My pal D (a.k.a The Anti Chef) made tacos last week. The best part - she fried her own taco shells using corn tortillas. Being me, I thought, "Wow! That is totally amazing. I have to try this!" Surprisingly enough, it's actually a pretty simple thing to do, albeit time-consuming. The reward at the end, however, is well worth it. I decided Monday would be taco night, so to move things along on Sunday I coated strips of chicken with cumin, chili powder and garlic powder and then cooked them over high heat. That way all we had to do on Monday was reheat the chicken and assemble our fixings - lettuce, salsa, sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese and another D favorite: Tapatio. SP cooked some arroz amarillo and heated up some refried beans while I fried the tortillas and we had ourselves a Mexican fiesta.
A quick how-to for the shells:
In a small omelet pan, heat about a half inch of vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Carefully slide in a corn tortilla and using two forks turn over the tortilla, allowing it to cook evenly on both sides. Once it starts to cook, lift up one side of the tortilla to form the shell. Continue holding up the side so the tortilla doesn't flop over, then flip the shell so the other side has a chance in the hot oil. Keep flip-flopping until the tortilla becomes golden brown and crispy.
This was my first go at making my own taco shells and I was too impatient, resulting in slightly chewy shells. Next time I'll leave them in a bit longer so they can get nice and crispy.
Your oil doesn't look hot enough. What temp were you set on?
ReplyDeleteI had the heat about medium-high (we have a gas stove). It was definitely a lot more bubbly when the tortillas were flat.
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