Tostadas de Tinga Bajiense

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide clay cazuela or heavy skillet for the tinga
• •Comal or skillet to refresh the tostadas
• •Blender
• •Bean masher or wooden spoon
• •Brown-glazed Dolores Hidalgo platter for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Poach the chicken

   Put the chicken in a saucepan with the half onion, 2 garlic cloves, bay leaf, salt, and enough water to cover by 1 inch. Bring to a gentle simmer, then lower the heat and cook 25 to 30 minutes, until the meat is cooked through and pulls from the bone. Do not boil it hard. Hard boiling gives you tough chicken and cloudy broth.

2. 2

   Shred the meat

   Lift the chicken onto a plate and let it cool just enough to handle. Strain and reserve the broth. Pull the meat from the bone and shred it by hand into thin strands. Hand-shredded chicken catches the sauce better than neat knife cuts. The women in the market know this without making a speech about it.

3. 3

   Soak the chipotles

   Place the chipotle meco or morita in a small bowl and cover with the hot water for 15 minutes. They should soften and smell smoky, not harsh. If using canned chipotles en adobo because that is all your market has, use 2 chiles and 1 tablespoon adobo. It works, but the dried chile has cleaner smoke. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.

4. 4

   Blend the sauce

   Blend the jitomates, soaked chipotles with their soaking water, chopped garlic, Mexican oregano, cumin, and 1/2 cup reserved chicken broth until smooth. Taste the raw sauce only for salt and chile strength. It will taste sharp now. The frying is what turns it into tinga.

5. 5

   Fry the onion

   Melt 2 tablespoons manteca de cerdo in a wide cazuela or heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced white onion and cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until the onion bends, turns glossy, and begins to take a little color at the edges. The onion is the body of the tinga. Do not leave it raw.

6. 6

   Fry the sauce

   Pour the blended jitomate and chipotle sauce into the onions. It will sputter. Cook 10 to 12 minutes, stirring from the bottom, until the sauce darkens to brick red and the manteca begins to shine at the edges. That fat separating is your sign. Skip this and the sauce tastes like blender. Así se hace y punto.

   If the sauce thickens too quickly, add a splash of reserved chicken broth. You want a saucy guisado, not dry chicken.
7. 7

   Finish the tinga

   Add the shredded chicken and the remaining 1/2 cup chicken broth. Fold gently so every strand is coated. Simmer 8 to 10 minutes, until the chicken has absorbed the sauce but still looks glossy. Taste for salt. The tinga should be smoky, tomato-rich, and savory, not sweet.

8. 8

   Refry the beans

   In a separate skillet, melt 3 tablespoons manteca de cerdo over medium heat. Add the cooked bayo beans with their cooking liquid and mash with a bean masher or the back of a spoon. Cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring, until thick and spreadable. La manteca es el sabor. Beans fried in oil taste thinner because they are thinner.

9. 9

   Prepare the table

   Set out the tostadas, hot refried beans, tinga, shredded lettuce, queso fresco, crema espesa, avocado, lime halves, and chiles en escabeche. Tostadas wait for nobody once they are assembled, so everything must be ready before the first one is built.

10. 10

    Build the tostadas

    Spread each tostada with a firm layer of refried beans. Spoon tinga over the beans, then add lettuce, queso fresco, crema espesa, and avocado if using. Serve with lime and chiles en escabeche on the side. Eat while the tostada is still crisp. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Use bayo beans if you can find them. They are common in central Mexico and give the tostada a soft, earthy base. Pinto beans are the practical substitute outside Mexico. Black beans belong to other regional tables.
• •Chipotle meco is tan, leathery, and deeply smoky. Chipotle morita is darker, softer, and a little fruitier. Both work. The canned chipotle in adobo is useful for a weeknight, but the dried chile gives you the cleaner Bajio market flavor.
• •Do not use flour tortillas here. Flour tortillas are a northern tradition. These are corn tostadas, crisp enough to carry beans and tinga without folding into sadness.
• •Use crema espesa, not sour cream. Sour cream is sharper and heavier in the wrong way. If you cannot find Mexican crema, thin a little creme fraiche with milk and salt, but know what you are missing.
• •Lechuga orejona or romaine gives crunch without the watery blandness of iceberg. No cheddar. No yellow cheese. This is not that food.

Advance Preparation

• •The chicken can be poached and shredded one day ahead. Keep it refrigerated with a little broth so it does not dry out.
• •The tinga can be made up to two days ahead and reheated gently with a splash of chicken broth. It tastes better after one night.
• •The beans can be cooked three days ahead. Refry them the day you serve so they are hot and spreadable.
• •Do not assemble tostadas ahead. The bean layer buys you a few minutes of crispness, not a miracle.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 460g)