I’m trying to avoid gluten at the moment, and all the ready-made soft corn tortillas in the UK seem to have wheat in them as well.
I was therefore delighted earlier to buy some masa harina in my supermarket. I am following the directions (250g harina to 330ml warm water, mix to a paste, roll and dry-fry) but they’re not behaving very well - they crack when I turn them over, and aren’t very soft - they end up almost like taco shells.
I’ve tried rolling them with a rolling pin between two pieces of saran wrap, which just about works, though I can’t get them circular and they’re badly frayed at the edges, but the ‘pat them into a circle’ method is totally unsuccessful. Anyone got any advice, or a different kind of recipe? Do I need more water? Maybe some oil? Salt?
They’re bloody delicious regardless, but I’d love to make 'em properly
This episode was on Good Eats last night, believe it or not. Alton Brown used a tortilla press, a big heavy iron one. Like This. Here is the recipe AB used in making his tortillas.
I can’t say that I’ve had a lot of luck with corn tortillas (although my flour ones are bitchin’), but fwiw…
I’ve got one of those metal presses and am not at all impressed.* So I generally roll them out because the press doesn’t work, same as you, between sheets of plastic wrap or waxed paper.
Sounds to me like maybe you’re getting them too thin and frying them too hot. Don’t try to get them as thin as the ones you buy at the store or get at a restaurant, that’s just about impossible to do right without the commercial equipment (or maybe years of practice). Thicker is a little chewier but still tasty and easier to work with. The temp you’re using may be right if your torties are just a little thicker.
The dough should stick together in a ball, not crumbly. Crumbly is too dry.
Do you let it rest before rolling? That always helps my tortillas.
*I want one of the wood ones that I see at local markets filled with Hispanic people; something like this .
I’ve got a wood press and it works great. The dough (according to the Mexican woman that taught me) should be rather wet, kinda gooey. Make sure the dough *stays * wet, too. I always mix up the dough and then form it into individual dough balls right away. As I’m making the balls, I tuck them under saran wrap or a wet towel where they stay until I’m ready to flatten them and cook them. They go on the griddle just as soon as they’re flat. If I’ve done it right, they puff up. The griddle should be really hot, if possible. I use an electric griddle that doesn’t really get hot enough, but it works.
I’ve tried several different methods, and this one seems to work best:
Cut a square of thickish plastic film. I use a large Ziploc-style freezer bag, and contrive to cut it so I have a big plain square. Saran wrap is too flimsy and clingy to work as well.
Put a ball of the cornmeal dough on the square of plastic, and squish it down by hand. When it’s about thin enough, pat/tuck in the frayed edges so that they even out. It’s hard to describe, but tuck inwards with one hand while simultaneously patting down with the other. Once you’ve achieved a thin enough tortilla and the edges are neatened up, turn the plastic and the tortilla over onto your hand and carefully peel the film away from the tortilla.
Putting the tortilla onto a hot griddle: this is the tough part for me. I always manage to mungle it up. Here’s a Youtube film of a lady making tortillas (admittedly with a press). At 2:06 or so you can see the placement onto a dry griddle - sort of a backhand drape. I’ve still to master this! It helps to have a flat griddle with no tall sides to get in the way. You don’t bake them very long - just enough to firm them up and maybe get a spot or two of light browning.
Every Mexican lady I’ve ever seen make corn tortillas added a little bit of Crisco (shortening) or lard to the mix. Every time I asked them how much, they said, “I don’t know, you just have to feel it.”
I’ve only seen flour tortillas and tamales made with lard/shortening around here. Looking online, it seems like most recipes are water & masa harina, but there are a couple with shortenings of some sort. Niether Rick Bayless’s and Zarela Martinez’s recipes contain shortening in their corn tortillas. Corn tortillas are usually just straight masa or masa harina & water.
The amount of water added to the masa to prevent crumbling is very important and depends on humidity to some extent.Once you’ve worked it up add the water in tiny drops.Putting an oil or fat in the mix mitigates the fussiness with the water.