Enchiladas

Tortillas passed through hot oil before they go anywhere near the sauce, which is the step that stops them collapsing.

Chicken. Not vegetarian — contains cheese whose rennet the source does not name, chicken, chicken stock.

Ingredients

the sauce

• 6 guajillo chillies, stalks and seeds removed
• 2 ancho chillies, stalks and seeds removed
• 2 cloves garlic
• ¼ small white onion
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 400 ml chicken stock

to assemble

• 12 corn tortillas, as on their own page
• oil, for passing the tortillas through
• 400 g chicken, poached and shredded
• 150 g crumbly white cheese
• ½ small white onion, finely chopped
• soured cream, to serve

Method

1. THE TORTILLAS ARE PASSED THROUGH HOT OIL BEFORE THEY GO ANYWHERE NEAR THE SAUCE, and leaving that out is why most enchiladas made at home turn to porridge in the dish. A corn tortilla is largely starch and water and it will drink sauce until it has no structure left. Five seconds a side in shallow hot oil seals the surface -- it stays flexible, it does not crisp -- and from then on the sauce sits on it instead of soaking into it. The same tortillas dipped straight into sauce can be rolled, just, and come out of the oven as a single layer of mush.
2. THE CHILLIES ARE TOASTED AND THEN SOAKED, AND THE SOAKING WATER IS THROWN AWAY. Thirty seconds a side on a dry pan wakes them up and no longer -- scorched, they turn bitter and the whole sauce goes with them. Then twenty minutes in hot water to soften. That water tastes harsh and faintly bitter and belongs down the sink; the sauce is let down with stock instead.
3. THE SAUCE IS FRIED AFTER BLENDING, NOT JUST HEATED. Blended chilli and water is thin, raw-tasting and the colour of brick. Poured into a little hot oil and cooked down ten minutes, stirred, it darkens, thickens, and the flavour rounds out completely. It should coat the back of a spoon before any tortilla meets it.
4. THEY ARE ROLLED TIGHT AND PACKED SEAM DOWN. A loose roll unwinds in the heat and spills its filling into the sauce. Rolled firmly and laid seam side down, packed against each other so they cannot move, they come out of the dish whole.
5. THE BAKE IS SHORT AND THE SAUCE GOES ON LAST. Fifteen minutes at a high heat, only to melt the cheese and heat it through -- everything in the dish is already cooked. Half an hour and the oiled tortilla gives up too. And the remaining sauce is poured over just before it goes in, not an hour earlier.
6. The chillies toasted on a dry pan 30 SECONDS a side, until they smell fragrant and have softened slightly. NOT blackened.
7. Covered with hot water and soaked 20 MINUTES, then DRAINED and the soaking water DISCARDED.
8. Blended with the garlic, onion, cumin, salt and the stock until completely smooth.
9. A tablespoon of oil heated in a wide pan and the blended sauce poured in. Cooked 10 MINUTES over a medium heat, stirred, until darkened and thick enough to coat a spoon.
10. In a separate frying pan, 5 mm of oil heated over a medium heat.
11. Each tortilla PASSED THROUGH THE HOT OIL, 5 seconds a side, and drained on paper. They stay FLEXIBLE and must not crisp.
12. Each oiled tortilla dipped briefly in the warm sauce, laid flat, filled with shredded chicken and a little onion, and ROLLED TIGHT.
13. Packed SEAM DOWN and touching in a baking dish.
14. The rest of the sauce poured over and the cheese scattered on.
15. Baked at 200°C for 15 MINUTES, until the cheese has melted and the edges bubble. Served with soured cream.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Mexico · All recipes