No. 26 · Main · Any · Advanced

The Chimichanga

with Guajillo-Braised Chuck, Red Rice, Refritos & Salsa Roja

Blistered gold shell that knocks when you tap it, packed with chile-dark braised chuck and toasted red rice, riding a plate of refritos, charred salsa roja, and cool guacamole. The steam when you cut it is half the argument.

4serves

9 h 54 mintotal time

2 h 17 minhands-on

14dishes

3 dmake ahead

Per serving ≈ 1265 cal · 61g protein · 60g fat · 119g carbs

This one started as a spec, dictated with total confidence: braised beef and rice inside, wrapped in flour and fried, beans and salsa and guacamole crowded around the plate. In his words, 'Dude, I love a chimichanga.' The chimichanga gets treated as a guilty pleasure, which is backwards; the Sonora-Arizona border cooks who invented it understood that a burrito dropped in hot fat becomes a different and better thing, and Tex-Mex repays the same attention French food gets. So here it is with the patience no drive-through ever gives it: chiles toasted whole, chuck braised to collapse over an afternoon, the shell fried to glass.

Cooking around gluten, wine, meat? Or bringing the dairy? tap to adjust

The Tools

Comal or large cast-iron skillet (toasting chiles, charring the salsa)
Blender · Adobo, rice base, and the salsa, in that order; a rinse between each
Fine-mesh strainer
Large Dutch oven · Braises the beef, then gets washed and comes back for the fry
Rimmed sheet pan (crisping the beef)
Medium saucepan with a tight lid (rice)
Medium pot (beans)
Potato masher or wooden bean masher
Small bowl (sealing paste)
Deep-fry or clip-on instant-read thermometer · Not optional. The whole fry lives or dies at 350°F
Tongs
Spider or slotted spoon
Wire rack set over a sheet pan (draining)
Chef's knife + cutting board

✚ ends up in the sink · essentials unless marked optional

Guajillo-Braised Chuck

Yields ~680 g shredded glazed beef (about 150 g per chimichanga, plus the cook's taco) Make 0-3 days ahead

Why this works Chuck is the cut for this: hard-worked shoulder muscle laced with collagen and fat seams, and collagen is the whole game. Above about 160°F it slowly unwinds into gelatin, and a 300°F oven holds the braising liquid around 180-190°F, hot enough to convert, gentle enough not to wring the muscle dry. It shreds at roughly 200°F internal, after 3 hours or more, and there is no shortcut through that math. The flavor spine is the adobo: guajillo brings bright red fruit and tang, ancho brings raisin and cocoa darkness, chipotle brings smoke and the vinegar of its can. Toasting the dried chiles first is not decoration; a few seconds of dry heat blooms their oils and adds roasted depth, while scorching them turns the whole pot bitter beyond rescue. The finish is two moves, and both exist for the fry. First the braising liquid reduces to a glaze so every shred is coated, not swimming. Then the shreds crisp under the broiler, carnitas logic: browned frizzled edges taste like more beef, and a drier filling matters mechanically, because water trapped inside a sealed tortilla flashes to steam at the oil's temperature, expands over a thousandfold, and blows the seam open. A wet filling does not make a worse chimichanga. It makes an exploded one.

6 large (about 30 g), stemmed, seeded, torn flat Guajillo chiles · Buy them leathery and bendable, the smell of dried cherries in the bag. Brittle chiles are old chiles.
2 (about 35 g), stemmed, seeded, torn flat Ancho chiles
2 chiles plus 1 tbsp of their sauce Chipotles in adobo · La Costena is the can to reach for.
1 can (14.5 oz / 411 g), with juices Fire-roasted tomatoes 411 g · Muir Glen fire-roasted; the char in the can does real work here.
2 1/2 lb (1.1 kg), cut into 3-inch chunks, big fat seams left on Beef chuck roast 1130 g · Chuck over brisket for a braise this size: more internal fat and collagen, harder to dry out. Boneless short rib works if the butcher tempts you.
1 medium, peeled and quartered White onion
6 cloves, peeled Garlic
2 tsp, toasted in the dry pan after the chiles, then ground Cumin seed
1 tbsp Mexican oregano · Citrus-resin, not the sweet Mediterranean kind; they are different plants.
2 Bay leaves
one 1-inch piece (Mexican soft-stick cinnamon) Canela · Background warmth, barbacoa's signature. It should never announce itself.
2 tbsp Apple cider vinegar · The braise's own acid. Without it the adobo eats heavy and flat.
2 cups (475 ml) Low-sodium beef stock 475 g
1 tbsp for the sear, more to taste at the glaze Diamond Crystal kosher salt · All salt in this book is Diamond Crystal. Using Morton, halve every volume.
2 tbsp, for searing Neutral oil

Toast the chiles 5 min hands-on

Heat the comal or a dry skillet over medium. Press the torn guajillos and anchos flat with a spatula, a few seconds a side, working in batches. Toast the cumin seed in the same pan for 30 seconds after, then grind it.

