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Prep time
15 minutes
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Cook time
1 hour 20 minutes
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Serves
4
Author Notes
Salsa guajillo-dipped tortillas with roasted chicken and queso fresco
Before driving northwest of Mexico City to Guanajuato, I asked all my friends and social followers to recommend their favorite places to eat. One hundred percent said, “You have to eat at Las Originales Enchiladas Mineras Doña Lupe.” Enchiladas in México do not have any resemblance to the ones in the US. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good Tex- Mex enchilada platter, but Mexican enchiladas are much lighter and easier to make.
Mexican enchiladas are almost never baked; occasionally they are put under the broiler to melt and brown cheese, but usually they are corn tortillas dipped in a chile sauce and then stuffed with a light filling. The word enchilada means to be bathed or surrounded in a chile sauce or paste.
Doña Lupe’s restaurant seats about eight people at a communal table. She makes everything to order—and by everything I mean the three-item menu consisting of enchiladas mineras, with or without chicken, and on Saturdays and Sundays, pozole rojo. The intoxicating smell that wafted down the street made it easy to find this tiny spot. Years of practice have made her incredibly skilled at frying and bathing the tortillas. Like everyone said it'd be, eating at Doña Lupe’s was a life-changing experience.
Recipe reprinted with permission from Mi Cocina: Recipes and Rapture from My Kitchen in Mexico (Clarkson Potter, May 2022).
This post contains products independently chosen (and loved) by our editors and writers. As an Amazon Associate, Food52 earns an affiliate commission on qualifying purchases of the products we link to. —Rick Martinez
Watch This Recipe
Enchiladas Mineras
Ingredients
- For the Enchiladas
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8
tortillas de maíz (corn tortillas)
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5 tablespoons
vegetable oil, divided
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2 1/4 cups
homemade chicken stock or store-bought low-sodium chicken broth
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5
large chiles guajillos (1 oz/30 g), stemmed and seeded
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2
medium chiles cascabeles (0.25 oz/5 g), stemmed and seeded
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2
garlic cloves, lightly crushed
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2 teaspoons
Morton kosher salt (0.5 oz/16 g)
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1/2 teaspoon
dried oregano, preferably Mexican
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1/4 teaspoon
freshly ground black pepper
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4
large chicken thighs (6 oz, 170 g each)
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2
medium Yukon Gold potatoes (12 oz/340 g), peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
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3
medium carrots (8 oz/226 g), cut into 2-inch pieces
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1/2
large white onion (7 oz/200 g), sliced
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1 tablespoon
apple cider vinegar
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12 ounces
(340g) queso fresco or Cotija, crumbled
- For Serving
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Shredded iceberg lettuce
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Chopped onion
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Crema
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Chiles jalapeños en escabeche
Directions
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Brush both sides of the tortillas with 2 tablespoons of the oil. Heat a large skillet over medium-high. Working in batches, sear the tortillas until they’re lightly browned and starting to crisp, for about 1 minute per side. Set the tortillas aside until you're ready to assemble the dish.
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In a medium saucepan, bring the broth, chiles guajillos, chiles cascabeles, garlic, salt, oregano, and pepper to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover, and let sit until the chiles are soft, for 30 minutes. Transfer to a blender and puree until smooth.
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In a large heavy pot over medium-high, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil. Cook the chicken, skin-side down, until deep golden brown, for 5 to 6 minutes. Turn the pieces over and brown the other side, for 5 to 6 minutes more. Transfer the chicken to a plate. If there isn’t at least 1 tablespoon of fat in the pot, add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil along with the potatoes, carrots, and onion. Cook, tossing occasionally, until the vegetables are lightly browned, for 4 to 6 minutes.
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Pour the chile puree into the pot with the vegetables; scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Nestle the chicken into the sauce and bring the mixture to a boil. Cover the pot, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until the chicken is completely tender and cooked through, for about 30 minutes.
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Stir the vinegar into the pot and mound the chicken and vegetables on one side so there’s room on the other side to dip the tortillas into the sauce.
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Using tongs and working with one tortilla at a time, dip into the chile sauce, turning to coat, and cook in the sauce until softened (they will soften more as they sit), for about 3 seconds per side. Transfer the tortillas to a baking sheet as you go. Spoon 2 tablespoons of the queso fresco across the center of each tortilla and fold over like a taco.
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Divide the enchiladas among four plates and spoon more chile sauce over top. Top with lettuce, more onion, crema, and any remaining queso. Serve with the chicken, vegetables, remaining sauce, and pickled jalapeños.
Rick Martinez is currently living his dream—cooking, eating and enjoying the Mexican Pacific coast in Mazatlán. He is finishing his first cookbook, Under the Papaya Tree, food from the seven regions of Mexico and loved traveling the country so much, he decided to buy a house on the beach. He is a regular contributor to Bon Appétit, New York Times and hosts live, weekly cooking classes for Food Network Kitchens. Earlier this year, he was nominated for a James Beard Award for “How to win the Cookie Swap” in Bon Appétit’s holiday issue.
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