of pitas to the oven to warm while the eggs cook.
Remove the ramekins and pitas from the oven, tuck a spoonful of labneh beneath each egg, and sprinkle with the za’atar. Cut the warm pitas into wedges, wrap them in a dish towel, and place in a basket.
Serve the ramekins with the pitas for people to sop up the tangy, creamy juices.
HUEVOS LIBANESES SKILLET VARIATION
If you want less fuss, you can also gently crack all of your eggs right on top of the sautéed onion and chiles into the skillet and place the whole thing in the oven. Then, when the eggs are baked, sprinkle them with za’atar and spoon each egg, together with some of the hot onion-chile relish, on top of a spoonful of labneh that you’ve placed on each person’s plate. It’s slightly less elegant but just as delicious.
HUEVOS TIRADOS EGGS SCRAMBLED WITH REFRIED BEANS
This is not the most photogenic of breakfasts—it’s basically “a plateful of brown,” as my son says—but don’t judge a breakfast by its color! Refried black beans get mixed right into the eggs as they scramble. Then the whole thing is shaped into a mound and served alongside fried plantains and topped with a spoonful of salsa. You can’t go wrong with cooked or raw salsa verde. The tomatillos impart a nice note of acidity to this rich and savory dish. (They also add a splash of color to that plateful of brown.) When the eggs and beans are cooked together, the eggs lend their fluffiness to the beans. The combination seems strangely light, even though it’s definitely another hearty breakfast to keep you going until midafternoon.
Begin by making the fried plantains and leave them in the oven at low heat to stay warm while you make the huevos tirados.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
1 Tbsp safflower oil or lard
8 to 12 eggs
½ tsp sea salt
1 cup / 240g Frijoles Refritos (this page)
1 recipe Fried Plantains (this page)
1 avocado, cut in half, pitted, peeled, and thinly sliced
Salsa Verde (this page) or another salsa of your choice for serving
Warm the oil or lard in a large skillet over medium heat until it’s hot and/or melted but not sizzling. Decrease the heat to low and crack the eggs into the skillet. Immediately puncture their yolks, sprinkle with the salt, and add the beans. Using a big wooden spoon or spatula, scramble the eggs and beans together in the pan, stirring the mixture continuously to integrate the eggs and beans while they cook.
Spoon the egg-bean mixture into a log on each plate. Place a small handful of fried plantains on the side and garnish with the avocado. Top with a spoonful of salsa and serve.
EVERYTHING CAN BE A TACO
From the moment I decided to write this cookbook, I knew it would not have a taco chapter. There are already so many taco cookbooks published in the United States, with precise recipes dictating exactly which toppings to use with which fillings and which salsas. The truth is, I find these notions somewhat silly. They miss the whole point of what makes tacos great, which is that you don’t need a recipe to make one—not the way Mexicans make and eat them, and not the way I’ve been making and eating them for as long as I can remember.
When I was young, as soon as my brother and I got home from school, we’d head straight for the fridge, digging around to see what we could throw together. And whatever looked good inevitably made its way into a rolled tortilla. Leftover pipian mole from our neighbors’ party? Perfect. Carnitas, sautéed vegetables, cheese, sliced avocado—everything tasted better in taco form. Anchovies and butter—the weirdest combination—was a personal favorite. Because our mom is Italian, we ate our share of pasta, and my brother and I loved to slap together spaghetti tacos. (Don’t knock them until you’ve tried them.) Like all children in Mexico, we also loved to melt an obscene amount of butter on a hot tortilla, sprinkle it just as liberally with sugar, and call that a taco. No one disputed our claim. Another classic in our household was a manchego cheese and quince paste taco. I now make a sweet tamal for dessert at Cala, inspired by that winning combo.
In Mexico, there are no rules about what constitutes this food—which can be a snack, a complete meal, or a quick breakfast—other than that it be wrapped in a tortilla and eaten with your hands. Once you hold a taco, you must never let go of it until you finish it. That’s actually the only legitimate taco rule. And the tortilla has to be soft; otherwise, it’s a tostada.
