Linda’s Flautas
This month’s recipe features one of Mexican cuisine’s most popular dishes: Flautas. Emblematic of the ethos of using leftovers to maximum effect, flautas are a versatile and delicious meal that can be enjoyed for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Also known as tacos dorados or taquitos, flautas are named after their distinctive flute-like shape. They can be made with either corn or flour tortillas, and are commonly filled with chicken, beef or cheese traditionally topped with salsas, lettuce and crumbly white cheese.
Families will often use leftovers from previous meals to fill and top flautas. It is not uncommon to see sauces such as leftover mole poblano, salsa de tomate or guacamole being used to create different versions of the dish.
Today, Linda, Na’atik’s library assistant, is sharing her family’s traditional recipe.
Ingredients:
1lb or ½ kilogram of tortillas (Linda uses corn tortillas, however you can use flour ones if you prefer)
½ chicken breast
1 head of lettuce
2-3 ripe tomatoes
1 avocado
1 small clove of garlic
salt
Sopero cheese (This is an aged Mexican cheese, which is crumbly and has a similar texture to feta. Any crumbly cheese would work well as a substitute)
Media crema (light or table cream)
Cooking oil
Method:
Boil the chicken breast until cooked through, and set aside to cool.
Shred the cooled meat with two forks or your fingers.
Add salt to taste on the shredded chicken
Fill each tortilla with the cooked chicken and then roll so they resemble a flute. Avoid overfilling, as the tortilla must remain rolled.
Place the rolled flautas to rest for 2 hours so that they retain their shape.
Heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat and fry the flautas in batches until crispy and golden on all sides, then set aside.
Prepare the topping by washing and shredding the lettuce, dicing the tomatoes, finely chopping the garlic and slicing the avocado.
Cover the flautas with Marco’s salsa
Add the lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and media crema on top.
Serve and enjoy with your favorite drink!
If you want to try out some other Mexican, Yucatec or Maya recipes from the Na’atik family, visit our blog where new recipes are uploaded every month, along with articles about culture, history and language.
If you want to sample the unique flavors of the Mexican Caribbean, the best place is in the kitchens of local families. Na’atik Spanish or Maya immersion students stay with one of our local families during their time with us, sharing three meals a day with their host family. To find out more about how you can improve your language skills and experience the real Mexico, visit our immersion page or send our team an email at say@naatikmexico.org today.