Look for The chiles puff, turn glossy, and go from leathery to pliable, smelling of tobacco and dried cherries. The moment you smell it, they are done.

Take care A blackened patch turns the whole adobo bitter and there is no rescue. Chiles are cheap; a scorched one goes in the bin, not the blender.
Blend the adobo 8 min hands-on · 15 min wait

Bring the stock to a simmer, pour it over the toasted chiles in a bowl, and steep 15 minutes until soft. Blend the chiles and their soaking stock with the chipotles and their sauce, the tomatoes, onion, garlic, cumin, oregano, and vinegar until completely smooth, then push through the strainer back into the bowl. Bay and canela stay whole for the pot.

Look for The color of old brick, thick enough to coat a spoon, and nothing gritty when a drop is rubbed between two fingers.
Sear the chuck 14 min hands-on

Pat the chunks dry and salt all sides. Heat the oil in the Dutch oven over medium-high and sear in batches, two flat sides per chunk, 3-4 minutes a side.

Look for A mahogany crust, and each chunk releases from the pot without tearing when it is ready to turn.

Take care Crowd the pot and the beef steams gray instead of searing. Two batches minimum, and leave the fond where it is; the adobo will drink it.
Braise 4 min hands-on · 3 h 15 min wait

Heat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Return all the beef to the pot, pour the adobo over, scrape the bottom clean, and tuck in the bay and canela. Lid on, into the oven 3 to 3.5 hours, until a fork twists a chunk apart with no fight.

Look for The surface barely trembles under the lid, never boils, and by the end a fork twisted in a chunk opens it along its own seams.

Take care If it fights the fork at 3 hours it is not overcooked, it is undercooked. Collagen surrenders on its own schedule; give it 30 more minutes and check again.
Shred and skim 10 min hands-on

Lift the chunks to the sheet pan and shred with two forks, discarding any gristle. Fish out the bay and canela. Skim the fat from the braising liquid and reserve 3 tbsp of it for the beans.

Look for The beef falls into long glossy strands under the forks, and the skimmed fat is brick-tinted and clear.
Reduce to a glaze 8 min hands-on · 12 min wait

Boil the braising liquid hard, uncovered, down to about 1.5 cups, then fold the shredded beef back in and cook until every strand is coated and the pot looks lacquered, not saucy. Taste now: it should land seasoned, smoky, faintly sweet from the ancho, with the vinegar's edge behind. Salt until it does.

Look for A spatula dragged across the pot floor leaves a trail that holds for a full second. Tilt the pot and nothing pools.

Take care This is the step that protects the fry. A wet filling flashes to steam inside the sealed shell and blows the seam open in the oil. If liquid pools when you tilt the pot, keep reducing; the filling has to read dry.
Crisp 4 min hands-on · 4 min wait

Spread the glazed beef in a thin layer on the sheet pan and run it under a hot broiler 3-4 minutes, until the edges frizzle and darken. Fold once and hold warm.

Look for The top edges go dark and lacy and the sound shifts from wet sizzle to a dry crackle; it should smell like taqueria plancha, not like a stew.

Take care Broilers are liars. Stand there and watch; the line between frizzled and carbonized is about 40 seconds.

When it goes wrong

Problem	Cause	Fix
Beef still tough at 3 hours	Collagen not yet converted; big chunks, cold pot, or an oven running cool	Nothing is wrong. Lid back on, 30 more minutes, test again; chuck always surrenders eventually
Adobo tastes bitter	Scorched chiles, or seeds left in	A pinch of sugar and an extra spoon of vinegar mask mild bitterness; truly acrid means re-toasting fresh chiles for a new batch of adobo, 20 minutes, and the braise is saved
Filling loose and saucy after reducing	Pulled the reduction early, or shredded beef went back in before the liquid tightened	Return it to the pot and boil it down with the beef in, stirring; the strands can take it. Dry filling or no fry

Mexican Red Rice

Yields ~3 cups cooked (a heaping half cup per chimichanga, plus spare) Make 0-1 days ahead