At Tacos Cala, we don’t serve spaghetti tacos or butter-sugar ones. But the tacos on our menu are different from any of the others I’ve sampled in California. My inspiration comes from many taquerias, like Tacos Hola, which is across from my apartment in the Condesa district in Mexico City, and their tacos de guisado, or “tacos filled with stew.” Tacos Hola is just one little room at street level, with a modest awning and a single table on the sidewalk in front. At 8:30 every morning, they crank up a metal grate and start serving tacos made from the stews bubbling on the stove. Most people eat standing up. It’s very informal. They wrap a plastic bag around each plate—to rip off and throw out when you hand it back—so that they can slip another plastic bag around the plate for the next customer and don’t have to do any dishes. I didn’t copy the plastic-bagged plates at Tacos Cala. But the stews, yes—if not the exact recipes, then the idea that a great taco is made from something delicious that has bubbled for a while in a pot and then ladled onto a bed of rice and beans lining a fresh, hot tortilla. These tacos don’t need extra add-ons, except for maybe a little sprinkling of minced cilantro or a spoonful or two of salsa. The guisados beg to be tasted, not covered up.
In my guisados, I make use of whatever is fresh and exciting at the farmers’ market, or I find a new vehicle to transform leftover ingredients from dinner into lunch. On any given day, the menu at Tacos Cala might include a mole; a picadillo, or sauté of ground beef; rajas, or strips of poblano chile cooked in a cream sauce with potatoes; a greens or mushroom sauté; or braised tongue in salsa verde. It could be as refined as an octopus stew or as elemental as a soft-boiled egg. No shredded cheese or sour cream. Freshly made red and green salsas are the only condiments available—always both, so people have a choice of color as well as taste.
Although there aren’t many components to these tacos, a lot of care goes into every part. Each tortilla is served hot off the comal, freshly made within the hour, strong enough to hold a stew yet tender and soft as you bite into it. The rice glistens a little from being lightly fried before it’s boiled. The black beans are whole and intact yet creamy on the inside. Each of these things may seem plain and basic—and in a way they are—but it takes attention to get them right and that comes across in the taste, even if people don’t realize why they taste so good. It’s also about the ratios. No part should dominate, and the taco should be generous but not overstuffed. No matter how tempted you may be, don’t heap fillings onto your tortilla. This is finger food. You must be able to eat it without things falling out.
While the guisados vary from day to day, a soft-boiled egg is the one constant on the taco menu, and the only taco for which I will provide a recipe. I want to give you my template, so that you see the ratios and can make tacos at home like the ones I love. While I’ve shared my recipes for rice and beans in the basics chapter, you don’t have to use both (or either one), and you could certainly substitute another color of bean or rice. Whatever you make, cook it carefully, and the results will be delicious.
Just as a sandwich is something you make with what’s at hand, throwing in whatever looks good, the same applies to tacos. Just about anything in this book can have a second life when wrapped in a tortilla. So when you like a recipe—especially if it’s one that requires a bit of extra work, such as a mole—make more than you need. The next day, when you’re digging through the fridge for a quick bite, you’ll be glad you did. Just make sure to have good corn tortillas in the freezer, ready to be heated on a comal.
Everything can be a taco!
TACOS DE HUEVO SOFT-BOILED EGG TACOS
At Tacos Cala, we make a big batch of soft-boiled eggs right before lunch. We peel them and keep them in the same pot of hot water they boiled in, so that they’re still warm, for up to 2 hours, for serving on tacos. You can do the same if you’re making these tacos for a brunch. Also, it’s likely that people will want a second taco, so this will keep their second egg from getting cold while they’re eating the first. What follows is the most basic recipe for the plainest taco on my menu. Even though I’ve had it a million times, it’s still one that I’m drawn to regularly. The soft-boiled yolk merges so well with the salsa, combining to form a rich and tangy sauce that seeps down into the rice and beans. Plain or not, it competes with any guisado. I recommend using two salsas, each one a different color.
You need hot tortillas, rice, beans, and eggs. Each of these parts must be warm when you’re ready to assemble and serve the tacos. Ideally, you’ll have made the salsas and beans a day ahead; warm them over medium-low heat while you prepare the rest. Cook the rice and then put a pot of water on to soft-boil the eggs while the rice is steaming. Then you can either make or reheat your tortillas, so they’re hot and fresh when you and your family or friends are ready to put together the tacos.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
8 to 12 eggs, at room temperature
Arroz (this page)
8 to 12 Tortillas de Maiz (this page)
1 recipe Frijoles Aguados (this page)
Maldon sea salt or another finishing salt
1 or 2 of your favorite salsas
Bring a pot of water to a boil and then add the eggs, one at a time, gently lowering them into the water with a spoon. (To be sure your eggs don’t crack, use Jacques Pépin’s trick of poking a tiny hole with a needle in the rounder end of each shell.) Set a timer and let the eggs boil for 1 minute. Then put a lid on the pot, turn off the stove, and let them sit in the hot water for 7 minutes more. Meanwhile, prepare a big bowl of ice water. Remove the eggs from the hot water with a slotted spoon, reserving the hot water in its pot, and transfer the eggs to the ice water for 1 minute. This keeps the shells from sticking. Peel the eggs and place them back in the hot water until ready to serve, or for as long as 2 hours.
