Tortillas de Elote Asado? Grilled Corn Tortillas? Yes, indeed! I rarely watch t.v. anymore. There was a time when the food t.v. channels were on 24/7. I happen to be watching late night, half asleep, and I saw someone adding grilled corn to their masa for tortillas. That got my attention!
I truly get enjoyment from preparing corn tortillas from scratch. And not just corn, but flour tortillas as well. It took me many years to master the flour tortillas. And although the corn seems fairly easy, there are a few easy things one can do to ensure a better tortilla.
The tester tortillas are always going to end up as a rustic quesadilla! The more rajas(poblano strips) and queso Oaxaca, the better! I often tell the story on how I grew up with quesadillas prepared strictly made with corn tortillas. It wasn’t until I moved to Texas in 1979 that I knew of quesadillas made with flour tortillas. Seems funny that I didn’t know before then since we grew up with homemade flour tortillas in our house.
Tortillas de Elote Asado(Grilled Corn Tortillas)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 ears of corn previously cooked on the comal or grilled(2 cups)
- 1 1/2 cups of water
- Salt to taste
- 2 cups of masa harina more or less
Instructions
- After removing the corn kernals from the cob, transfer to the blender. Add the water and salt to taste. Pulse to blend.
- Transfer corn to a bowl. Gradually add in the masa harina until dough forms. You may not need all 2 cups. I divided the dough in half. Divide masa into 20 equal masa balls and flatten slightly. Transfer to large plastic storage bag as you shape them. Let them sit for 20 minutes.
- Preheat a griddle or comal to medium heat for 5-6 minutes. Line a tortilla press with two pieces of plastic, wax paper or parchment paper.
- Press the masa balls until thin. Transfer tortilla to griddle and cook tortillas for about 30 seconds per side. Tortillas should inflate slightly or alot! Place cooked tortillas in a covered pot lined with a kitchen towel. Keep covered with a lid. The steam created will yield a soft flexible tortilla.
Notes
Ok, so technically not grilled, but charred. When I char my elote(corn) on the cast iron comal, I like to line it with easy release foil paper. I cook them at low heat so that they steam at the same time and cook all the way through instead of just charring or burning on the outside. Total cook time could take up to 30 minutes because it’s low and slow. Steamed corn would work as well. Many times food ingredients, such as corn and salsa ingredients are referred to asados even when cooked on a comal on the stove top.
It’s no wonder that my blender hasn’t blown up! It is one of the most used electric appliances in my kitchen. Well, not counting my electric stove, lol! I am seriously looking into purchasing a vitamix blender soon. Hopefully soon.
Since I cannot purchase fresh ground masa, I use masa harina. And this is as close as I can get to corn masa from maiz nixtamalizado. Beggars can’t be choosers, as they say.
I can just stare at this masa all day! Love the little specs of charred corn and the bright yellow corn!! Love it!
My tortilla press is large and clunky, but it works well!! I get quite an arm work out everytime I use it, lol!
A well seasoned cast iron comal works really well for both corn and flour tortillas.
I could never give up corn tortillas! If I had to eliminate one, it would be the flour tortilla, but I hope I don’t have to eliminate either. All in moderation, I say.
This is my cilantro experiment on a fresh pressed corn tortilla! It stuck pretty well! After I pressed the masa ball, I then removed the plastic and carefully placed the leaves randomly on the exposed uncooked tortilla. Cover with plastic and gently press again. Cook as usual.
I only prepared a few tortillas and reserved some of the masa to test out different recipes. Above is empanada or quesadilla. It’s filled with shredded chicken and cheese and cooked on a comal with minimal oil.
And the quesadilla below was also chicken, but I cooked it in shallow oil to fry the exterior and make it extra crispy. More details on how to prepare quesadillas
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How do you use your comal on an electric stove? I didn’t think of that when I bought this all-electric house! My coma sits in a drawer – unused.
My comal is round and is just for one burner. I use it all the time, along with all my other cast iron cookware. I do have a nonstick comal that goes over two burners that I also use.
Como esta Sonia,
grilled Corn sounds like a delicious addition to tortillas.
When I briefly lived in Tempe AZ in the early 90’s I became obcessed with tamales de elote verde and promptly moved back to upstate New York. It would be great to try a sweet corn tortilla for a high summer taco.
I have done some simple nixtamal but haven’t gotten the right consistency yet.
I Ramble,
Stephen
A sweet tortilla sound like a tasty idea to me!