Why this works Arroz rojo is a pilaf, and the frying step is what separates it from steamed rice with tomato stirred in. Raw long-grain rice fried in oil until chalk-ivory with gold flecks does two things: the fat coats each grain so they cook separate instead of clumping, and the surface starch toasts, laying a nutty base note under the tomato. The blended tomato, onion, and garlic then fry in the same oil until it darkens to brick and thickens; that concentration cooks off raw tomato sharpness and builds the cooked-down sweetness the dish is named for. Absorption does the rest: measured liquid, tight lid, low flame, and a 10-minute off-heat rest so the moisture at the bottom of the pan redistributes upward. Lifting the lid to peek vents the steam that was doing the cooking. Inside a chimichanga the rice is structure as well as flavor: it drinks any glaze the beef releases and pads the beef so each bite carries both.

1 cup (200 g) Long-grain white rice 200 g · Long-grain stays separate under the fry-then-simmer method; medium grain clumps.
2 (about 200 g), cored and roughly chopped Roma tomatoes 200 g
1/4 medium, roughly chopped White onion
2 cloves, peeled Garlic
1 3/4 cups (415 ml) Low-sodium chicken stock 415 g
2 tbsp Neutral oil
1 tsp, adjusted after tasting the stock Diamond Crystal kosher salt

Rinse and dry the rice 4 min hands-on · 20 min wait

Rinse the rice in a strainer until the water runs nearly clear, then spread it and let it drain 20 minutes, shaking once or twice.

Look for Water runs from cloudy to nearly clear; the drained rice looks matte, not glistening.

Take care Wet rice meeting hot oil spits at your wrists. Dry means dry.
Blend the base 3 min hands-on

Blend the tomatoes, onion, and garlic until smooth. You want about 1 cup; top up with a splash of the stock if short.
Fry the rice 6 min hands-on

Heat the oil in the saucepan over medium and fry the rice, stirring often, 5-6 minutes.

Look for Grains turn from translucent to chalk-ivory with toasted gold flecks, hiss drier, and start to smell like popcorn.

Take care Golden flecks are the target; browned rice tastes burnt through the whole pot.
Fry the base 4 min hands-on

Pour the tomato base into the rice, standing back from the sputter, and cook, stirring, 3-4 minutes until it darkens and thickens over the grains.

Look for The puree turns from bright red to brick, loses its raw-tomato smell, and the spoon leaves a track that holds.

Take care Skip this concentration and the finished rice tastes of raw tomato water. Wait for brick.
Simmer 2 min hands-on · 15 min wait

Add the stock and salt, taste the liquid (it should be seasoned like a soup you would eat), bring to a boil, then lid on and lowest flame for 15 minutes.

Take care No peeking. The lid is doing the cooking.
Rest and fluff 1 min hands-on · 10 min wait

Off the heat, lid on, 10 minutes. Then fluff with a fork.

Look for Grains lift separate and tender with no wet clumps at the bottom; the color is even brick-red top to bottom.

When it goes wrong

Problem	Cause	Fix
Gummy, clumped rice	Skipped the rinse, or stirred during the simmer	Spread it on a sheet pan to steam off and dry out; inside a chimichanga it still works. Next time rinse hard and leave the lid alone
Crunchy grains at 15 minutes	Lid lifted mid-simmer, or flame too low to keep steam up	Add 2 tbsp hot stock, lid back on, 5 more minutes plus the rest
Scorched tomato layer on the pot floor	Flame too high after the stock went in	Do not scrape it into the rice. Fluff from the top and leave the pan's regrets in the pan; lowest flame next time

Refritos

Yields ~2.5 cups refritos Make 0-2 days ahead

Why this works Refritos means well-fried, not fried twice; the mistranslation stuck but the technique is one honest pass. Beans go into hot fat with their aromatics and get mashed into it, and the starch they release emulsifies with the fat into something closer to a savory pudding than a side of beans. The fat here is the braise's own skimmed beef fat, which ties the plate into one argument; the traditional manteca stays out and is not missed with this much chile-beef flavor in the pot. Refritos beat charro beans on this specific plate for a mechanical reason: charro are brothy, broth migrates, and migrating broth is the enemy of a shell you fried for. A stiff swipe of refritos stays where you put it, anchors the chimichanga, and acts as the sauce bed so nothing wet touches the crust. Two pieces of bean truth: salt in the simmer from the start seasons them to the center and does not toughen them (old beans and hard water do that), and the starchy pot liquor is the only loosening liquid the mash should ever see.