Spread a generous 1 Tbsp of rice across a tortilla, patting it down and leaving a border of ⅜ inch / 1cm at the edge. Top with 1 Tbsp of beans, strained from their cooking broth. Slice a soft-boiled egg in half lengthwise and place both halves cut-side up over the beans. Finish with a pinch of salt and fold the tortilla to close. Repeat to fill the remaining tortillas. Pass the salsa at the table for people to spoon into their own tacos. Minimalism at its most delicious.
CHILAQUILES FRIED TORTILLAS SIMMERED IN SALSA
Chilaquiles are a kind of deconstructed enchilada. Stale tortillas get fried until they’re crispy, then softened in a hot salsa and served with toppings. You can also make an even easier version by using tortilla chips. Just buy really good ones (thick and crispy, ideally from a taqueria) so they’ll hold their shape rather than turning to mush in the pot. (Though to be honest, I’ve had a surprisingly tasty plate of chilaquiles made from Doritos, not that I’m advising such a thing.) You can serve chilaquiles at an elegant brunch, but they’re also something you can fix for yourself quickly if you’ve got the components. I always put a fried egg on mine, but they’re also good with shredded chicken or crumbled chorizo. Although it’s not a traditional Mexican cheese, I love crumbled feta on chilaquiles, because its tanginess goes well with the tomatillo salsa.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
1 Tbsp plus 1 cup / 240ml safflower oil, plus more as needed
1 qt / 960ml Salsa Verde (this page) or another cooked salsa of your choice
12 Tortillas de Maiz (this page), each cut into 6 to 8 wedges
¼ cup / 60g Crema Ácida (this page) or crème fraîche
8 to 12 eggs
½ cup / 60g finely minced white onion
½ cup / 10g cilantro leaves, minced
½ cup / 75g (⅜-inch / 1cm) cubed feta cheese
1 or 2 avocados, cut in half, pitted, peeled, and cut into about 8 slices
Warm the 1 Tbsp oil in a skillet over medium heat. Pour the salsa into the pan and let it cook at a low simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, thickening slightly.
In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, warm the remaining 1 cup / 240ml oil, which should be 2 inches / 5cm deep so you can submerge the tortilla wedges. Line a plate with a brown paper bag. Working in about three batches, drop the tortilla wedges into the saucepan and use a slotted spoon or tongs to turn them over as they fry for 2 to 3 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer the chips to the prepared plate and continue frying the rest. The chips should be very crispy after they cool. Transfer any remaining oil to the frying pan in which you will cook your eggs; you should have about ¼ cup / 60ml oil.
Turn off the burner under the skillet and wait for the salsa to stop simmering. Add the crema ácida or crème fraîche to the salsa and stir until it’s well integrated. Drop all of your chips into the pan. Stir them once or twice to coat with the sauce, being gentle and trying to break as few as possible. As soon as they have absorbed most of the sauce, stop stirring.
Warm the oil in the frying pan over medium-high heat until it is sizzling. Once the oil is hot, gently crack 2 eggs into the pan at once. The oil may splatter a bit, so be on guard. Using a spoon, baste the whites with hot oil while they’re frying, making sure they cook completely and get crispy on the edges. Fry until the whites are totally set but the yolks are still a little runny. The eggs should cook in about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the eggs to a plate and repeat for the remaining eggs.
Spread a cup of the saucy chips on each plate. Top each with 2 fried eggs and garnish with a sprinkling of the onion, cilantro, feta, and avocado before serving.
TORTAS
Does it seem strange to you to make a sandwich out of salsa-drenched chilaquiles piled onto a roll? If so, then you need to think outside the box—or inside the bread. While the taco is probably the best-known Mexican dish outside of Mexico, tortas are just as popular and delicious. And, as anything can be a taco, as long as it’s eaten in a warm tortilla, nearly everything can go on a roll and become a torta. In Mexico we use bolillos or teleras (soft sandwich rolls), but you can cut a baguette into quarters and it’ll serve the same purpose. If you get a great baguette, it’ll likely taste better than some bolillos, which can be mediocre when mass-produced. You could also use a ciabatta, and though it wouldn’t be as crusty as the typical telera, it would still taste great as the foundation for a Mexican sandwich. As to what you put inside? The first torta that blew my mind as a child had a chile relleno inside it. My mouth still waters just thinking of it. Often people will spread a thin layer of refried beans on one side of the torta, to serve the same purpose that mayonnaise would on a sandwich, keeping produce or wet fillings from soaking the bread immediately. Toppings are up to you, but I will never object to pickled red onions and sliced avocado. In the chapters to come, you’ll see a few more torta recipes, when I can’t resist sharing a particular favorite. But don’t hesitate to make a torta out of any of the other dishes in here that strike your fancy, especially if it’s lunchtime and you have a nice baguette and some good leftovers sitting around.
