Tostadas waterproofed with cheese
Melt the cheese onto the tortilla before anything wet touches it. That layer is a gasket, and it is why these are still crisp at the last bite.
At a Glance
Story
A tostada fails in one way and one way only, which is going limp under the thing piled on it. The kit's trick is the fix and it is worth stealing: melt the cheese directly onto the tortilla and toast it before any topping goes near it. Fat does not wet, so the cooled cheese is a waterproof layer between a crisp base and everything damp above it. Prick the tortillas with a fork first or they dome up and the toppings slide off the hill.
Ingredients
- 4 corn tortillas
- 2 oz cheddar and monterey jackcoarsely grated
- 10 oz cooked pulled chickentorn into shreds
- ⅓ cup guajillo sauceloosened with water
- 3 oz corn kernelsfrozen or cut from the cob
- ¼ green cabbagefinely shredded
- 1 carrotcoarsely grated
- ¼ cup cilantro sauce
- ¼ cup full-fat Greek yogurt
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp brown sugarwith a pinch of cayenne if you want heat
- olive oilsalt, pepper
Method
Corn tortillas, not the flour ones a meal kit ships. Flour goes leathery in a hot oven and corn goes properly glassy, which is the entire difference between a tostada and a large sad crisp.
Two bench recipes do most of the work here if you have them. The poached shredded chicken is what the guajillo goes onto, and the cilantro sauce dresses the slaw.
- Heat the oven to 450°F and line a tray with foil. Lay the tortillas out and prick each one all over with a fork. Brush with oil, season and turn.
- Scatter the corn and the cheese over them, right to the edges, and toast 4 to 6 minutes, until the cheese has melted flat and the tortillas have gone brown and rigid. Take them out and leave them to cool and set.
- Meanwhile, toss the cabbage and carrots with the cilantro sauce and a little oil. Season it properly, it is doing the acid.
- Warm the pulled chicken through in a small pan with the guajillo, the paprika, the brown sugar and a splash of water, 3 minutes, until it is glossy rather than wet. Wet chicken defeats the whole point of step 2.
- Pile the chicken onto the cooled tostadas, then the slaw, then a swoosh of yogurt. Eat them standing up, over the tray, like a person with no plans.
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