1 heaping cup (200 g), picked over and rinsed Dried pinto beans 200 g · No soak needed, only time. A good canned pinto (two 15-oz cans, drained) is the honest shortcut; the loss is the starchy pot liquor, so loosen with water and go easy.
1/2 medium: one quarter dropped whole into the simmer, one quarter minced for the fry White onion
2 cloves, smashed, for the simmer Garlic
1 Bay leaf
1 sprig, if you can find it Epazote · The traditional bean herb, resinous and strange in the best way. The beans survive without it.
3 tbsp, skimmed from the beef Reserved braise fat
2 tsp in the simmer, more to taste at the mash Diamond Crystal kosher salt

Simmer the beans 6 min hands-on · 1 h 45 min wait

Cover the beans by 2 inches of water in the pot with the onion quarter, garlic, bay, epazote, and the salt. Simmer gently, partly covered, 1.5 to 2 hours, topping up with hot water if the beans breach the surface. Run this pot alongside the braise; they share the afternoon.

Look for Done when a bean crushed against the roof of your mouth is creamy to the center, no chalky heart, and the liquor has gone cloudy and thick enough to look like something worth keeping. It is.

Take care Beans that never soften after 3 hours were old when you bought them. Buy from a store that sells beans fast.
Fry and mash 10 min hands-on

Fish out the onion, bay, and epazote. Heat the braise fat in a skillet over medium, fry the minced onion until deep gold, then add the beans with a slotted spoon and a ladle of pot liquor. Mash coarsely, adding liquor a splash at a time.

Look for A rough pudding that slumps off the masher and levels slowly. Leave it looser than looks right; it tightens hard as it cools.

Take care Mash tight and dry now and you will plate spackle later. The pot liquor is the rescue; keep a cup of it.
Taste 2 min hands-on

Salt until a spoonful tastes deep and seasoned to the center, not merely warm and beany.

When it goes wrong

Problem	Cause	Fix
Beans chalky after 2 hours	Old stock, or very hard water	Keep simmering with a pinch of baking soda in the water; it loosens pectin. Next time, fresher beans
Refritos set up like mortar	Too little liquid, or they cooled and tightened	Beat in hot pot liquor (or hot water) a splash at a time over low heat until they slump again
Flat, bland beans	Salt held back until the end	Salt the mash harder and give it 5 minutes over low to marry; next time salt the simmer from the start

Salsa Roja

Yields ~1.5 cups (the cellar keeps a pantry-scale jar: see salsa-roja) Make 0-1 days ahead

Why this works This is the plate's acid and its second register of heat, and it is built on the comal, not in the blender. Dry-charring the tomatoes, serranos, onion, and unpeeled garlic blisters and blackens the skins, and those charred patches carry smoky bitter-sweet depth no raw or simmered salsa reaches; the garlic roasts gently inside its papery jacket instead of burning. Salsa roja over salsa verde here is a deliberate call: the guacamole already owns the plate's green, cool, fresh corner, so the salsa's job is char, tomato acid, and serrano fire to cut a rich fried package, and roja does that while echoing the dried-chile spine of the braise with fresh-chile brightness. Texture is the other half: pulsed coarse so it spoons and clings, never blended smooth into juice, because juice migrates and this plate protects its crunch.

4 (about 450 g) Roma tomatoes 450 g
2, more if your table likes it loud Serrano chiles · Taste a sliver from the tip before committing; serranos swing wide.
1/4 medium, in one wedge White onion
2 cloves, unpeeled Garlic
1/2, juiced, to finish Lime
a small handful, roughly chopped Cilantro
1 tsp, then to taste Diamond Crystal kosher salt

Char 8 min hands-on · 4 min wait

Heat the comal or cast iron over medium-high, no oil. Char the tomatoes, serranos, onion wedge, and unpeeled garlic, turning with tongs, until blackened in patches on all sides. The garlic finishes first; pull it early.

Look for Skins blistered and blackened in patches, tomatoes slumping and hissing at their splits, the garlic's paper toasted brown and the clove inside gone soft.
Pulse coarse 3 min hands-on

Peel the garlic, stem the serranos, and pulse everything except the lime and cilantro, 6-8 short pulses.

Look for A spoonable rubble flecked with black, distinct pieces still visible. Smooth is a different salsa and a worse one here.

