Chilaquiles con Chorizo de Apaseo el Grande

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron comal for toasting chiles and roasting tomatoes
• •Wide clay cazuela or heavy 12-inch skillet
• •Blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Spider skimmer or slotted spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Dry the tortillas

   Spread the tortilla wedges on a tray while you make the salsa. Day-old tortillas are best because they have lost moisture and fry crisp instead of turning greasy. If your tortillas are fresh, leave them uncovered for at least 30 minutes, or warm them briefly on a dry comal to drive off surface moisture.

2. 2

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the guajillo and ancho chiles separately, about 20 to 30 seconds per side, until the skins darken slightly and smell full. Toast the chile de arbol only a few seconds if using it. Do not blacken them. Burned chile makes bitter salsa, and nobody at the table needs to suffer for your impatience.

   The ancho gives body and dried-fruit depth. The guajillo gives clean red color and a sharper chile flavor. The chile de arbol is optional because the chorizo already brings heat.
3. 3

   Soften and roast

   Put the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with hot water, not boiling water. Let them soften for 15 minutes. On the same comal, roast the tomatoes, onion, and unpeeled garlic, turning until the tomatoes blister, the onion chars at the edges, and the garlic softens inside its skin. Peel the garlic.

4. 4

   Blend the salsa

   Drain the chiles and put them in a blender with the roasted tomatoes, roasted onion, peeled garlic, salt, and 1/2 cup warm water or light chicken broth. Blend until completely smooth. Strain if your blender leaves bits of chile skin. The salsa should be pourable but not watery, thick enough to coat a totopo.

5. 5

   Fry the totopos

   Melt 1/2 cup manteca de cerdo in a wide skillet or cazuela over medium-high heat. Fry the tortilla wedges in batches, turning once, until crisp and lightly golden, 2 to 3 minutes per batch. Drain on a rack or paper towels and salt lightly while warm. La manteca es el sabor. Oil will fry them, yes, but it will not give you the same corn and pork-fat perfume.

6. 6

   Cook the chorizo

   In a wide cazuela or heavy skillet, cook the chorizo over medium heat, breaking it into rough crumbles. Let it brown until the fat renders red and glossy and the meat has dark edges, 8 to 10 minutes. Lift out half the chorizo for topping and leave the rest in the pan with its fat.

7. 7

   Fry the salsa

   Add 1 tablespoon manteca de cerdo to the chorizo fat if the pan looks dry. Pour in the blended salsa carefully. It will sputter. Add the epazote sprig and simmer 8 to 10 minutes, stirring, until the salsa darkens and the fat begins to shine at the edges. Taste for salt. Remove the epazote. This frying step is what makes the salsa taste cooked, not raw from the blender.

8. 8

   Coat the totopos

   Add the fried totopos to the salsa and fold gently with a wide spoon for 1 to 2 minutes. Do not stir them into mush. Some pieces should soften, some edges should stay crisp. If the pan tightens too much, add a splash of warm water or broth. Chilaquiles are eaten immediately. They do not wait for late sleepers.

9. 9

   Serve with toppings

   Spoon the chilaquiles into shallow barro plates. Scatter the reserved chorizo over the top, then add queso fresco, crema, white onion rings, cilantro if using, and lime wedges at the side. Serve with refried beans if this is breakfast for people who have work to do. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •If you are in Guanajuato or Queretaro, ask for chorizo de Apaseo el Grande at the market or a serious carniceria. It should be fresh, loose-textured, red from chile, and fragrant with vinegar and spices. If it looks like a dry Spanish sausage, that is not the one.
• •Outside Mexico, use fresh Mexican pork chorizo from a carniceria that names its chiles. If the label only says paprika and red dye, keep walking. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Do not use bagged tortilla chips unless you have no other choice. They are usually too thin and too salty, and they collapse in the salsa. Frying tortillas is not decorative work. It is the structure of the dish.
• •Epazote belongs here in a small amount. Too much makes the salsa taste medicinal. My mother wrote in the margin of her notebook: 'epazote manda si lo dejas' (epazote takes over if you let it). She was right.

Advance Preparation

• •The salsa can be blended one day ahead and refrigerated. Fry it with the chorizo fat only when you are ready to serve, because that final cooking gives the dish its depth.
• •The tortillas can be cut the night before and left uncovered on a tray. Stale tortillas make better totopos.
• •Cooked chorizo can be browned up to two days ahead and refrigerated, but save every spoonful of the red fat. That fat carries the Apaseo flavor.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 280g)