/ck/ - Food & Cooking

Why is everyone talking about cooking corn tortillas in oil? YOU DON'T NEED TO DO THAT. All you need is a comal. A comal is a flat, round griddle that you cook the tortillas on. They are typically quite heavy despite their thinness. They are used exclusively for cooking tortillas on. You wait for them to get hot, throw on the tortillas with the smooth sides facing out and periodically flip 'em, adding more and more tortillas with each flip so you've got a nice stack of tortillas going, the tortillas closer to the center continue to cook without burning. I will admit I flip them with a spatula.

Of course, you can lightly fry them in oil or lard, its all a matter of which texture you prefer. Cooking them in oil makes them very soft so if your filling is very wet they can break apart very easily. When your fillings are drier fried tortillas are nice. You can also steam them for yet a different texture.

A lot of people eat tortillas without any filling, just like bread. They roll it up, hold it in one hand, and bite it in between bites of food on their plate. Or they use it to sop up all the flavorful juices. For this you probably wont cook it in oil bc the oil will drip down your hand.