Tabasco Green Plantain Tortilla

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy comal or cast iron griddle
• •Tortilla press
• •Molcajete, metate, or heavy bowl with a masher
• •Woven servilleta or tortillero

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the plantains

   Put the unpeeled green plantains in a pot and cover with water by two inches. Bring to a steady simmer and cook 20 to 25 minutes, until a knife enters with some resistance. Do not cook them until mushy. You want cooked starch, not baby food.

2. 2

   Peel and mash

   Drain the plantains and let them cool just enough to handle. Cut off the ends, slit the skins lengthwise, and peel them. Mash the warm plantain in a metate, molcajete, or heavy bowl until mostly smooth with a few small bits left. Those bits tell you it was made by hand. La cocina no es decoracion, es trabajo.

3. 3

   Mix the dough

   Add the nixtamal masa, salt, and manteca de cerdo to the mashed plantain. Knead with your hands for 4 to 5 minutes. The dough should feel firm, warm, and pliable, like a thick corn tortilla dough with more pull. If it cracks badly, add warm water one tablespoon at a time. If it sticks like paste, knead in a spoonful of masa.

4. 4

   Rest the masa

   Cover the dough with a damp cloth and rest it for 10 minutes. The plantain and corn need time to drink the moisture evenly. Skip the rest and the edges crack on the comal. No me vengas con atajos.

5. 5

   Shape the tortillas

   Divide the dough into 10 balls, each about the size of a small lime. Press between plastic sheets or squares of hoja de platano to 1/4 inch thick. These are thicker than everyday corn tortillas. Do not flatten them until they disappear. Tabasco is not asking for a northern flour tortilla.

   If the dough tears when you lift it, it is too wet or too thin. Knead in a little masa and press thicker. Recetas probadas y garantizadas, but your hands still have to pay attention.
6. 6

   Cook on comal

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Lay one tortilla down and cook 2 to 3 minutes, until the underside has brown spots and releases easily. Flip and cook 2 minutes more. Flip once again for 30 to 60 seconds, pressing lightly with your fingers or a folded cloth. The surface should look puffed in places, spotted, and dry at the edges.

7. 7

   Hold and serve

   Wrap the tortillas in a woven servilleta or line the basket with hoja de platano. Serve warm with frijoles negros de olla, queso fresco, and salsa de chile amashito if you have it. The tortilla is savory, not dessert. Remember that before someone tries to put cinnamon sugar on it.

Chef Tips

• •Use green platano macho, not ripe yellow plantain. Ripe plantain makes a sweet cake-like dough and burns faster on the comal. This tortilla needs starch, not sugar.
• •Fresh nixtamal masa from a tortilleria is best. Masa harina works, but it is a compromise. Add the water slowly and let it hydrate before mixing with the plantain.
• •Chile amashito is the small, sharp Tabasco chile that belongs with this table. If you cannot find it, use chile piquin or chile de arbol for the salsa, but know what you are missing.
• •A banana leaf square makes pressing easier and gives the surface a faint green aroma. If you cannot find hoja de platano, use plastic. The tortilla will still cook, but the Tabasco kitchen will notice the absence.

Advance Preparation

• •The plantains can be boiled, peeled, and refrigerated one day ahead. Warm them slightly before mashing so they blend into the masa without hard lumps.
• •The shaped raw tortillas can be held between hoja de platano or plastic sheets for up to 2 hours under a damp cloth.
• •Cooked tortillas keep wrapped for one day. Reheat on a dry comal until the surface softens and the brown spots wake back up.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 155g)