Rolled Chicken Tacos (Flautas)
At my restaurant Zarela, we made chicken flautas. To get greater flavor depth, we cooked our chickens in chicken stock (there was always lots of that available) with herbs. We then shredded it and sautéed it.
Ingredients
- 1 recipe
Poached and Sautéed Chicken (Pollo guisado) or 2 cups any shredded meat or seafood filling hash (well drained) - 16 commercially made thin corn tortillas
- Vegetable oil for deep frying
Instructions
- Soften the tortillas, preferably by placing them, in batches of 4 at a time, in a small plastic bag and microwaving them on full power for 30-40 seconds (depending on the wattage of your model). A steamer basket or other improvised steaming arrangement also works fairly well; wrap all the tortillas in a tea towel and steam for2 minutes and keep warm wrapped in tea towels.
- Working quickly while they are still pliable, place about 2 tablespoons of the filling in the center of each tortilla, roll into a tight cylinder, and secure two tacos together with toothpicks. As you work, place the filled tortillas in a larger plastic bag before they can dry out, which makes them crack in frying.
- When they are all filled, pour oil into a deep medium-sized skillet or heavy saucepan to a depth of about 1 inch. Heat over medium-high heat to 375°F. Fry the filled tortillas, 4 at a time, until golden, about 5 minutes per batch. Lift out onto paper towels and let drain briefly. Arrange on a platter and serve with guacamole or Salsa verde de aguacate.
Notes
Another use for the Salsa verde de aguacate is to use on picadas, crimped fresh corn tortillas.