Chivichanga Sonorense

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 6-quart pot or Dutch oven for braising
• •Cast iron comal or heavy skillet for toasting chiles and warming tortillas
• •High-powered blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Wide cast iron skillet or 12-inch heavy pan for frying
• •Kitchen tongs
• •Wire rack set over a sheet pan
• •Instant-read or candy thermometer for the frying oil

Instructions

1. 1

   Braise the beef

   Place the chuck in a heavy pot. Cover with cold water by two inches. Add the halved onion, the six peeled garlic cloves, bay leaves, salt, and peppercorns. Bring to a low simmer over medium heat and skim the gray foam that rises in the first fifteen minutes. Reduce the heat until you see lazy bubbles every few seconds. Cover partially and cook for two to two and a half hours, until the meat falls apart when pressed with a wooden spoon. Cold water in, slow simmer up. A rolling boil tightens the muscle and clouds the broth.

2. 2

   Toast and soak the chiles

   While the beef simmers, heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chile colorado and ancho separately, about 20 to 30 seconds per side. They should puff and turn fragrant. Do not let them blacken. Burned chile is bitter chile and there is no fixing it later. Drop the toasted chiles into a heatproof bowl and cover with hot tap water, not boiling. Hot water softens the flesh. Boiling water cooks the skin and turns the sauce harsh. Soak for 20 minutes.

   Chile colorado is the chile of Sonora and Chihuahua. If you cannot find it, chile California or chile guajillo will do, but the color and the slight sweetness will shift. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
3. 3

   Shred the meat

   Lift the beef out of the broth with a slotted spoon and let it cool until you can handle it. Reserve the broth. Shred the meat with two forks or with your hands into long, ragged strands. This is carne deshebrada. The shreds should be irregular, not uniform. Discard any hard fat or gristle. Keep the soft fat. La manteca es el sabor.

4. 4

   Build the chile base

   Drain the soaked chiles and transfer them to a blender with the minced garlic, half a cup of the reserved braising broth, the oregano, and the cumin. Blend until completely smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing on the solids. Discard the skins. You want a clean red puree the color of dark brick.

5. 5

   Fry the filling

   Melt two tablespoons of manteca in a wide skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook until soft and translucent, about five minutes. Pour in the strained chile puree. It will sputter. Cook for five to seven minutes, stirring constantly, until the puree darkens and the fat begins to separate at the edges. Frying the chile is what turns a thin sauce into a serious one. Add the shredded beef and a quarter cup more of the reserved broth. Stir to coat every strand. Simmer until the liquid is mostly cooked down and the meat is glossy and packed with chile, about ten minutes. Taste for salt. The filling must be assertive. It will be wrapped in tortilla and dressed with bland things and you do not want a meek center.

6. 6

   Warm the sobaqueras

   The sobaquera is a Sonoran flour tortilla stretched paper-thin and almost translucent, large enough to drape over a forearm. That is the highest expression of the noroeste tortilla and what the chivichanga was built around. Warm each tortilla for ten seconds per side on a dry comal over medium heat. You want them pliable, not crisp. A cold tortilla cracks when you fold it and a cracked chivichanga leaks in the oil.

   If you cannot find true sobaqueras, the largest burrito-size flour tortillas in the store will work. Do not use corn tortillas. The flour tortilla is a Noroeste birthright, not a Tex-Mex shortcut, and this dish does not exist without it.
7. 7

   Roll the chivichangas

   Lay one warm tortilla flat. Spoon about three quarters of a cup of the carne deshebrada in a horizontal line just below the center. Top with a generous handful of shredded asadero. Fold the bottom edge of the tortilla up and over the filling, tuck it tight, fold the two sides in toward the center, then roll up away from you into a sealed package. Press the seam down. Do this for all six. Set them seam-side down so the heat of the filling helps them seal.

8. 8

   Fry until golden

   Heat about two inches of manteca or vegetable oil in a wide heavy skillet or cast iron pan to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Frying in manteca gives you the right flavor. Vegetable oil is cleaner and acceptable. Lay one or two chivichangas seam-side down in the hot fat. Do not crowd the pan. Fry for two to three minutes per side until the tortilla turns deep golden brown and blisters. Turn carefully with tongs. Lift out and drain on a wire rack set over a sheet pan. Never on paper towels. Paper traps the moisture and the bottom turns soggy.

9. 9

   Dress and serve

   Set each chivichanga on a warm plate. Spoon frijoles puercos alongside. Top the chivichanga with a little shredded lettuce, diced tomato, a drizzle of crema, and a generous spoon of salsa verde de tomatillo. Set salsa de chiltepin on the table for the people who want the heat that grows wild in the Sonoran desert. Eat with your hands. A chivichanga waits for nobody. The shell goes from crisp to chewy in fifteen minutes. Asi se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Source true sobaqueras if you can. Mexican grocers along the border, in Sonoran neighborhoods of Phoenix or Tucson, and increasingly in Mexico City sell them frozen. The store-bought burrito tortilla is a compromise. The sobaquera is the dish.
• •Manteca de cerdo for the frying changes the flavor. Vegetable oil works and is what most home cooks use today, but a cup of pork lard cut into the frying oil gives the chivichanga the noroeste flavor it is supposed to have. La manteca es el sabor.
• •Do not stuff the chivichanga too full. A fat chivichanga splits at the seam in the oil and dumps the filling. Three quarters of a cup of meat plus a handful of cheese is the limit. The tortilla has to fold all the way around with seam to spare.
• •If you cannot find chiltepin for the table salsa, salsa de chile de arbol will do. But the chiltepin is the Sonoran chile, wild and tiny and sharp, and it is worth ordering online if you are serious about this dish.

Advance Preparation

• •The carne deshebrada in chile colorado can be made up to three days ahead and refrigerated. The flavor deepens overnight. Reheat gently before rolling.
• •Roll the chivichangas up to two hours ahead and hold them seam-side down on a sheet pan, covered with a damp cloth, at room temperature. Do not refrigerate rolled chivichangas. Cold tortillas crack in hot oil.
• •Frijoles puercos, salsa verde, and salsa de chiltepin all keep for several days and benefit from a head start. The chivichanga itself must be fried and eaten immediately. A reheated chivichanga is a sad chivichanga.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 330g)