Chivichangas Sonorenses

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 6-quart Dutch oven or deep cast-iron skillet for frying
• •Cast iron comal for toasting chiles and warming tortillas
• •High-powered blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Long metal tongs
• •Wire rack set over a sheet pan for draining
• •Deep-fry or candy thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Simmer the beef

   Place the beef chunks in a heavy pot and cover with cold water by two inches. Add the halved onion, smashed garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, and salt. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat and skim the gray foam that rises in the first fifteen minutes. Lower the heat until you see lazy bubbles every few seconds. Cover partially and cook for two hours, until the beef shreds easily with a fork. Cold water start, low simmer. A rolling boil makes the meat tough and the broth cloudy.

   Sonora is cattle country. If you can find machaca seca, the air-dried shredded beef of the rancho tradition, you can rehydrate that instead and skip the simmer. The flavor is older and more concentrated.
2. 2

   Toast the chiles

   While the beef simmers, heat a dry comal or heavy skillet over medium. Toast the chile colorado and chile guajillo separately, about 20 to 30 seconds per side. The skin will puff and turn fragrant, never blacken. The kitchen will smell like the dried chile stalls in the Mercado Hidalgo in Hermosillo. That smell is the oils releasing. Burned chile is bitter chile.

3. 3

   Soak and blend the chile base

   Place the toasted chiles in a heatproof bowl with the Roma tomatoes and cover with hot tap water, not boiling. Let them soften for 20 minutes. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the soaking liquid. Transfer the chiles, tomatoes, the 2 minced garlic cloves, oregano, and cumin to a blender with the reserved soaking liquid. Blend until completely smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing on the solids to extract the puree. Discard the skins.

4. 4

   Shred the beef

   When the beef is tender, lift it out of the broth and let it cool just enough to handle. Reserve one cup of the cooking broth. Shred the meat with two forks into thin strands. This is the texture you want. Chunks of beef will tear the tortilla when you roll it.

5. 5

   Build the filling

   In a wide skillet, melt 2 tablespoons of the lard over medium heat. Add the diced white onion and cook until 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 starts to separate. La manteca es el sabor. Add the shredded beef and 1/2 cup of the reserved cooking broth. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring often, until almost all the liquid has cooked off and the meat is glossy and stained dark red. Taste for salt. The filling should be assertive and almost dry. A wet filling will steam the tortilla from the inside and ruin the crisp.

   Let the filling cool to room temperature before you roll. Hot filling steams the tortilla and the chivichanga splits in the fryer.
6. 6

   Warm the tortillas

   Heat a dry comal over medium-low. Warm each flour tortilla for about 10 seconds per side until it is pliable but not toasted. Stack them in a clean kitchen towel as you go. The tortilla sonorense is paper-thin and dries out fast. Cold or stiff tortillas crack when you roll them and the filling leaks out in the fryer.

   The tortilla matters more than anything else. Tortillas de harina sobaqueras, the giant thin flour tortillas of Sonora, are what this dish was built around. If you can only find thick supermarket flour tortillas, the chivichanga will be heavy and bready. Look for a Sonoran tortilleria or learn to stretch them yourself.
7. 7

   Roll the chivichangas

   Lay one warm tortilla flat. Spoon about 1/2 cup of the cooled filling in a horizontal log across the lower third, leaving two inches of bare tortilla on each side. Fold the bottom edge up and over the filling, tuck it tight, fold both sides in over the ends, and roll the whole thing up firmly into a tight cylinder. Place seam-side down. Repeat with the remaining tortillas. The roll has to be tight and the seam has to be on the bottom. Loose chivichangas open in the fryer and you lose everything.

8. 8

   Heat the frying fat

   Pour the lard or oil into a heavy deep skillet or Dutch oven to a depth of two inches. Heat over medium-high until it reaches 360F. If you do not have a thermometer, drop a small piece of tortilla in: it should bubble vigorously and turn gold in about 30 seconds. Cooler oil makes a greasy chivichanga. Hotter oil burns the outside before the inside heats through.

9. 9

   Fry seam-side down first

   Lower two chivichangas into the hot fat seam-side down. The seam seals shut in the first 30 seconds and the roll holds together. Fry for two minutes, then turn with tongs and fry the other side for another two minutes. The tortilla should blister, turn deep gold, and crackle when tapped with the tongs. Do not crowd the pan or the temperature drops and the tortilla soaks up fat instead of crisping.

10. 10

    Drain and dress at the table

    Lift the chivichangas out with tongs and let them drain on a wire rack set over a sheet pan, never on paper towels. Paper towels trap steam and soften the bottom. Repeat with the remaining chivichangas. Serve immediately, topped with shredded cabbage, a generous drizzle of crema, crumbled queso, and the salsa of your choice. Lime wedges on the side. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Find tortillas de harina sobaqueras or do not make this dish. The thick flour tortillas sold in most American supermarkets will give you a leaden, bready chivichanga that misses the entire point. A Sonoran tortilleria, a Mexican specialty grocer, or a homemade batch are your only honest options. A substitution here is not a compromise, it is a different dish.
• •Make the filling one day ahead. The chile colorado deepens overnight, the beef absorbs the seasoning, and most importantly, the filling chills firm so it is easy to roll without tearing the tortilla.
• •If you can find chiltepin, the wild bird chile of Sonora, crush a few into a salsa with chopped tomato, white onion, lime, and salt. That is the salsa that belongs on this dish. It is hotter than it looks and that is on purpose.
• •Lard for frying gives a flavor that vegetable oil cannot match, and it crisps the tortilla harder. If lard is not available, use a neutral oil with a high smoke point. No me vengas con atajos like air-frying. The chivichanga is a fried dish. The fryer is the recipe.

Advance Preparation

• •The beef filling can be made up to two days ahead and kept refrigerated. The flavor only deepens, and a chilled filling is much easier to roll tightly into the tortilla.
• •The chile puree can be made and refrigerated up to three days ahead, separate from the meat. It also freezes well for up to two months.
• •Chivichangas must be fried and eaten immediately. They do not hold. A reheated chivichanga is soggy and there is no recovering from it. Fry to order, serve to order.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)