I have never met a single person who doesn’t like fresh tortilla chips and, if such a person exists, I’m pretty sure I don’t want to know them. But for some reason, it never occurs to me to make them myself, even though they are one of the easiest, least splattery foods you can fry for yourself at home. It is, however, a two-step process. For the crispiest chips, you need to dry, then fry.
Because I am in the habit of buying too many tortillas at once, I tend to freeze, or at least refrigerate half of what I buy. They technically stay “good” for what seems like forever, but the texture suffers, making them less than ideal for tacos. Heating them up in a skillet can help, but I prefer turning lackluster, past-their-prime tortillas into hot, fresh, salty chips.
Photo: Claire Lower
Like potato chips and french fries, a little dehydrating makes all the difference. Our chips are only in the hot oil for a couple of minutes, which doesn’t give any water a lot of time to migrate to the surface. A quick stint in the oven drives out excess moisture, meaning your chips fry up crisp, not chewy. For the best, corn-forward flavor, use a neutral oil. Vegetable is fine, but I prefer fluffy white lard.
To make your own restaurant-style chips from kind-of-sad tortillas, you will need:
- As many tortillas as you desire, keeping in mind that one tortilla equals four chips
- Enough oil to come up about 3/4 of an inch in a wide frying pan
- Fine salt, ideally pulverized with a food processor
Preheat your oven to 200℉ and lay your tortillas out on a baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes, flipping halfway through, until the tortillas feel dry, but are still pliable. Repeat until you have dried as many tortillas as you wish.
Cut the tortillas into triangles, then heat your oil or lard over medium-high heat in a large (not nonstick) frying pan until it reaches 355℉. Add the chips, about six at a time, and fry for a couple of minutes until they are a light golden brown with just a little more color on the edges, and feel hard when you pick them up with tongs.
Remove the chips with tongs, letting all excess fat drip away, then transfer to paper towels. Sprinkle with salt, and repeat with the remaining tortilla pieces, until you have a mountain of crisp, delicious chips, ready for bowls of salsa.
This article was written by Claire Lower on Skillet and shared by Claire Lower to Lifehacker from Lifehacker and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.
