Illustrative AI food photo: three chicken tinga tacos on corn tortillas with pickled onion, queso fresco, crema and avocado, with a basket of tortillas

Guides · Cook it at home

A fresh corn tortilla tastes like toasted corn, bends without cracking, and has almost nothing in common with the stiff packaged kind. Making them from masa harina takes three ingredients and about 20 minutes once you have the feel of the dough. A tortilla press makes it quicker; a heavy pan and a cut-open freezer bag also work.

Chicken tinga is the filling: poached chicken thighs simmered in a tomato, onion and chipotle sauce until it clings. It reheats well, which makes it good for a crowd or for a next-day tostada.

Ingredients

Corn tortillas (12)

  • 240 g (2 cups) masa harina
  • ½ tsp (2.5 ml) kosher salt
  • 330 to 360 ml (1⅓ to 1½ cups) hot water, plus more as needed

Chicken tinga

  • 700 g (1½ lb) boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • ½ white onion plus 1 whole white onion, thinly sliced
  • 3 garlic cloves (1 whole, 2 minced)
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp (5 ml) kosher salt, plus more to taste
  • 1 can (398 ml / 14 oz) whole or fire-roasted tomatoes
  • 2 or 3 chipotle peppers in adobo, plus 1 tbsp (15 ml) adobo sauce
  • ½ tsp (2.5 ml) dried Mexican oregano
  • 1 tbsp (15 ml) neutral oil

To serve

  • Quick pickled red onion: 1 red onion, thinly sliced, with 120 ml (½ cup) lime juice or white vinegar and ½ tsp (2.5 ml) salt
  • Crumbled queso fresco or feta
  • Mexican crema or sour cream thinned with lime juice
  • 1 or 2 ripe avocados, sliced
  • Cilantro and lime wedges

Method

  1. Pickle the onion. Toss the red onion with the lime juice or vinegar and salt, and set it aside for at least 30 minutes.
  2. Poach the chicken. Put the chicken in a pot with the half onion, the whole garlic clove, the bay leaf and the salt. Cover with water, bring to a simmer, and cook gently for 20 to 25 minutes until cooked through (74°C / 165°F). Save 250 ml (1 cup) of the broth, then shred the chicken with two forks.
  3. Blend the sauce. Blend the tomatoes, chipotles, adobo sauce, minced garlic, oregano and 125 ml (½ cup) of the reserved broth until smooth.
  4. Simmer the tinga. Heat the oil in a wide pan over medium heat and cook the sliced onion for 6 to 8 minutes, until soft and lightly browned. Pour in the sauce and simmer 5 minutes. Add the chicken and simmer 8 to 10 minutes more, adding broth as needed, until saucy but not soupy. Season with salt.
  5. Make the dough. Mix the masa harina and salt, then add 330 ml (1⅓ cups) hot water and knead for 1 to 2 minutes. It should feel like soft play dough: moist, not sticky. Press a small ball flat; if the edges crack, knead in more water a tablespoon at a time. Cover and rest 15 minutes.
  6. Press. Divide the dough into 12 balls of about 45 g (1½ oz) and keep them covered. Line a tortilla press with two pieces cut from a freezer bag. Press each ball to about 2 mm (1/16 in) thick and 14 cm (5½ in) across.
  7. Cook. Heat a dry cast-iron pan or comal over medium-high heat. Cook each tortilla for 30 to 45 seconds until it releases, flip and cook 45 to 60 seconds, then flip again for 15 seconds; it should puff. Stack them in a clean tea towel so they steam and soften while you cook the rest.
  8. Build the tacos. Spoon tinga onto doubled or single warm tortillas, and top with pickled onion, queso fresco, crema, avocado and cilantro.

Tips

  • Masa harina is not cornmeal or corn starch. It is made from nixtamalized corn, and nothing else gives tortillas their flavour and structure.
  • If the tortillas stick to the plastic, the dough is too wet; knead in a spoonful of masa harina. If they crack at the edge, add water.
  • No press? Press the ball between the plastic with a heavy skillet or a glass pie plate.
  • If they do not puff, the pan is not hot enough or the second side needs a little longer. They will still taste good.
  • The tinga keeps 4 days in the fridge and freezes well. Leftover tortillas make good chips or chilaquiles the next day.

Where to buy the ingredients in Toronto

Masa harina is now stocked at most large supermarkets in the international or baking aisle. The Latin American grocers in Kensington Market, along St. Clair Ave W and in the Jane and Finch area carry several brands, plus chipotles in adobo, dried chiles, Mexican oregano, queso fresco and crema. Cast-iron tortilla presses turn up at the same shops and at kitchen stores.

Elsewhere in Canada, look for masa harina in the international aisle of large supermarkets or at Latin American grocers.

Prefer to eat it out?

For tortillas made from corn nixtamalized and ground in house, see our pages on these Michelin-recognized Toronto rooms: Quetzal and Antylia.