Chilaquiles Verdes con Pollo

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 10-inch skillet for frying tortillas
• •Wide, deep skillet or clay cazuela for finishing
• •High-powered blender
• •Slotted spoon or kitchen spider
• •Wooden spoon for folding

Instructions

1. 1

   Dry the tortillas

   If your tortillas are fresh, lay the cut pieces in a single layer on a sheet pan and leave them out for an hour, or in a 200F oven for 15 minutes. Day-old tortillas are the real ingredient. A fresh tortilla absorbs oil and turns soggy. A dry tortilla crisps fast and stays crisp under the salsa. In Mexico City, every fonda saves yesterday's tortillas for tomorrow's chilaquiles. Nothing is wasted.

   If you are short on time, buy totopos from a Mexican grocery. They are sturdier than American tortilla chips and made for this dish. American chips are too thin and they shatter into nothing the moment the salsa touches them.
2. 2

   Fry the totopos

   Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high until shimmering. Working in batches, fry the tortilla pieces, turning once, until they are golden and crisp, about two minutes per batch. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Salt them lightly while still hot. Do not crowd the pan. Crowded tortillas steam instead of fry and you get a sad chip that will collapse the moment salsa hits it.

3. 3

   Cook the salsa base

   Place the tomatillos, serranos, half onion, and unpeeled garlic in a saucepan. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until the tomatillos turn from bright green to a duller olive and feel soft when pressed. They should be cooked through but not bursting. Drain. Peel the garlic. Some cooks roast the tomatillos on a comal instead of boiling. That gives a smokier salsa. Boiled gives a brighter, fresher one. CDMX chilaquiles lean fresh. Boil them.

4. 4

   Blend the salsa verde

   Transfer the drained tomatillos, serranos, onion, and peeled garlic to a blender. Add the epazote sprig (stem and all), the chicken broth, and a teaspoon of salt. Blend until smooth but not foamy. The salsa should pour easily but coat a spoon. Taste it. It should be sour, slightly hot, herbaceous from the epazote. If it tastes flat, more salt. Always more salt before you assume the chile is wrong.

   Epazote is the herb. Not cilantro, not parsley. If you cannot find fresh epazote, leave it out and serve more cilantro on top. Dried epazote works but use only a teaspoon and crush it between your fingers first to wake it up.
5. 5

   Fry the salsa

   Heat the two tablespoons of lard in a wide, deep skillet or cazuela over medium-high until shimmering. Pour the salsa in all at once. It will sputter and pop. Step back. Cook, stirring, for five to seven minutes, until the salsa darkens slightly, thickens, and the raw smell goes away. La manteca es el sabor. This step turns a raw blended salsa into a cooked sauce with depth. Skip it and your chilaquiles will taste like blender water.

6. 6

   Combine and serve immediately

   Reduce the heat to medium. Add the shredded chicken to the salsa and stir to warm through, about two minutes. Add the totopos all at once and toss gently with a wooden spoon, folding the salsa over the chips. Cook for no more than 30 seconds to a minute. The totopos should be coated and just starting to soften at the edges but still have crunch in the center. That texture is the entire point. Cook them too long and you have chilaquiles aguados, mushy chilaquiles. Plate them immediately. Chilaquiles do not wait.

7. 7

   Dress the plate

   Spoon the chilaquiles onto warm plates. Drizzle with crema in zigzag stripes the way the fondas do it. Scatter the crumbled queso fresco generously over the top, then the raw white onion rings, then the cilantro leaves and a few extra epazote leaves if you have them. If your guest wants a fried egg or refried beans on the side, add them now. Eat immediately. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Use day-old tortillas. This is not negotiable. If you only have fresh ones, dry them in a low oven or leave them uncovered overnight. A fresh tortilla absorbs oil like a sponge and gives you a greasy, limp chilaquil that no amount of salsa can save.
• •Mexican crema is not sour cream. It is thinner, sweeter, pours in a stripe. If you cannot find it, thin sour cream with a little whole milk and a pinch of salt. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Queso fresco crumbled on top, never shredded cheddar, never Monterey Jack, never anything yellow. Chilaquiles with cheddar is Tex-Mex. Chilaquiles with queso fresco is breakfast in Roma Norte.
• •Timing is everything. The totopos go into the salsa at the last possible second and the plates go to the table immediately after. No me vengas con atajos. Chilaquiles do not hold. Make them when your people are sitting down.

Advance Preparation

• •The salsa verde can be made one day ahead and refrigerated. Reheat in the cazuela with the lard before adding the chicken and totopos.
• •The chicken can be poached one or two days ahead. Shred it and refrigerate in a little of its poaching broth so it does not dry out.
• •The tortillas can be fried up to four hours ahead and held at room temperature in a paper-towel-lined basket. Do not refrigerate them. The cold makes them stale.
• •Do not assemble chilaquiles in advance. The assembly is the last 60 seconds of cooking and the dish dies the moment it sits.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 400g)