Culinary Explorer
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Chilaquiles Tapatios en Chile de Arbol
Created by Chef Lupita
Guadalajara's chilaquiles wake up the table with toasted Yahualica chile de arbol, crisp corn tortillas briefly folded into red salsa, crema, queso anejo, onion, and a fried egg.
Jalisco first. Guadalajara specifically. These are chilaquiles tapatios, the kind you find in a mercado fonda when desayuno has already become almuerzo and the comal has been working since before sunrise.
The chile that defines this plate is chile de arbol, and if you can find the Yahualica chile from Los Altos de Jalisco, buy it. It is small, red, direct, and clean in its heat. I use a little guajillo for body and color, not to make the salsa polite. The tortilla is corn, cut from yesterday's stack, fried in manteca de cerdo, then simmered just enough to take the sauce without collapsing into paste.
A señora near Mercado Libertad taught me the rule: salsa first, tortillas last, eggs at the end. She watched my hands the whole time. Too much simmering and she clicked her tongue. Too little salt and she pushed the bowl back at me. That is how you learn. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
This is not a delicate breakfast. It is a working plate from Occidente: chile, corn, lard, crema, cheese, egg. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.
Ingredients
stale corn tortillas
Quantity
12
cut into triangles
pork lard (manteca de cerdo)
Quantity
1/2 cup, plus 1 tablespoon
for frying the tortillas and salsa
dried chile de arbol
Quantity
18
preferably Yahualica, stemmed
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| stale corn tortillascut into triangles | 12 |
| pork lard (manteca de cerdo)for frying the tortillas and salsa | 1/2 cup, plus 1 tablespoon |
| dried chile de arbolpreferably Yahualica, stemmed | 18 |
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