TORTAS DE CHILAQUILES Y MILANESA SANDWICHES WITH CHILAQUILES AND BREADED CUTLETS
Tortas de Chilaquiles LA ESQUINA DEL CHILAQUIL, Alfonso Reyes 139, Hipódromo Condesa
This sandwich, served at a breakfast place near my apartment in the Roma district in Mexico City, is a must-have for many of my regular visitors. It’s a filling breakfast to say the least and will keep anyone going for hours of sightseeing. While you could certainly make chilaquiles to eat on a torta, the sandwich is a great vehicle for such leftovers. Here chilaquiles get a second (arguably better) life, heaped on a freshly fried veal cutlet and tucked into a toasty roll.
When you are ready to make the sandwiches, begin by making the chilaquiles, then set them aside in a pot with a lid to keep them warm while you fry the steak cutlets.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
1 lb / 455g chicken or veal, cut into 4 to 6 round pieces no more than ½ inch / 12mm thick
1 tsp sea salt
1 cup / 240ml whole milk
1 recipe Chilaquiles (this page), sauce and tortillas only
3 Tbsp / 45ml safflower oil
4 to 6 bolillos (Mexican sandwich rolls) or 1 large ciabatta or baguette, cut into 4 to 6 sandwich-size pieces
2 eggs, whisked
1 cup / 40g fine dried bread crumbs
4 to 6 Tbsp / 60 to 90g Crema Ácida (this page) or crème fraîche
Pound the meat until it’s as thin as possible. Season the meat on both sides with the salt and soak it in the milk for at least 1 hour or overnight in the refrigerator to further tenderize it.
Warm the oil in a heavy-bottom skillet over medium-high heat until it’s hot but not smoking.
While the oil is heating, preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C. Wrap the bread in aluminum foil and place it in the oven to warm up while you fry the cutlets.
Place the eggs in a shallow bowl and the bread crumbs in another shallow bowl. Line a plate with a brown paper bag. Dip each tenderized cutlet in the whisked eggs, then dredge it in the bread crumbs. Fry as many cutlets as you can fit in the pan without crowding them, flipping each cutlet after it cooks for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, becoming crispy and brown. Transfer the cutlets to the prepared plate to drain.
Split the bread lengthwise. Place a cutlet on one side and top with the chilaquiles. Garnish with a spoonful of crema or crème fraîche, close the sandwich, and serve hot.
HUEVOS MOTULEÑOS CON PLÁTANOS FRITOS FRIED EGGS WITH TOMATO SAUCE AND FRIED PLANTAINS
Each fried egg is served sunny-side up on a fried tortilla, per the instructions for Huevos Rancheros, generously covered in a cooked tomato salsa infused with the taste of ham, and brightened with fresh green peas when they’re available. Frozen peas also work fine, and garbanzo beans make a hearty variation. The fried slices of plantain, which is native to the Yucatán Peninsula, where this dish originated, provide a sweet complement to the salty, smoky sauce.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
Motuleño Sauce
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 white onion, coarsely chopped
1 habanero chile, stemmed, seeded, veins removed (or not, depending on how spicy you want this to be), and chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
4 Roma tomatoes, cored and chopped, or 4 canned whole tomatoes
1 Tbsp tomato paste (optional; use only if the tomatoes are at all pink)
½ tsp sea salt, plus more as needed
Pinch of freshly ground white pepper
½ cup / 50g shucked sugar snap peas, frozen peas, or fresh garbanzo beans
½ cup / 75g minced cooked ham
Fried Plantains
¼ cup / 60ml vegetable oil
2 or 3 very ripe (black) plantains, peeled and cut into ¼-inch / 6mm-wide disks on the diagonal
Sea salt
4 to 6 tortillas
8 to 12 eggs
1 avocado, cut in half, pitted, peeled, and sliced (optional)
1 recipe Frijoles Aguados (this page)
To make the sauce: Warm the olive oil in a heavy-bottom skillet over medium heat until it’s hot but not smoking. Add the onion and chile and cook until the onion is translucent but not browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more, just until you can smell its fragrance. Add the tomatoes to the skillet along with the tomato paste, salt, and pepper and simmer over low heat. Measure out the peas and ham and set aside to add after you fry your plantains (if you add them at this point, they will overcook).
