One of the greatest ingredients in Mexican food is tortillas. It’s warm and tender, like bread used to warp tacos and other meals such as burritos. When making tortillas, most people make mistakes that make them too light to hold the fillings of their meals. This makes people afraid to try to make them at home. If you don’t have one, you can consider ordering from a reputable restaurant such as Milwalky Taco. However, if you are not able to order, you can try it at home.
Like many foods, tortillas have different varieties. There are often made from corn or wheat, which depends on the part of Mexico where you live. Central and southern Mexico often use corn, while northern Mexico uses wheat. However, the wheat tortilla is more popular outside Mexico as it can be used to make delicacies such as burritos. This article will explore things nobody tells you about making tortillas.
- Use Lard or Vegetable Shortening, but Never Butter
Most people don’t know that tortillas start like a pie crust, where you have to cut fat into flour at the beginning. However, the tortillas are not precisely as pie crust since the fat should never be butter. Using the butter in flour tortillas will make them tough and dry. When making the tortillas, use lard and vegetable shortening as they are more elastic. The lard is often the best to use, but if you don’t have it, you can consider using vegetable shortening; it will work perfectly.
- You Should Ensure the Water is Very Hot
You need to use very hot water to melt the fat when making tortillas. Unlike making a pie crust when you need the butter to be cold and make it melt as it cooks with tortillas, there is no butter. The hot water helps to distribute the fat evenly on the flour, ensuring each part is tender.
- Knead, and then Knead Some More
To make the tortilla dough more elastic, kneed it as per your recipe. If your recipe tells you to need for 7 minutes, you need to kneed for at least 7 minutes and more. The elasticity allows the tortilla dough to be stretched and rolled evenly, ensuring everything is distributed evenly. You can consider using a stand mixer or using your hands.
- Allow the Dough to Rest
Once you are done, kneads are required; you can prepare your dough into small balls and place them on a counter. However, you should ensure you have covered it with a clean kitchen towel and let it last at least 10 minutes. This allows the flour to absorb any flour that has not been absorbed.
- Cook them Over Medium Heat
Most people make the mistake of cooking tortillas under very high heat, which should not be the case. Casting tortillas over high heat will only make them burnt within seconds of cooking. To avoid such scenarios, coat the cast iron skillet with olive oil and heat it over medium heat.
Final Words
The above are most things people don’t know about, and they make mistakes. Depending on corn or wheat flour, follow the ingredients to the latter to avoid mistakes.
