The Best Enchiladas You’ll Ever Make (Restaurant-Quality) | Epicurious 101

Quick Overview

Chef Saúl Montiel creates restaurant-quality Enchiladas Verdes con Pollo by simmering chicken with corn, onion, garlic, and bay leaves for 45 minutes to create a flavorful stock, mixing shredded chicken with corn for the filling, blending boiled tomatillos, serrano chiles, onion, garlic, cilantro, and chicken broth for the green sauce, frying corn tortillas briefly to keep them flexible, assembling the enchiladas with filling and cheese, covering them in the sauce, and topping them with crema, queso fresco, shredded lettuce, red onion, avocado, and cilantro.

Key Points: The chicken is simmered with corn, onion, garlic, and bay leaves for 40-45 minutes to create a rich broth for flavor. The filling is made by combining shredded chicken with corn, ensuring the chicken remains moist by not overcooking it. The Tomatillo Sauce involves boiling tomatillos, serrano chiles, onion, garlic, and cilantro, then blending them with chicken broth. Corn tortillas are briefly fried in neutral oil on both sides (about 1 minute per side) to keep them flexible for rolling. To assemble, the tortilla is filled with the chicken/corn mixture and cheese, rolled, and placed seam-side down on a plate covered in the green sauce. The dish is topped with Mexican crema, queso fresco, shredded romaine lettuce, sliced red onion, avocado, and fresh cilantro for texture and flavor balance.

Context: Chef/Owner Saúl Montiel of La Única Tacos y Tequila demonstrates how to make his mother's recipe for Enchiladas Verdes con Pollo, emphasizing the importance of using bone-in chicken parts for a flavorful broth and balancing the heat from the peppers in the sauce with sweetness from the corn.

Detailed Analysis

Chef Saúl Montiel provides a tutorial for making restaurant-quality Enchiladas Verdes con Pollo. The process begins with creating a rich chicken stock by simmering chicken pieces (using both white and dark meat for optimal flavor and moisture), corn on the cob, onion, garlic, and bay leaves in a Dutch oven for 40-45 minutes. After cooking, the chicken is removed to cool slightly before being shredded by hand into medium-sized pieces, avoiding overly dry or large chunks. The corn kernels are also removed from the cob and mixed with the shredded chicken to form the filling. Simultaneously, the green sauce (salsa verde) is prepared by boiling tomatillos, two serrano chiles, onion, garlic, and cilantro until the tomatillo skins break and change color slightly to reduce bitterness. These boiled ingredients are then blended with reserved chicken broth and salt until smooth. The chef stresses that the sauce should be slightly liquidy, not thick, as it will reduce later. Corn tortillas are quickly fried in neutral vegetable oil for about one minute per side to ensure they remain flexible for rolling. The assembly involves filling the warm tortilla with the chicken/corn/cheese mixture, rolling it up, and placing it on a plate already coated with the green sauce. The dish is then generously topped with more sauce, Mexican crema, queso fresco, shredded romaine lettuce, sliced red onion, avocado slices, and fresh cilantro. The final plating is designed to offer a perfect balance of flavors, textures, and colors, ensuring every bite is delicious.