Preheat the oven to its lowest temperature. Line a platter with a brown paper bag and place in the oven to warm.
To make the fried plantains: Warm the vegetable oil in a heavy-bottom stockpot over low to medium heat. (Plantains have a lot of sugar in them, so they will burn easily if the oil is too hot.) Drop in one slice of plantain and make sure it sizzles slightly before dropping in as many as you can fit in a single layer without crowding. Let them cook for about 2 minutes per side, using a spatula to flip them. They should look appetizingly golden when done. Remove them with a slotted spoon and place them on the prepared platter in the oven to stay warm while you fry the rest.
Once the plantains are fried and keeping warm in the oven, add the peas or garbanzo beans and ham to your simmering tomato sauce. Taste and add more salt if needed. If your ham is cured, the sauce may already be salty enough without adding more salt.
Cook the tortillas and eggs as directed on this page, frying the tortillas and setting them aside to stay warm while you fry 2 eggs at a time.
When you’re ready to serve, slide a fried egg onto a fried tortilla on each plate and ladle the sauce over them. Serve with the fried plantains on the side, slices of avocado on top, and a bowl of black beans at the table for people to help themselves.
CARNITAS SLOW-COOKED PORK
Carnitas—slowly cooked and crisped pork—can be eaten at different times of the day in Mexico, but they are most commonly a breakfast food, and they star in one of my favorite breakfasts, Tortas Ahogadas (this page).
Carnitas start as chunks of pork, braised until the meat starts falling apart and then fried until they turn brown and crispy. There are as many ways to make carnitas as there are recipes for Thanksgiving stuffing. Actually, like Thanksgiving stuffing, most people in Mexico know how they like their carnitas and don’t need a recipe at all. I’ve seen people throw everything into the braise, from Coca-Cola to Fanta to sweetened condensed milk. I prefer to let the taste of the meat shine, which is why I start by picking the best pork I can buy. I look for a fatty cut that’s evenly marbled, which means the pig was well fed but also had a chance to exercise. It should have a light and healthy pink color. I also ask to smell the meat before buying it. Raw, it should have virtually no smell. Cooked is another story, since the savory aroma of roasting pork will fill your whole house.
This process takes a few hours, but you don’t have to do much except keep an eye on the pot until the end, when stirring is required to keep the carnitas from sticking to the pan. I usually make carnitas when I need to feed a crowd. I serve them with fresh tortillas, guacamole, and lime wedges, plus rice and beans to eat on the side, and I have people assemble their own tacos at the table. I always set some aside, too, to enjoy the next day all by myself.
MAKES 2½ LB / 1.2KG
¼ cup / 50g lard or reserved bacon fat
3 lb / 1.4kg boneless pork shoulder or butt, cut into 1½-inch / 4cm chunks
1 orange, quartered
4 bay leaves (preferably fresh)
¼ white onion
3 garlic cloves
1 Tbsp sea salt, plus more as needed
5 black peppercorns
Melt the lard or bacon fat over medium heat in your largest heavy-bottom stockpot or Dutch oven. (A heavy base will help to keep the pork from burning while it cooks down.) Decrease the heat to low and place the pork in the pot, fatty-side down. Squeeze the orange over the pork and add the juiced rinds, bay leaves, onion, garlic, salt, and peppercorns. Simmer over the lowest heat possible, uncovered, for about 1½ hours, stirring occasionally to make sure that all of the pieces are cooking evenly.
Remove and discard the orange peel and bay leaves. Now increase the heat to medium-high and continue cooking for another 1½ hours, stirring more regularly as the fat renders out and the pork begins to look more shredded and browned. Once you’re sure that the meat is cooked through, add more salt to taste. (Salting the meat in stages serves two purposes: salting it raw brings out the maximum flavor from the meat while it cooks. But holding back ensures that you don’t oversalt, since you have to wait until the pork is fully cooked before you can taste it and add more salt only if needed.)
In the last 10 minutes of cooking, start removing the chunks that look done, transferring them to a colander set over a bowl to drain the excess oil. There should be a range of textures to the carnitas—some pieces will be crispy, some stringy, some chewy. You want that mixture. Serve hot.
Carnitas can be stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat on an ungreased comal or in a skillet over medium heat or on a baking sheet in a 350°F / 180°C oven for about 10 minutes.
