Las Garnachas

This fried street food from Juchitán, Oaxaca is best enjoyed straight from the frying pan to your mouth and pairs perfectly with Coca Cola or ice cold beer. A little mezcal doesn’t hurt either. When you buy them on the streets, they are fried in a large pan with whole chickens sold separately. To try and recreate that street stall flavor, I use chicken fat in addition to oil, but it’s an extra step you needn’t worry about. I hope you have fun making the tortillitas and letting the pickled cól pierce through the cripsy and juicy garnachas. You can try and eat just 6, but it’ll be tough.

INGREDIENTS

Yields approx 24 garnachas. Serves 4 people.

Equipment needed: Tortilla press, comal or smooth griddle pan, saran wrap, extra-large tupperware or glass jar with lid.

For the Cól

1 head of cabbage

1 pineapple

16 oz white vinegar

1 cup of water

1/4 cup dried oregano

1 carrot

1 jalapeño

Salt and Pepper

For the Garnachas

1 lb Cubed Beef for Stew

1 Cup of Finely Chopped Onion (about half a large onion)

1 Garlic Clove

Bay Leaf

2 Cups of Masa

1 1/2 Cup of Water

Vegetable Oil

Chicken Fat (optional)

1 Cup of Dry Aged Parmesan Cheese Finely Grated

For the Salsa

2 Tomatos

1 Dried Chipotle Pepper

1 Fresh Serrano Pepper

1/4 White Onion

1 Cup of Beef Broth (Made from garnacha meat)

Directions

2-3 days before serving garnachas make the cól.

Cut the ends off a pineapple, and slice fruit to your liking. Reserve the skins and store the rest.

Thinly slice a whole head of cabbage so that it shreds and place in a large 4 quart container, preferably one that has an airtight lid. Season liberally with salt, pepper, and dried oregano.

Add all of the white vinegar plus water and stir. Note: It’s best to use a wooden spoon as metal can become corrosive.

Slice the carrot length wise and then in half to make 4 pieces (optional).

Slice jalapeño length wise.

Add jalapeño, carrot, and skins of the pineapple to the container. Mix well and cover.

Leave at room temperature for several days. Will become pickled and delicious the longer you wait! Add more water if becomes too dry.

For the garnacha filling, add beef to 6 cups of water with a garlic clove, bay leaf, and salt to taste. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer on medium/low heat for about 2 hours or until beef becomes fork tender.

Strain beef and reserve the broth. (This is a great caldo by itself, or as a broth base for other dishes.) Remove the garlic clove and set aside to use in the salsa.

Pulse the beef in a food processor or blender for about 30 seconds or until nicely minced.

Finely chop about half a large onion or one cup full.

In a large bowl, combine the beef and raw onion and set aside.

For the salsa, boil tomatoes, 1/4 onion, dried chipotle and whole serrano for about 10 minutes or until the skin starts to split from the tomatoes.

Drain and allow to cool. Remove skin from the tomatoes. Cut off the tops of the chiles, but keep all the seeds.

Blend chiles, tomatoes, onion, reserved garlic clove, and a cup of beef broth to create a rich salsa. Put in a bowl and set aside.

For the tortillas, follow instructions on Maseca (instant masa) package, and mix 2 cups of corn flour with 1 1/2 cups of water. Mix with your hands to make the dough.

Line a tortilla press with saran wrap and turn on your comal or griddle plan to medium / low heat.

Working in batches, create approx 1 inch thick balls of dough and softly press to create about a 3 inch tortilla. Place on the comal. Toast lightly on each side so that they look cooked on the skins but are still doughy inside and malleable.

While they’re still warm, but cool enough for you to work with, pinch the edges of the tortillas to create a walled tarte shell.

Once you’ve made all the tortilas, fill the shells with a spoon full of the beef mixture.

Now you get your frying pan ready! I typically have chicken skin saved in my freezer and fry a piece up to render the fat into the pan. This is because when you get garnachas on the street they also make a pollo garnachera in the same pan, and that chickeny fatty goodness seeps in. However, if you don’t have chicken skin, you can definitely skip this step.

After rendering the fat, add 1/4 inch more of vegetable oil, if not using chicken fat, use about 1/2 inch. When the oil is sputtering gently lay the garnachas in. Don’t overcrowd the pan, usually 5-6 at a time. Spoon a dollop of salsa and a tbsp of parmesean on each garnacha while they are frying. It can be a good technique to spoon some of the oil from the pan on top of each garnacha while they fry. Fry for about 3-4 minutes or until deep golden brown. Remove using a slotted spatula. Top with a generous heaping of the cól and eat right away!

Find the story that inspired this recipe HERE.