Desperately need help (corn tortillas)

[yfarm]

Second cooking the corn tortillas in oil, once you eat this way, you will understand why hard corn tortillas are an abomination. Flour are fine for breakfast, corn for the rest.

 

[Jason Snyder]

She said check out Jauja Cocina Mexicana on YouTube. My wife and her sisters secretly use that gals red Pozole recipe instead of their own mother's recipe!

I had to turn on subtitles and translate, but I was able to get it all figured out . Looks amazing. I'll probably cook up a batch next week. Thinking about trying it with elk shanks instead of pork.

 

[BBob]

I had to turn on subtitles and translate

Ha ha! I guess you aren't from around here. I had no problem understanding her

Seriously corn tortillas are so easy, just masa harina, water and salt.

 

[Swamp Fox]

You have a tortilla press, which is pretty much all the equipment you need to make your own and is the highest cost item.

Go here: https://masienda.com/ and buy a bag or two of masa. You need a couple of plastic bags to line the press (HEB bags work best but any will do), some water and maybe some salt. Follow that Rick Bayless video above or look up one of Masienda's tutorials and you'll never have to worry about good tortillas again, regardless of where you live.

Wait .... Wut? .... They're tortillas.


All you need is the Mexican girl and some common sense.

 

[Macintosh]

Those with, who make light of those without…smh.

 

[Finch]

Great thread. I am a flour tortilla guy probably because of bad experiences with corn tortillas. Am I really missing out going with flour?

 

[def90]

I second, third or fourth the oil your corn tortillas up a bit and place then in a hot pan.

 

[5MilesBack]

Deep-fried flour tortillas is about as good as tortillas get.

 

[molliesmaster]

Great, now I'm hungry.


Good thread though.

 

[Whisky]

Corn tortillas just taste so much better in MX for some reason. I've even made my own a couple times with Maseca corn flour, and I still don't like them all that much... I've concluded that for me, flour torillas > corn tortillas. I like to toast my flour tortillas over a gas burner on my stove and stack them in foil right before serving.

 

[Macintosh]

I like flour for some things, but some others just scream for a corn tortilla. Enchiladas and flour? No thanks. Fajitas and corn? No thanks. Barbacoa/braised pork or deer…maybe can go either way but corn is my strong preference. Last time we were in Mexico we had some longanitza tacos with caramelized sweet onions, melted cotija, and avocado that simply melted my brain…would have been really out of place in a flour tortilla.

I feel like I have been doing the slightly oiled skillet already that several folks have mentioned, but maybe @Milestone522 ’s better half is right that Im overheating? I’ll experiment with that.

 

[Weldor]

Corn street tacos hot off the skillet. I am very fortunate, buddy makes me fresh Elk tamales . I just provide the Elk meat. He' making hog tamales for me now fresh from Texas. He's showed me the secret to putting the corn tortilla's in the oil with meat and cheese. I'm hungry now. And don't forget your Instapot for the pezole.

 

[DakotaBPNW]

Great thread. I am a flour tortilla guy probably because of bad experiences with corn tortillas. Am I really missing out going with flour?

Yes

 

[5MilesBack]

I like flour for some things, but some others just scream for a corn tortilla. Enchiladas and flour? No thanks.

I grew up on Mexican food and pretty much love all of it........except, I always wondered why I didn't like enchilada's. Then had them with flour tortilla's and better sauce than enchilada sauce. That was the ticket. And beef or chicken flauta's (deep-fried burritos) smothered in pork green chili, with guac and sour cream on top.....is the bomb! Basically anything smothered in good pork green chili is awesome.

 

[tkhuntsman]

Really need some help from the corn tortilla gurus here. Hoping there are some corn tortilla gurus here.

I really, really, REALLY like tacos. We're not going to be in either Mexico or the Southwest this year, but its one of the highlights of all of my trips to those areas is the food. Unfortunately in that respect, I live in the land that tacos forgot, i.e. Northern Vermont. I often use flour tortillas, and somehow, miracle of miracles, there is actually a local place that makes halfway decent flour tortillas. However, I think plotted on the globe, I live in the spot farthest from any decent corn tortilla on Earth.

I cannot get a corn tortilla that does anything other than taste and feel like rubber, or immediately cracks in half and crumbles into pieces the moment you look at it sideways. I have tried every brand of corn tortilla available locally, from the big-box grocery store brand, up to the local hand-rubbed artisinal ones made by wandering ascetics who coo gently at the taco to make it feel welcomed into the world. All of them do the same. I suspect some of it may be my preparation. Have tried warming on a cast iron skillet, putting in the oven on very low heat while in a covered skillet, slightly moist paper towel in the microwave, etc. Nothing changes. I have not made my own yet--I do own a tortilla press, just havent experimented with it.

So, Tortilla ninjas: Which tortillas, and how? I have a pork shoulder that's been braised all day in guajillos and onions that needs to be gently cradled in a delicious, warm, tender tortilla, hopefully WITHOUT SPLITTING OPEN AND LANDING IN MY LAP.

Any help, tips, recipes, brands to try, preparation secrets, snide remarks, etc are tremendously appreciated.

Find a small batch mass produced company or a hand made shop and when you make tacos double them up. I do make my own flour and corn tortillas at home and I generally make them thicker so they cradle the goodies in a more favorable manner. I prefer a homemade chicken broth as a binder for my masa especially one with plenty of collagen so it's extra sticky and when I make them home made I find then have more stability than store bought due to better quality ingredients.

 

[Macintosh]

Find a small batch mass produced company or a hand made shop...

Suggestions? I think I might have a better chance of finding elk around here than good corn tortillas. It'll have to be someplace that ships...I dont think people understand how far away from Mexico Vermont is. I'm fairly certain Pluto and the moons of Neptune are closer.

 

[Swamp Fox]

Mexico is getting closer to Vermont everyday ... LOL ...

But I feel your pain.

Try finding crawfish in the Carolinas.

 

[Oldbuff]

I make my own. Making them is not that difficult.

 

[tkhuntsman]

I live in MT now it's pretty far I agree. Yes you could have them shipped if memory serves me correctly there's a pretty good company in Albuquerque or Santa Fe. We used to get em there when we were in southern CO. I can't remember the name and I'll have to try and find it.

Suggestions? I think I might have a better chance of finding elk around here than good corn tortillas. It'll have to be someplace that ships...I dont think people understand how far away from Mexico Vermont is. I'm fairly certain Pluto and the moons of Neptune are closer.

 

[butcherboy]

If you guys want good enchiladas then you need to go stacked with corn tortillas. The best enchilada sauce is green chile and don’t forget the sunny side up egg on top. That’s probably a NM thing though. Also can’t do huevos rancheros with flour tortillas. Take a roasted and peeled green chile and roll it up with some velveeta cheese inside a flour tortilla and then deep fry that sucker, hand held chile relleno.