Take care Blend it smooth and it turns to juice, and juice runs across the plate into the shell. Pulse and stop early.
Season 2 min hands-on

Stir in the salt, lime, and cilantro. Taste: it should land bright, fiery, and seasoned, the char noticeable behind the acid.

When it goes wrong

Problem	Cause	Fix
Watery salsa	Over-blended, or the tomatoes were charred to full collapse	Spoon off the free liquid and re-season; the rubble underneath is the salsa
Acrid, ashy taste	Burnt garlic, or blackened past patches into full carbon	Char means patches on taut skin, not incineration. Fish out the worst offenders, balance with lime and a pinch of sugar
Tastes flat next to the beef	Undersalted, or lime held back	Salt and lime in alternating pinches until it snaps; this salsa has to stand up to a fried plate

The Wrap and the Fry

Yields 4 chimichangas

Why this works A warm flour tortilla is a different material from a cold one: warmth softens the fat laced through the dough and relaxes the gluten, so it folds like cloth instead of cracking like paper, and a crack is a leak, and a leak is a blowout in the oil. The roll is engineering. Filling sits in a low bar, the near edge folds over and tucks back under the bar, the parcel drags toward you to tighten, the sides fold in, and a flour paste glues the final seam; resting seam-down lets the paste set into a weld. Then the oil. At 350°F the tortilla's surface dehydrates in seconds and steam pockets lift the layers into glassy blisters; that blistered, rigid, deep-gold shell is the entire reason a chimichanga exists. Below 325°F the shell drinks oil and goes leathery before it crisps; above 375°F it darkens before the center warms through. Seam-side down first, because the paste welds shut in the first 20 seconds of heat, and drained on a rack, never paper, because a fried shell resting in its own trapped steam is a fried shell going soft. Fill it warm: an oil-hot shell around a fridge-cold center is the last failure this component allows for.

4 (12-inch), plus 2 spares Flour tortillas, burrito size · No national brand earns a call here, so buy on spec: refrigerated case or tortilleria, thin, visibly fat-flecked, and pliable enough to fold straight from the fridge without a crack. Shelf-stable is the floor and it works, with the full warming step. The spares are because the first roll is a rehearsal.
2 tbsp, whisked with 3 tbsp water into a paste All-purpose flour · The seam weld. Thick like pancake batter, not like glue stick.
1.5 to 2 quarts (canola or rice bran), for 2 inches in the pot Neutral oil, for frying
for the crust, the moment it leaves the oil Flaky salt
1 batch (see guacamole) The book's guacamole · Made on its own page; make it while the beef braises so the plate is ready when the fry is.
1 lime in wedges; a small handful of sprigs, to serve Lime wedges and cilantro sprigs

Warm the tortillas 4 min hands-on

Warm each tortilla in a dry skillet over medium, 15-20 seconds a side, and keep the stack under a towel. Work with one at a time; the rest stay warm.

Look for Draped over your hand it hangs like cloth, no stiff plane, no white crease when folded.

Take care A cold tortilla cracks at the fold, and a crack is a blowout in the oil. If it creases white, back to the skillet.
Fill and roll 12 min hands-on

Lay a heaping half cup of warm rice in a low bar across the lower third of the tortilla, 3 inches clear on each side, and top it with a quarter of the warm crisped beef. Fold the near edge over the bar and tuck it back under the filling with your fingertips, drag the parcel toward you to tighten, fold both sides in flat, paint the far edge with paste, and roll onto the seam.

Look for A fat, even cylinder, tight enough that nothing shifts when you lift it, no filling peeking at the ends.

Take care Overfilling is the classic failure: past about a cup and a half of filling the sides will not close and the seam will not hold. Greed here is paid for in the oil.
Rest seam-down 1 min hands-on · 5 min wait

Rest the rolled chimichangas seam-down on a tray, 5 minutes, while the oil heats.

Look for The paste dries matte and the cylinders hold their shape without a hand on them.
Heat the oil 2 min hands-on · 12 min wait

Pour 2 inches of oil into the clean Dutch oven and bring it to 350°F (175°C) over medium-high, thermometer clipped on.

Look for A pinch of torn tortilla dropped in rises immediately, ringed with steady bubbles, and turns gold in about 45 seconds.

Take care Below 325°F the shell drinks oil and goes leathery; past 375°F it blisters dark before the center warms. Hold 350 and let the thermometer, not the clock, run the fry.
Fry 12 min hands-on

Lower in two at a time, seam-down, pinning each gently with tongs for the first 15-20 seconds while the paste welds. Fry 2-3 minutes a side, turning once, then the second pair. Let the oil come back to 350°F between rounds.