TORTAS AHOGADAS SALSA-DROWNED CARNITAS SANDWICHES
These “drowned” sandwiches are a specialty of the state of Jalisco, famously eaten in Guadalajara on the streets of popular neighborhoods as a filling breakfast with the power to relieve a hangover. You eat them standing, in spite of the fact that the entire sandwich gets doused in a spicy, vinegary red sauce that doesn’t exactly make for tidy consumption. You can order them media ahogada (half-drowned, for which just the cut part of the sandwich gets dipped) or bien ahogada (completely submerged).
Don’t get out your white tablecloth when serving these for brunch. If you and your guests are not afraid of getting your hands messy (or averse to eating a sandwich with a knife, fork, and spoon), these sandwiches are worth the fanaticism that they inspire. When featured at brunch at Cala, I serve them bien ahogada, with each sandwich sitting in its own bowl of sauce and lots more ladled over the top. If you have access to good Mexican birote (the hard-crusted bolillo from Jalisco), use that or substitute the best sandwich rolls or baguettes with a good crust.
This is one recipe that has its own salsa (rather than a staple salsa) because as good as this salsa is, it’s really only eaten on this sandwich.
Whole spices have much more flavor (and fragrance) than ones that have been ground, especially if those ground spices aren’t very fresh. But if you use whole cloves and peppercorns, make sure you have a blender strong enough to pulverize them completely. Alternatively, you can grind your whole spices in a spice grinder before adding them to the blender. It’s worth the extra couple of minutes.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
Salsa Ahogada
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 white onion, coarsely chopped
1 serrano chile, stemmed, seeded, veins removed (or not, depending on how spicy you want this to be), and coarsely chopped
1 garlic clove
4 Roma tomatoes, cored and chopped
1 Tbsp tomato paste (optional; use only if the tomatoes are at all pink)
2 cups / 480ml water
2 tsp sea salt, plus more as needed
5 black peppercorns, or a pinch of freshly ground black pepper
3 whole cloves, or a pinch of ground cloves
4 allspice berries, or a pinch of ground allspice
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp dried oregano
3 dried chiles de árbol
2 bay leaves (preferably fresh)
¾ cup / 180ml white vinegar
1 lb / 455g Carnitas (this page)
4 to 6 bolillos (Mexican sandwich rolls) or 1 large ciabatta or baguette, cut into 4 to 6 sandwich-size pieces
1 cup / 240g Frijoles Refritos (this page)
½ cup / 60g Cebollas Rojas Encurtidas (this page)
1 avocado, cut in half, pitted, peeled, and thinly sliced
To make the salsa: Warm the oil in a medium heavy-bottom skillet over medium heat until it’s hot but not smoking. Add the onion, serrano chile, and garlic and fry, stirring constantly, until the onion is transparent but not browned and the garlic is golden and aromatic. Add the tomatoes and the tomato paste, 1 cup / 240ml of the water, and the salt. Simmer for 10 minutes.
While the mixture is simmering, warm an ungreased comal or skillet over medium heat. Stirring constantly, toast the peppercorns, cloves, allspice, cumin, oregano, chiles de árbol, and bay leaves together for 1 to 2 minutes, until you can smell them but before the chiles blister or turn brown. Remove the comal or skillet from the heat and transfer the contents to a blender jar, provided you have a powerful blender. If not, use a spice grinder to pulverize the spices before placing them in the blender jar. Add the tomato mixture, vinegar, and remaining 1 cup / 240ml water to the blender and liquefy. Pour the mixture into a medium saucepan and simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes, or until the salsa has thickened and reduced by at least one-third. Taste and add more salt if needed. Keep the salsa hot until you are ready to serve it under (and over) your tortas.
If you’re reheating cold carnitas, preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C or warm an ungreased comal or skillet over medium-high heat on the stove top. Heat the carnitas in the oven or on the comal or in the skillet for about 10 minutes, flattening them with a spatula, until a nice crispy outer layer develops while the interior stays soft and a bit creamy.
Preheat the broiler. Split the bread lengthwise and broil for 3 minutes, until the slices are hot and toasty.
Spread about 2 Tbsp of the beans on one side of each roll. On the other side of each roll, distribute about ½ cup / 135g carnitas. Distribute a couple of slices of pickled onions and a couple of slices of avocado on each half and close each sandwich. Cut each sandwich in half on the diagonal.
For each serving, pour 1 cup / 240ml of the hot salsa ahogada into a deep plate or shallow bowl. Place both halves of a sandwich, cut-side down, in the sauce. Now ladle more sauce over the top of the sandwich and garnish with more pickled onions.
Serve with a knife, fork, spoon, and lots of napkins!
