Pork Tostadas
Last week I lacked inspiration for what to make for dinner. I knew it would be Mexican, but beyond that I was clueless. In an attempt to get things rolling, I decided to cook some pork chunks until they were tender. After that, I figured I would wait and see what happened.
Cubed pork shoulder went directly into a pot with water, garlic, salt and peppercorns and simmered for about an hour. Once tender, I removed the pork from the water and shredded it slightly with a fork…then I sat and stared at the bowl of pork and, again, tried to figure out what to make. My default is always tacos – diced onion, cilantro, tortillas, and a squirt of lime go a long way in this household in throwing together a meal – but I wanted to do something different.
Still stumped, I went about making some salsa to go with my favorite blue corn sesame tortilla chips. I diced up a couple medium tomatoes and added to them about half cup diced red onion, a couple minced garlic cloves, a jalapeno and a bunch of chopped cilantro – not the spiciest salsa I’ve made, but definitely fresh and clean tasting. About that time I made up my mind about the pile of pork – I would make tostadas.
I know – it’s not the craziest recipe out there, but I rarely eat hard shell (fried) tortillas, so I thought I would give them a go. Frankly, I don’t understand the hard taco shell – especially the commercially-made versions that are so brittle that they fall apart at the first bite. My dad once told me that he had never eaten a hard shell taco until he moved away from Mexico to the US, so we grew up eating soft tortillas. They were so much a staple in our house that I can hardly recall a meal when my dad’s plate didn’t contain soft, flour tortillas and a whole jalapeno, which he would eat between bites of whatever was for dinner (even holiday meals).
But about those tostadas…Kyle whipped up some fresh corn tortillas, which we fried in vegetable oil instead of browning them on the skillet as we would for tacos. Once they were crisp and drained of the grease, we topped them with refried beans, pork and queso fresco and put them under the broiler for a few minutes to heat everything through. Out of the oven, they got a healthy serving of lettuce, a dollop of sour cream and a few squirts of hot sauce.
The tortillas turned out great – crisp, but still pliable, which made the tostada easy to eat but sturdy enough not crumble with the first bite. I had doubted the amount of lettuce at first – it seemed like a lot – but the balance of the cool, crunchy lettuce mixed with the hot, savory beans and pork blended together in a perfect union.
May 13th, 2009 at 2:16 am
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