Crisp-Fried Tostadas

If you’ve ever been disappointed after crisp-frying corn tortillas into tostadas (or chips) at home, you’re not alone. I know folks who’ve even invested the time in making their own tortillas, thinking, of course, that frying homemade ones would yield something ethereally light and crispy. Instead, they ended up with disappointment, with a mouthful that was heavy and greasy.

Why? It starts with the type of tortilla that’s being fried. In Mexico, the tortillas served with meals (or used to make tacos, enchiladas and the like at home) are “table tortillas.” They are soft and moist, and, if well-made, they have risen in a pita-like puff on the griddle. Their moistness, as well as their puffy layers, translate into heavy, often greasy tostadas and chips.

For the most part, Mexican cooks aren’t very motivated to make light, tender tortilla chips, because their culture doesn’t have a “chips and salsa” tradition. Ours is the one that’s become accustomed to big baskets of tortilla chips at parties and on Mexican American restaurant tables.

So it should come as no surprise that most every tortilla factory in the United States makes a special tortilla that fries up light and crisp–a “chip tortilla” that’s a lot drier than a “table tortilla.” And it’s made from coarser-ground corn, too, to keep the tortilla from rising in that beautiful puff that’s so beloved in table tortillas. That puff, as it turns out, when submerged in hot oil, does little more than provide an oil-trapping reservoir.

If, in the United States, you live near a tortilla factory, ask for “chip tortillas” there. If no tortilla factory is close, just know that many of the frozen tortillas in chain grocery stores more closely resemble “chip tortillas” than “table tortillas.” Simply defrost them overnight in the refrigerator, lay them out in a single layer, cover them with a dry dish towel (to keep them from curling) and let them dry for a few minutes to get rid of any moisture they may have taken on during freezing.

Or, simply go to your closest Mexican grocery store and buy already-fried tostadas. That’s what most cooks in Mexico do. The ones you find there are often as good as (if not better than) what you can make at home.

Tostadas should be stored in an air-tight container to keep them crisp.