TORTAS AHOGADAS CON CARNITAS DE PESCADO /SALSA-DROWNED SANDWICHES WITH FLAKED FRIED FISH VARIATION
This variation on Tortas Ahogada, using fried fish instead of pork, is something we invented at Contramar to use up tuna scraps from the tuna tostada that has become our signature dish. We use line-caught albacore or yellowfin, but this would work with any fish that is fatty enough to hold up in the deep fryer. The fried pieces should develop a crispy outer edge but still stay moist (though thoroughly cooked) on the inside—just like pork carnitas. Make the fried fish for the tortas ahogada: Buy 1 lb / 455g albacore, yellowfin, halibut, or any other firm-fleshed, fatty fish. Line a plate with a brown paper bag. Pour 2 cups / 480ml vegetable oil into a saucepan big enough so that all of your pieces of fish will be completely submerged. Warm the oil over medium-high heat until it is hot enough that a piece of fish sizzles when dropped in. Drop in the rest of the fish, making sure not to crowd the pan, cooking the fish in two batches if necessary. Don’t stir the fish pieces around as they fry; just let them cook until they’re a golden honey color. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fish to the plate to drain. Season with sea salt and serve warm. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
CHORIZO ROJO RED CHORIZO
Ambitious home cooks love to make all kinds of staples from scratch these days, and the internet is full of recipes for homemade chorizo. But mostly these recipes offer a kind of chorizo for dummies, telling cooks to season ground pork with wimpy amounts of ground chile, plus a few measly tablespoons of vinegar, and then cook it immediately. No!
Chorizo is a spicy pickled meat. Like any pickle, it needs to be fully saturated in a brine of vinegar and salt. To give chorizo the zesty complexity that makes it, well, a chorizo, you have to soak whole dried chiles (a lot of them) in the vinegar, blend it all up with the other herbs and spices, and then massage it into the meat. Finally, and this is very important, the flavored meat must sit for a few days, pickling, soaking up those flavors, and drying out, before you cook it.
Traditionally, this is done by stuffing the seasoned meat into casings and hanging the sausages for several days to dry out. Now, I realize that this is impractical for most of us, especially in smaller kitchens. It’s the one step that I skip, since I don’t believe that my practical solution sacrifices flavor or texture. What I do instead is to completely clear out one refrigerator shelf and place my seasoned ground pork there, on a baking sheet that I cover with a dish towel so the meat can breathe as it dries out. I recommend letting chorizo pickle for three days before cooking. Double the recipe if you want to freeze some for later. Chorizo is amazing as a taco filling, scrambled with eggs, crumbled over chilaquiles, or fried with potatoes.
Get the best organic ground pork that you can, with the highest percentage of fat available, not a lean one. If possible, ask a butcher to coarsely grind a particularly fatty cut of raw pork for you. Keep in mind that many people actually buy extra fat to grind into their sausages. Most will render out during cooking, but the extra fat keeps the finished chorizo from sticking to your pan.
MAKES 5 CUPS / 1.4G
12 guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
3 morita chiles, stemmed and seeded
2 cups / 480ml white vinegar
7 garlic cloves
Leaves of 3 sprigs thyme
2 tsp dried oregano
15 black peppercorns, or 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
5 cloves, or a healthy pinch of ground cloves
7 allspice berries, or a healthy pinch of ground allspice
2 bay leaves (preferably fresh)
¼ cup / 65g sea salt
2¼ lb / 1kg ground pork
On a comal or in an ungreased skillet over medium heat, toast all the chiles for 1 to 2 minutes, flipping them with tongs to heat each side. Make sure they don’t brown or blister, or they will turn bitter. When you can smell them, place them in a saucepan. Cover them with water and bring to a simmer, then turn off the stove and let them soak for 20 minutes, until they are soft. Drain the chiles and discard the soaking water.
Combine the chiles, vinegar, garlic, thyme, oregano, peppercorns, cloves, allspice, bay leaves, and salt in a blender and blend. (If your blender isn’t very powerful, you could use a spice grinder before adding them to the blender, or use ground versions of the spices, but don’t skip any. Flavor is what chorizo is all about.)
Place the pork in a large bowl and add the pungent marinade. Wearing plastic gloves, massage the marinade into the pork until it’s totally incorporated into the meat, which will turn the deep red color that’s characteristic of chorizo.
Line a baking sheet (one that will fit on your cleared refrigerator shelf) with parchment paper and spread the seasoned meat over it from edge to edge. Punch holes in the surface of the meat with your fingertips so it can aerate. Lay a dish towel (or another sheet of parchment paper) on top of the meat and set it in the fridge to cure for 3 days. Every day, take it out and punch new holes in the surface of the meat. After 3 days, you can fry the amount you want to cook and transfer the rest to a sealed container for use later.
