Tostadas (Crispy Tortillas)

It’s much easier than you might think to make excellent tostadas — the crispy tortillas that can be used as a base for a composed tostada, an accompaniment to aguachiles, ceviches, Vuelve a la Vida and other seafood dishes, or broken up and used to dip in guacamole. Though tostadas can certainly be made by frying corn tortillas, they’re also often made by drying out fresh tortillas — either over low heat on top of a comal or griddle, or in an oven in low heat. We recommend making them using heirloom masa harina, but you can also use ordinary Maseca, or other supermarket masa harina.

READ: Crunchy, light and fun, heirloom-corn tostadas will set you free this summer

The basic recipe makes smallish tostadas, a little smaller than 5 inches in diameter. These are ideal for Olivia Lopez’s Scallop Ceviche Tostadas (or other seafood tostadas), or Chicken Tinga Tostadas. To make larger or smaller tostadas, follow the instructions at the end of the recipe. The small ones that come at the very end are super nice to accompany ceviches and aguachiles.

Makes 6 tostadas, about 5 inches each.

Ingredients

½ cup masa harina (preferably heirloom or organic, such as Masienda or King Arthur, in any color)

Scant ½ cup water

Instructions

1. Heat a comal or a well seasoned cast iron skillet or griddle over medium-high heat. Heat the oven to 200 F. Set a rack atop a baking sheet and set aside.

2. Put the masa harina in a bowl, stir in the water, then use your hands to knead it until the water is evenly absorbed. The goal is a dough that is slightly tacky but not sticky. Make a ball with 28 or 29 grams (about 1 ounce) of dough (if you don’t have a scale, divide the dough into sixths). Line a tortilla press with plastic on both sides, and press the ball into a tortilla about 5 ½ inches wide.

3. Peel the top plastic off the tortilla, invert it carefully onto your open palm, and then transfer it to the heated comal. Let it cook 15 to 30 seconds, until the edges lift up from the comal a bit. Use a spatula to flip it over, and cook another 30 seconds. Flip it once more and cook another 30 to 45 seconds. If it puffs up, gently press it flat with the spatula, as you want the tostadas to be flat. Transfer the tortilla to the rack on the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough.

4. Bake the tortillas 60 minutes, until they are fully crisp throughout. Tostadas will keep a week or more in a zipper bag.

To make larger tostadas

To make 6 larger tostadas suitable for Chicken Salad Tostadas or other larger composed tostadas, use 3/4 cup masa harina and 2/3 cup water to make the masa. Divide into 6 balls about 38 g. (1 1/3 ounce) each, press into 6 1/2-inch tortillas, and proceed with recipe.

To make smaller tostadas (for ceviche or aguachile)

Once you’ve made the masa, roll it into 1/2 ounce / 14 g balls, and press them very thin — about 4 inches / 10 cm diameter. Once they come off the comal or griddle, use kitchen scissors to cut them in half, if you like. Otherwise bake them in the oven as above till they’re very crisp.