Tortas Ahogadas Sinaloenses

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 6-quart Dutch oven or copper cazo for the carnitas
• •Cast iron comal or heavy skillet for toasting chiles and charring tomatoes
• •High-powered blender
• •Wide saucepan or cazuela for frying the salsa
• •Sheet pan for the bolillos
• •Shallow bowls or rimmed plates for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Start the carnitas

   In a heavy 6-quart Dutch oven or wide cazuela, melt the lard over medium-low heat. Lower the pork pieces into the warm fat, skin side down where you can. Add the halved onion, halved garlic, bay leaves, and salt. Squeeze the orange halves over the pot and drop the spent halves in. Pour in the milk. The lard should come halfway up the meat. La manteca es el sabor. No me vengas con atajos.

   Sinaloa carnitas are leaner than Michoacan carnitas because the torta needs to hold together when you drown it. Do not strip the fat off the shoulder, but you do not need a kilo of extra back fat either. The shoulder fat is enough.
2. 2

   Confit the pork

   Bring the pot to a low simmer. The lard should bubble lazily around the meat. Cook uncovered for two hours, stirring every twenty minutes so nothing sticks. The meat is ready when it pulls apart with a fork but still holds its shape. In the last fifteen minutes, raise the heat to medium and let the edges darken to a deep mahogany. Lift the pork out, drain on a wire rack, and shred coarsely with two forks. Save the rendered lard. It is more valuable than the meat.

3. 3

   Toast the chiles

   While the pork cooks, heat a dry comal or heavy skillet over medium. Toast the chile de arbol and chile guajillo separately, about 20 to 30 seconds per side. The arbol burns fastest, watch it. The skins should puff and turn fragrant, never blacken. Burned chile is bitter chile and there is no fixing it later. The kitchen will smell like the chile vendors at the Mercado Pino Suarez in Mazatlan. That smell is the oils releasing.

   Twenty arbols is the Sinaloa default. Drop to fifteen if you are nervous about heat, but do not drop below twelve. The salsa is supposed to wake you up. Chile de arbol is the chile that defines this version, not the guajillo. The guajillo is for color and depth. The arbol is for the slap.
4. 4

   Char the tomatoes and garlic

   On the same comal, char the Roma tomatoes whole, turning them every few minutes until the skins blister and blacken in spots, about ten minutes. Toss the four whole garlic cloves on the comal in their skins for the last five minutes until the cloves soften and the skins darken. Peel the garlic. Leave the tomato skins on. The char is part of the flavor.

5. 5

   Soak the chiles

   Place the toasted chiles in a heatproof bowl and cover with hot tap water. Hot, not boiling. Boiling water cooks the skin and makes the salsa bitter. Hot water softens the flesh and lets the flavor come through clean. Soak for fifteen minutes.

6. 6

   Build the salsa de arbol

   Drain the chiles. Transfer them to a blender with the charred tomatoes, peeled garlic, oregano, cumin, vinegar, one teaspoon of salt, and one and a half cups of water. Blend on high until completely smooth, two to three minutes. The salsa should be thin enough to ladle and pour, the consistency of a loose tomato sauce. If it is too thick, add water a quarter cup at a time. This is a drowning salsa, not a dipping salsa.

7. 7

   Fry the salsa

   In a wide saucepan or cazuela, melt two tablespoons of lard over medium heat. Pour in the blended salsa. It will sputter aggressively, stand back. Cook for ten minutes, stirring often, until the salsa darkens slightly and the raw chile smell turns into a deep, round, toasted aroma. Taste for salt now. The salsa should be assertive, almost too salty on the spoon, because the bread will absorb it. If the salsa thickens too much during the cook, loosen it with a splash of water. Keep warm.

8. 8

   Crisp the bolillos

   Heat the oven to 400 F. Slice each bolillo in half lengthwise but do not cut all the way through. Open them like a book. Place them cut side up on a sheet pan and toast in the oven for five to seven minutes, until the inside is dry and golden and the crust is firm. Day-old bolillos hold up to the salsa better than fresh. Fresh bolillos turn to mush. If your bolillos are fresh from the panaderia, leave them out uncovered the night before or dry them in a low oven for fifteen minutes.

9. 9

   Stuff the tortas

   Fill each toasted bolillo generously with the shredded carnitas. If using refried beans, spread a thin layer on the bottom half before adding the meat. Close the bolillo. The torta should feel heavy in your hand.

10. 10

    Drown and serve

    Place each stuffed torta in a shallow bowl or rimmed plate. Ladle the warm chile de arbol salsa generously over the top, drowning at least two-thirds of the bread. The bolillo will soak up the salsa and soften on the outside while the inside stays structurally sound. Top with thin half-moons of raw white onion. Serve immediately with chiles en escabeche and lime wedges on the side. Eat with a fork and knife, or with your hands if you do not mind salsa running down to your elbow. Asi se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •The bolillos must be day-old. I will say it again because it is the most common mistake. Fresh bolillo dissolves under the salsa. Day-old bolillo softens on the outside and stays structurally sound on the inside. If your panaderia only has fresh, leave them out overnight uncovered or dry them in a 250 F oven for fifteen minutes.
• •Use real Mexican-style chile de arbol from a Mexican grocer or a chile vendor at a mercado. The arbol you find in the regular spice aisle is often old, dusty, and flavorless. Old chile is dead chile. Find a vendor whose product has color and gloss and the smell of dry hay.
• •Sinaloa cooks often add a splash of Maggi or salsa Huichol at the table for the diner who wants more. I do not include it in the salsa itself. The salsa already does its job. La cocina no es decoracion, es trabajo.
• •If you cannot find lard, you cannot make this dish properly. Vegetable oil will not give you carnitas. It will give you boiled pork in oil. La manteca es el sabor. A good Mexican butcher will sell rendered manteca by the kilo and it freezes well.

Advance Preparation

• •The carnitas can be made up to two days ahead and refrigerated in some of its own lard. Reheat in a hot skillet to crisp the edges back up before stuffing the tortas.
• •The salsa de arbol can be made one day ahead and refrigerated. Reheat gently with a splash of water to loosen.
• •The bolillos can be sliced and toasted up to six hours ahead. Hold at room temperature, uncovered.
• •Do not assemble the tortas until the moment you are ready to serve. A drowned torta that sits is a sad torta.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 285g)