While I hate to admit it, I saw a picture of this dish while randomly browsing Instagram one evening. That sent me down a rabbit hole, looking at various recipes until I found one that I thought had some potential based on the others I read. I went about doctoring this up to the point at which I was ready to give it a go with some changes in place. I need to revisit this and add a little more heat, but overall, I think this turned out pretty close to perfect; again, it’s a little mild for my liking.
Ingredients
For the chips
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil for frying
- 12 corn tortillas, each cut into eight wedges
- Salt
For Salsa Roja
- 4 Roma tomatoes, chopped
- 2 large tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
- 1 Jalapeño, sliced
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- Salt
For serving
- Diced Avocado
- Crema
- Queso fresco
- Fried egg(s)
Process
Fry the cut tortillas. Heat 1/2 cup of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Fill the skillet with the tortillas filling as much as possible, leaving a bit of space in between each one. Continue to cook, flipping once, until lightly brown and crisp.
Using tongs, remove the tortilla chips. Shake each tong full to remove excess oil, then place the freshly fried tortilla chips on a paper towel-lined plate. Sprinkle sparingly with salt. Repeat this process until all tortillas are fried, adding more oil if needed.
Make the salsa roja. Place the tomatoes, onion, jalapeño, and garlic in a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pour in 1 cup of the chicken broth. Blend until smooth and there are no more visible chunks of of tomatoes, onion, garlic, and jalapeño
Cook the salsa. Heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in the large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Pour in the blended salsa and cook; make sure to stir occasionally until slightly thickened. This will take around 5 to 10 minutes ( The consistency of the salsa will vary depending on the size and juiciness of the tomatoes). Add additional broth to thin out the salsa, if needed. Taste and season with salt as needed.
Place all of the chips into the skillet. Continue to stir the chips, carefully coating them all. Cook until the tortillas are heated through, about 3 minutes. Taste and add additional salt if needed.
Dish up. Place a sizable portion of the warm costed chips onto a plate while still warm, garnished with diced avocado, crema, sprinkle crumbled queso fresco, and top with a fried egg.