Make the Perfect Corn Tortillas! Expert Chef Shows You How, With Tips | ChefSteps
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- Опубліковано 28 тра 2024
- There’s nothing like a freshly made corn tortilla. Warm, nutty, with a slight char, homemade corn tortillas are the perfect vehicle for tacos, enchiladas, tostadas, flautas, and more. Chef Jonathan Zaragoza shows how to turn fresh masa into perfect corn tortillas. Learn how to dial in the right hydration for masa, shape and press it into tortillas, and cook them on a traditional comal. #tortillas #masa #mexicanfood #corntortillas #chefsteps #jonathanzaragoza
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Recipes:
Corn tortillas: www.chefsteps.com/activities/...
Masa: www.chefsteps.com/activities/...
Equipment:
Buy a tortilla press: shrsl.com/3tuc6
Buy a comal: shrsl.com/3tuc8
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More Chef Jon, please! I feel like he expresses the perfect balance of cooking intuitively, while also understanding the technique, finesse, and minutiae that most "anglicized" home-cooks tend to obsess over. It's refreshing to see on this channel. The foolproof, metrically converted recipes are a great starting point, but I think that the intuitive aspects of Cooking should be embraced more in the tutorials that are presented, if that makes sense. Subbing ingredients is one thing, but learning how to FEEL your way through cooking delicious food by trusting your gut and your senses would be an invaluably enriching alternative.
This is a great series! Johnathan is so chill and has a great style of teaching. Hope to see some more videos. Cheers from Chicago!
We’re gonna need more of Chef Jonathan with Grant on here!
This guy is excellent.
Enjoyed the video!
A well made corn tortilla is a wonderful thing. I am very interested in hearing about Jonathan's techniques for obtaining consistent corn tortilla "puffing". He touched on the subject briefly saying there are a number of variables (masa hydration/tortilla thickness/damp towel dabbing the tortilla on the comal) but didn't dive much deeper. Grant, would you give more color on this aspect of making corn tortillas - thank you!
Literally every part of the process is important to achieve the tortilla puff. Optimal hydration of the masa, thickness of the tortilla, temp of the comal, time on either side. It's really hard to explain because every variable basically has to be perfect. It's just something you'll learn with time if you follow the instructions in the video. It also changes depending on the exact masa you're using. Going into depth on it in a video would probably be fruitless because so much of it is feel.
Thanks Steven for the reply. And I get that as I have been cooking and baking breads for decades. I agree, some of the variables are going to be by "feel" instead of a hard number such as hydration due to many factors. Others such as the ideal comal temp (cast iron), and approx. thickness of tortilla (mm) would be helpful for me to shorten the learning curve - you know, the one change at a time to see results learning curve. And then there are the inside tips and spending time with someone who is a true expert at their craft - like Jonathan. My tortillas are very good but I would like to, as ChefSteps says, Level Up
@@nolanshaw4639 a lot of the factors depend on the exact masa you're using. If I use maseca for example, they like a very quick set on the first side (I time it by pressing one tortilla and pulling it off the press, about 30 seconds) where they get no color, and then quite a bit longer on the second side, I get 4ish more pressed by that time. And then they get a last flip to the first side and puff up perfectly.
If you're using more heirloom stuff and slightly rougher grind from masienda or something, I find they like a bit more heat on the first side, more similar to what you see in this video where they get a bit of color first.
I use rectangular cast iron skillets to cook my tortillas because I can get 6 at a time on my indoor gas range, and on the biggest burner I have to turn off the heat every once and a while, but all the other burners fly happily on medium high the entire time I cook them (typically cooking tortillas for about 45mins to an hour) -- you should definitely hear a sizzle when you lay the tortilla on initially, but I typically find I get better puffs if there is no color on them before the first flip at about 30 seconds. Most weeks every one of my tortillas puffs, but some weeks are off and even though nobody can tell it feels so bad hahahaha
I will get out my calipers tomorrow when I do some and see if I can't find you a number for the thickness. It would probably be time better spent for you to just make like 100 tortillas a few times a month until you nail it. I was making about 50 once a week for a few months before I saw the light and had my ah-ha moments that led to constant puffage.