This chorizo will keep in the fridge for about 1 week or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator before using.
CHORIZO VERDE GREEN CHORIZO
The method of making this green chorizo is very similar to the red one on this page, but it has a very different flavor thanks to the use of serranos, poblanos, and spinach, instead of the dried red chiles, and a tasty combination of beef and pork. It still has a lot of heat and offers a fresh alternative to people who may have tried only red chorizo.
MAKES 5 CUPS / 1.4G
3 oz / 85g fresh spinach
5 serrano chiles, stemmed, seeded, and veins removed (or not, depending on how spicy you want this to be)
3 poblano chiles, stemmed, seeded, and veins removed (or not, depending on how spicy you want this to be)
½ cup / 60g raw pumpkin seeds
1 cup / 240ml white vinegar
4 garlic cloves
1 tsp freshly ground white pepper
2 bay leaves (preferably fresh)
5 cloves or ½ tsp ground cloves
2 tsp dried oregano
3 Tbsp / 45g sea salt
1½ lb / 650g ground pork, fattiest and coarsest grind available
1 lb / 455g 75% lean ground beef
Fill a large saucepan halfway with water and bring to a boil over high heat. In the sink, place a bowl and fill it with water and ice cubes. Once the water is boiling, drop in the spinach, and cook for 30 seconds, until it turns bright green. Using a slotted spoon, transfer it into the bowl of ice water and let it soak for 1 minute. Drain it into a colander and use your hands or a wooden spoon to squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
In a blender, combine the blanched spinach, serranos, poblanos, pumpkin seeds, vinegar, garlic, pepper, bay leaves, cloves, oregano, and salt. Blend until everything is liquefied.
Place the pork and the beef in a large bowl. Add the green mixture and, wearing plastic gloves, massage it into the meat until it’s totally incorporated.
Line a baking sheet (one that will fit on your cleared refrigerator shelf—see recipe introduction on this page) with parchment paper and spread the seasoned meat over it, from edge to edge. Punch holes in the surface of the meat with your fingertips so it can aerate. Lay a dish towel (or another sheet of parchment paper) on top of the meat and set it in the fridge to cure for 3 days. Every day, take it out and punch new holes in the surface of the meat. After 3 days, you can fry the amount you want to cook with and transfer the rest to a sealed container for use later.
This chorizo will keep in the fridge for about 1 week or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Thaw in the refrigerator before using.
MOLLETES CON CHORIZO BROILED OPEN-FACED SANDWICHES WITH REFRIED BEANS, CHEESE, AND CHORIZO
This is a typical college breakfast or easy snack or dinner. Buttered crusty bread (a baguette works great) gets spread with refried beans, covered in cheese and crumbled chorizo, then broiled, open-faced, and served with pico de gallo for a little freshness.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
4 to 6 bolillos (Mexican sandwich rolls) or 1 large ciabatta or baguette, cut into 4 to 6 sandwich-size pieces
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 cup / 240g Frijoles Refritos (this page)
1 cup / 80g grated sharp Cheddar or Chihuahua cheese or another sharp cheese you like
1 cup / 350g crumbled Chorizo Rojo (this page) or Chorizo Verde (this page), cooked in a skillet and drained
1 cup / 240ml Pico de Gallo (this page)
Preheat the broiler. Split the bread lengthwise. Spread one side of the bread with about 1 tsp of the butter. On the other side, spread 2 Tbsp of the beans. Place the rolls on a baking sheet. Top the beans with the cheese and chorizo.
Broil for 3 to 5 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Serve with the pico de gallo on the side.
BOMBAS CON FRIJOLES BEAN AND CHEESE–FILLED SWEET BUNS
This is a great way to use day-old conchas, sweet rolls with a buttery cookielike topping that are shaped like the shells for which they are named. Toasting under the broiler revives them beautifully, and the sweet buns form an unexpectedly delicious base for the savory beans and sharp melted cheese.
MAKES 4 TO 6 SERVINGS
4 to 6 Conchas de Pinole (this page)
1 cup / 240g Frijoles Refritos (this page)
1 cup / 80g shredded toma cheese, queso Oaxaca, or sharp Cheddar cheese
Preheat the broiler.
Cut your conchas in half. Spread each side with about 2 Tbsp of the refried beans. Place the rolls on a baking sheet. Divide the cheese evenly among them.
Broil for 3 to 5 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Close the sandwiches and serve immediately.