Gringas

Chilli-marinated pork and cheese in a flour tortilla, griddled in the fat that runs out of the meat.

Pork. Not vegetarian — contains lard, mozzarella whose rennet the source does not name, pork.

Ingredients

the pork

• 600 g pork shoulder, in thin slices
• 4 guajillo chillies, soaked and drained
• 1 chipotle chilli, soaked and drained
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons pineapple juice
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt

to assemble

• 8 flour tortillas, as on their own page
• 300 g Oaxaca cheese or mozzarella, pulled into strands
• 200 g fresh pineapple, in small dice
• ½ small white onion, finely chopped
• a handful of coriander, chopped
• salsa verde, as on its own page, to serve

Method

1. IT IS GRIDDLED IN THE FAT THAT RUNS OUT OF THE MEAT and nothing else goes in the pan. The pork is cooked first in the same pan, and what it leaves behind -- rendered fat with marinade caught and darkened in it -- is what the assembled gringa then fries in. That is the whole character of the dish, and it is why it is not a quesadilla with pork in it: the outside of the tortilla tastes of the chilli marinade. Wiped out and oiled fresh, the result is clean, pale and much duller.
2. THE MARINADE IS CHILLI AND ACID AND IT NEEDS FOUR HOURS. Guajillo for colour and body, chipotle for smoke, with vinegar and pineapple juice to carry it into the meat. Thirty minutes seasons the surface only. Four hours, or overnight, and the slices are stained through.
3. THE PORK IS SLICED THIN AND COOKED IN A SINGLE LAYER. Three or four millimetres, and the pan hot and not crowded. Piled in, it releases water and stews grey; in one layer it browns at the edges in three or four minutes and the marinade catches on the base, which is exactly what is wanted there.
4. THE PINEAPPLE GOES IN RAW AND AT THE LAST MOMENT. It is the sharp, cold thing against rich pork and melted cheese, and cooked it goes soft and merely sweet and the contrast is gone. Diced small so it is spread through every bite rather than met in lumps.
5. IT IS A FOLDED SINGLE TORTILLA, AND A LARGE ONE. One flour round, filling on half, folded over -- the wheat is strong enough to hold a heavy, wet filling that would tear a corn tortilla. Pressed down and given three minutes a side so the cheese melts and seals it.
6. The soaked chillies blended with the garlic, oregano, cumin, pineapple juice, vinegar and salt to a thick paste.
7. The sliced pork turned through the paste and left to marinate AT LEAST 4 HOURS, or overnight in the fridge.
8. A heavy pan set over a high heat and the pork cooked in a SINGLE LAYER, in batches, 3 to 4 minutes a side until browned at the edges. The marinade will catch on the base.
9. The pork chopped roughly on a board and kept warm. THE PAN IS NOT WIPED OUT.
10. The heat turned down to medium. A flour tortilla laid in the pork fat left in the pan.
11. Cheese spread over one half, the chopped pork laid on, and the other half FOLDED OVER and pressed down.
12. Cooked 3 MINUTES, turned, and given 3 minutes more, until the cheese is molten and both faces are freckled and glossy with the pan fat.
13. Taken off and rested 1 minute, then cut in half.
14. Opened slightly and the RAW diced pineapple, onion and coriander pushed in.
15. Served with salsa verde, and the next one started in the same pan.

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