I also learned from my Mexican friend that regular tortilla puffage is a sign of eligibility for marriage. So that feels good too ;)
Very helpful and much appreciated Steven! You are clearly a master of masa. I'll take your advice and run with it next weekend.
Thanks man!
@@nolanshaw4639 I went to measure this today and my calipers are at my other house sorry
Excellent video. Love chef Jonathan explanations. I may have to renew my membership just to learn all recipes from chef Jonathan Zaragoza. You can own the universe in a perfectly made tortilla!
That was great! I've been making tortillas off and on for years, but never quite knew how to know if they were hydrated right.
Epic 🎉
Okay, who else instantly checked the description? Be honest.
great. now i want to know where to buy the tortilla press and the comal. i have a round black comal that i bought in mexico city about 20 years ago and a metal tortilla press, but i really like the tortilla press you are using. Thank you.
So can we get those OnlyFans details or what?
I've been thinking about this too much, but as someone not from that part of the world - what did you use before plastic? And did that mean hydration levels of the dough were different?
I'm really interested in the old way of rolling out the dough - In Italy for example the pasta dough is dusted and rolled in flour which would reduce hydration. How is this approached with corn tortillas?
From my experiences in Mexico some women still make tortillas with just their hands, a masterful technique where they use that broad muscle on their palm connected to their thumbs, and pass it between both hands, I think they work the centres first and work outwards until they have the required thickness. If you walk around the streets of some of the more rural villages you’ll still hear “patting” noises coming from nearly every house you pass at certain times of the day. It’s quite comforting.
The interesting part is that the oils from your hands and the extra needing/working of the dough that this creates usually makes a superior tortilla.
I’m not sure when handmade tortillas presses started to come into play, obviously metal ones much more recently, wooden ones would have required a range of machinery or a pretty skilled and expensive craftsman. The other interesting thing is that it’s quite common to see the older wooden presses usually have a turned wooden handle that looks alot like chair/table legs, wether that’s just a coincidence or actually recycled furniture I don’t know.
Once you get the tortillas to puff on their own without any poking or slapping, it's hard to ever accept anything less. I feel like I've failed without it even though my guests can't tell the difference.
You said it exactly how I feel. Puffed or it ain’t as good.
Could you share more about the sourcing of fresh masa? Was this from Maiz by chance?
Yes this batch was from Maia in Pike Place market, you can also find it at Castillos market down in white center too.
It's a masa-piece!
4th thing that makes a perfect corn tortilla: NEVER LET IT COOL! As soon as it cools, it is ruined, which is why you should never eat at a restaurant that doesn't make fresh tortillas (or even worse, buy corn tortillas in the grocery store)
When you have no clue what Massa even is
Runs fingers thru hair despite hat😮😅
First!
Do these tortillas come with scandalous evidence printed on them used to mock & unsettle guests between courses?
Clapped tortillas are way better than pressed
no puffing up and lots of sticking. a bit sad to be honest.
I think I have a better recipe, that will boost the corn flavour: 1 small can of corn, 275 grams corn flour, 1 tsp salt, water. Run the corn and brine from the can in a food processor until smooth. Add water until combined weight is 425 grams. Add the corn flour, and mix to a smooth dough. To make the tortillas, make a 50 gram ball and put in in the press, like in the video. Fry in a dry skillet, but not too long. The tortillas are supposed to be soft, not crispy. These tortillas are soooo good! (Sorry Chefsteps, but this time I'm ahead of the curve:))
Yikes. Imagine coming onto a video where someone of Mexican heritage is teaching a traditional way to make a food that is an essential piece of their history and culture by criticizing and suggesting you’ve found a way to one up thousands of years of tradition by using corn in a can. 👀
@@jenniangel007 I'm not criticizing anyone. I'm just suggesting that I might have a better recipe, and even have the courtesy to share it. Having said that, one could also add that a recipe is not necessarily the best just because it is the oldest / traditional. In fact, often the opposite is true. Recipes develop and change over time, and many times for the better. If that was not the case, we would stil eat like our ancestors thousands of years ago, because they have the best recipes.