No Way Jose Cuisine

Authentic and traditional flour tortillas are made with shortening or lard; nowadays, you find recipes with butter or oil, heavy cream, or milk. Every home or region makes flour tortillas different; it might be a lot of work, but the results are worth it because you won't find that flavor in any cooked or ready-to-cook flour tortillas from the store. Don’t worry if you can’t make a round tortilla, make them the shape you can; that won't change the delicious flavor. Testales (the flat thick circles ready to be rolled into a tortilla) and ready-to-cook tortillas can be stored in the fridge for up to 7 days in a plastic bag.


Flour Tortillas (Tortillas de Harina)

Add the dry ingredients with the shortening in the mixer and mix until everything incorporates and the shortening breaks up. It should look powdery but without chunks. 

Then add the hot water (bring it to boil and remove from heat to wait 2 minutes before adding it to the mixer), at least in 4 parts, and help with a spatula scraping the insides of the bowl to mix evenly. 

When everything incorporates well and the dough separates from the bowl; place it on the surface you are working, and knead a little to smooth it up for a ball; place it in the bowl and cover it with a cloth; let it rest for 20-30 minutes, this step is very important.

Then portion in about 3 tbsp size balls, knead each ball, and make “Testales.” roll each testal to any shape you can, round if possible, and the thinnest you can.

Have a griddle on low to medium heat, and cook each tortilla on one side until it starts getting bubbles; flip it and cook for about 15 seconds; it might be inflated; if so, don’t pop it because the hot air inside helps cook faster; one last flip and cook for another 15 seconds, keep an eye and ensure the dough has turned white and the tortilla gets brown circles, that’s a good sign of a cooked tortilla. Cook tortillas as you roll them up, you don’t want the dough to dry up, or your tortillas will be hard. Place the cooked tortillas in a folded cloth.

Testales and uncooked tortillas can be stored in zip bags and saved in the fridge for up to 7 days and have them ready to cook. This recipe makes about 20 tortillas, depending on the size.

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