These tortitas de carne en salsa speak to me! The textures and flavors are so familiar to me. They remind me of Mom’s cooking for so many reasons. Out of all of the salsa recipes on my blog, salsa verde prepared with tomatillo is the one that I favor. The spicier, the better! Dry roasted on the comal, poached in water, grilled, you name it! It’s my favorite!
The egg batter used to prepare these tortitas de carne en salsa is the exact egg batter used for chiles rellenos(stuffed poblanos). I don’t know why I found preparing that batter so intimidating for so many years. Practice and patience is the key. Oh, and notes! Write notes when you are testing a recipe. They have saved me on many occasions when I am developing a recipe.
Tortitas de Carne en Salsa Verde
The shredded beef fritters are the same ones that are served in my abuelita’s caldo de albondigas. Albondigas? Yes, in some regions these are called albondigas and not tortitas. Confused yet? Lol! If you are open to the concept that dishes and ingredients come in several names, then it will get easier. I promise. This is all part of the learning process. The great thing about this dish is that both the beef fritters and salsa can be prepared a couple of days ahead of time. When you are ready to serve, you can prepare a small skillet for one or the whole batch for your frinds and family. Makes for some delicious and different beef tacos! Extra salsa for me, please!
For shredded beef, you can use flank steak, brisket or chuck roast. Cook overnight in slow cooker for extra tender beef
Bet you never had a beef taco like this before!
Tortitas de Carne en Salsa Verde (Beef Fritters in Salsa)
Ingredients
For Salsa
- 1 1/2 pounds of tomatillos
- 1/2 small white onion plus another 1/4 sliced thin for later
- 5 small chile serrano reserve 1 for later
- 1-2 cloves of garlic skins on
- Salt to taste
- cilantro chopped, optional
For Beef Tortitas(Fritters)
- 3/4 pound cooked shredded beef
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 4 large eggs
- Oil for frying
Garnish
- Fresh cilantro
- Avocado slices
- *serve with warm tortillas
Instructions
- Wash the tomatillos. Slice them in half and lay them on a preheated comal, cut side up. Remove stems from 4 of the chile serranos. Place chile peppers, 1/2 onion and garlic next to tomatillos. Dry roast for about 20 minutes, turning as needed.
- Once the skins on tomatillos, peppers and onions have blistered and charred nicely, remove from heat and transfer to the blender. Remove skin from garlic and add to blender. Pour in 1/2 cup water or chicken broth. Season with salt to taste. Blend on high until very smooth. Set aside.
- In a skillet, preheat 1 cup of oil to medium heat for 5-6 minutes. Toss the beef with 1 tablespoon of flour until evenly coated. Separate the egg whites into a large bowl, reserving the yolks. With an electric hand mixer on high, beat the egg whites for 3 -4 minutes or until stiff peaks form. With the mixer on low, mix in the yolks just until blended. Fold in the shredded beef.
- Carefully ladle in a spoonful of beef/egg mixture into hot oil. Cook to four tortitas at a time until golden brown, turn as needed. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. Repeat until all the tortitas are done. Yields 14-18 small tortitas de carne.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil to medium heat in a skillet. Add 1/4 thinly sliced reserved onion and 1 thinly sliced reserved s errano. Saute for 3 minutes. Add the salsa verde and cook for a few minutes. If salsa is too thick, add a little more broth. Finally, add the tortitas de carne to the warm salsa. Cook just until warmed through. Garnish with cilantro. Serve with warm tortillas.
Another winner….thank you!
Thank you Diane!