Look for The surface lifts into glassy blisters and goes the deep gold of good pie crust, and the violent bubbling around it quiets as the shell dries.

Take care The seam is the weak point and the first 20 seconds decide it. If a seam starts to gape, hold it closed against the pot floor with tongs; it welds in seconds. Never crowd past two, or the temperature drops and failure mode one begins.
Drain and salt 2 min hands-on

Lift to the wire rack, never paper, and hit the shells with flaky salt while the oil still glistens.

Look for Tapped with a fingernail, the shell knocks. On the rack it stays rigid; on paper it would already be steaming itself soft.

When it goes wrong

Problem	Cause	Fix
Blowout in the oil	Cracked or cold tortilla, wet filling, overfilled, or the seam never set	Spider out the escaped filling before it burns and strain the oil if needed; the intact ones fry on. The fix is upstream: warm tortillas, dry filling, modest fill, paste plus the seam-down rest
Pale, greasy, leathery shell	Oil below 325°F, usually from crowding	Two at a time, full recovery to 350°F between rounds. A greasy pair can be rescued crisp in a 425°F oven for 5 minutes on the rack
Shell crisp and gold, center lukewarm	Filling went in cold from the fridge	Finish them in a 350°F oven on the rack, 8-10 minutes; the shell holds. Next time assemble with warm rice and warm beef

To the Table

Warm four plates in a 200°F oven while the chimichangas fry.
Drag a thick swipe of refritos across one side of each plate with the back of a spoon. The beans are the anchor and the sauce bed, and they hold their ground; nothing here runs.
Set the chimichanga seam-down on the bare porcelain beside the beans. Nothing wet goes over the shell. The crackle you fried for dies under a ladle of anything.
Spoon salsa roja into a pool at the head of the plate, or send the bowl around the table.
Land a generous spoon of the book's guacamole (see guacamole) on the bean swipe, with a lime wedge and a few cilantro sprigs beside it.
(Dairy table set? Ribbon crema across the beans and crumble queso fresco over them. The shell stays bare.)
Serve while the shell still knocks when tapped. Cut on a hard diagonal at the table and let the steam make the argument.

For the Cook Who Wants More

The Honest Ledger

Serves	4
Shopping	1 h
Hands-on (new to this)	3 h 39 min
Hands-on (comfortable)	2 h 51 min
Hands-on (experienced)	2 h 17 min
Waiting (same for everyone)	6 h 37 min
True total	9 h 54 min
You will dirty	14 dishes

A feast plate, priced honestly. Macros are gram math for one chimichanga plus its beans and salsa: 150 g braised chuck with its share of the reduced adobo, 50 g raw rice with its oil and tomato base, one 12-inch flour tortilla, ~14 g absorbed fry oil, 50 g dried pinto weight of refritos with braise fat, and a spoon of salsa, at 4/4/9 cal per g protein/carb/fat over 4 servings. The guacamole is priced on its own page (see guacamole), not here. Balance ledger: salt is Diamond Crystal through every layer with tasting checkpoints; fat is the braise and the fry; acid is the vinegar in the adobo and the lime and char in the salsa; heat is serrano and chipotle; freshness is the guacamole and cilantro; crunch is the shell itself, which is why nothing wet ever lands on it. The plate is beef through and through, so a kosher-style table closes the dairy riders automatically; the engine enforces it.

Words We Used

Chimichanga: A burrito sealed and deep-fried until blistered and rigid. Several Sonora-Arizona border kitchens claim the invention, most with a story about a burrito dropped into the fryer by accident; every version agrees it was immediately understood to be an improvement.
Adobo: A smooth, thick puree of toasted dried chiles with aromatics, vinegar, and spices; here it is the braising medium and, reduced, the glaze on the beef.
Refritos: Beans mashed and fried in fat into a coarse savory pudding. The name means well-fried, not fried twice; the double-fry is a mistranslation that stuck.
Comal: The flat Mexican griddle used dry, for toasting chiles and charring vegetables. A cast-iron skillet stands in without apology.
Canela: Mexican soft-stick (Ceylon) cinnamon: floral and gentle where hard cassia sticks are hot and loud. It crumbles under a thumbnail.
Epazote: A resinous Mexican herb traditional in the bean pot, somewhere between citrus, tar, and mint. Sold fresh in Mexican groceries; the beans survive its absence.

We Hunt We Gather · Vol. 1 · No. 26

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