Pollo Motuleño

Built on a fried tortilla and assembled one plate at a time, because the tortilla has about two minutes.

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

Ingredients

the chicken

• 600 g chicken thighs, poached and shredded
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 tomatoes, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

the plate

• 8 corn tortillas, as on their own page
• oil, for frying the tortillas
• 300 g refried beans, as on their own page, made with black beans
• 150 g peas, cooked
• 100 g cooked ham, diced
• 2 ripe plantains, in thick slices and fried
• 150 g crumbly white cheese
• 1 habanero, sliced very thin

Method

1. IT IS BUILT ON A FRIED TORTILLA AND ASSEMBLED ONE PLATE AT A TIME, because the tortilla has about two minutes. That is what makes this a plate rather than a stew, and it is why it cannot be made ahead. A tortilla fried until just firm -- not rigid like a tostada, not soft -- is the floor of the dish, and everything above it is wet: beans, chicken in tomato sauce, peas, plantain. From the moment the beans go on, the tortilla starts to soften from underneath, and at four or five minutes it has gone completely limp and the plate collapses into a heap. So every component is finished and held warm first, and then the plates are built and carried out immediately, one after another.
2. THE TORTILLAS ARE FRIED FIRM BUT NOT CRISP, which is a narrower target than it sounds. Thirty to forty seconds a side in shallow oil: it should hold its shape when lifted by one edge and still bend slightly. Fried to a tostada's rigidity it shatters when a knife and fork go into it, and left soft it is sodden before it reaches the table.
3. THERE ARE TWO TORTILLAS PER PLATE AND A LAYER BETWEEN THEM. One on the plate, beans and chicken, a second tortilla, then the rest. The second tortilla is a barrier that keeps the upper wet layers off the lower ones for a minute or two longer, and it is also what makes the plate substantial.
4. THE PLANTAIN MUST BE RIPE AND IS FRIED SEPARATELY. Black-skinned ripe, in thick slices, fried until deeply caramelised at the edges. It is the sweet element on a plate that is otherwise savoury and slightly sharp, and green plantain is starchy and does none of that.
5. THE PEAS AND HAM GO ON LAST AND COLD-ISH. They are there for colour and small bursts of texture, scattered over the top rather than mixed into anything. Cooked into the chicken sauce they disappear.
6. The chicken thighs poached 35 minutes, shredded, and the broth kept.
7. The oil heated, the onion and garlic cooked 6 minutes, the tomatoes added and cooked 8 MINUTES until collapsed.
8. The shredded chicken stirred in with a ladle of broth and simmered 10 minutes until thick. Salted. Kept WARM.
9. The refried beans warmed and kept spreadable.
10. The plantain slices fried in oil until deeply caramelised at the edges. Drained and kept warm.
11. The peas cooked and the ham diced. Both set within reach.
12. Plates WARMED and everything laid out before any tortilla is fried.
13. The tortillas fried in shallow oil 30 to 40 SECONDS a side -- FIRM but still slightly bendy, not crisp. Drained briefly.
14. ONE PLATE AT A TIME: a fried tortilla laid down, spread with beans, topped with the hot chicken.
15. A SECOND fried tortilla laid on, more beans, more chicken.
16. The fried plantain arranged round the edge, then the peas, ham, cheese and a few slivers of habanero scattered over.
17. Carried to the table IMMEDIATELY, and the next plate started. It does not wait.

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