How to use up leftover tortillas – Mexican recipes for chicken tostadas and nachos with black beans
- Susan Jung gives old corn tortillas new life with two delicious recipes
As with Asian chefs and rice, as well as European chefs and bread, Mexican cooks have come up with myriad ways to use up tortillas when they are past their prime. Old corn tortillas become leathery, but you can soften them on a griddle or crisp them by frying. These two recipes use the latter technique.
Garlic chicken tostadas with cabbage, salsa, crushed avocado and chicken (or pork) cracklings
A tostada refers to a fried corn tortilla, but many people associate the word with a dish of fried tortilla topped with vegetables, meat and salsa.
I cook chicken thighs with the skin on, which keeps the meat moist. But sometimes, after the thighs are cooked, I strip off the skin and fry it, to make chicken cracklings. You can also buy chicken cracklings at shops specialising in Thai products. They are not as easy to find as pork cracklings, which make a good substitute.
6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
About 15ml olive oil
6 garlic cloves
Fine sea salt
Oil, for frying
For the salsa:
250 grams tomatoes (use the small, sweet oval or pear-shaped tomatoes sold by fruit vendors)
1-2 shallots
1-2 garlic cloves
½ a jalapeño chilli, or to taste
About 20 grams fresh coriander
About 10ml fresh lime juice, or to taste
For the filling:
½ a small head green cabbage
2 ripe avocados
100 grams sour cream
To serve:
6-8 corn tortillas
Lime wedges