# Enchilada Question



## larry_stewart (Sep 21, 2019)

Are Enchiladas traditionally made with corn or flour tortillas ?

Ive made Cheese Enchiladas in the past with corn tortillas.
Ive been looking at other variations of enchilada recipes, and all Ive seen is flour tortillas.

Just curious


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## GotGarlic (Sep 21, 2019)

It kinda depends on how far back you want to go to in history and how you define traditional  Mexicans have been making tortilla-wrapped food for millennia. The Spanish brought wheat, so before the conquest, they used corn tortillas. I think flour tortillas are used most often these days, but which to use is personal preference.


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## bethzaring (Sep 21, 2019)

In New Mexico, both are commonly used.


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## Whiskadoodle (Sep 21, 2019)

We prefer corn tortillas.   So that's our family tradition.


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## Kayelle (Sep 21, 2019)

I prefer the flavor of corn for cheese, pork, or beef Enchiladas, however for chicken or seafood Enchiladas it has to be flour. Just me maybe.


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## Recipes Make Magic (Sep 21, 2019)

Like Kay, I like the taste of corn tortillas better than the flour ones - but I almost always use the flour tortillas for my enchiladas (mostly chicken) these days, because they're much easier to work with, they're slightly thinner which I prefer, and stay together far better than the corn, which have a tendency to easily tear & break up if you don't take proper care to soften them up sufficiently for rolling up.


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## Cheryl J (Sep 21, 2019)

Agree with Kay and Paul - corn tortillas taste better.  I love enchiladas and since I live alone, when I go to the trouble of making a dish of enchiladas and plan for leftovers, I use flour tortillas because they DO hold up better.

When I've used corn tortillas, I dip them for a couple of seconds in a skillet of warmed enchilada sauce - just barely enough to make them pliable enough to roll.  It's usually good for one dinner, but even gently heating up the leftovers doesn't really work - they tend to fall apart. 

Now I want enchiladas.


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## Kayelle (Sep 21, 2019)

Cheryl J said:


> Agree with Kay and Paul - corn tortillas taste better.  I love enchiladas and since I live alone, when I go to the trouble of making a dish of enchiladas and plan for leftovers, I use flour tortillas because they DO hold up better.
> 
> *When I've used corn tortillas, I dip them for a couple of seconds in a skillet of warmed enchilada sauce - just barely enough to make them pliable enough to roll.*  It's usually good for one dinner, but even gently heating up the leftovers doesn't really work - they tend to fall apart.
> 
> Now I want enchiladas.




My Mom went one step further with the corn tortillas Cheryl. She would dip each one quickly in hot oil, then in the sauce and roll with the filling of choice.  She always topped her cheese Enchilada's with chopped egg and green onion. They were just delicious.


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## Cheryl J (Sep 21, 2019)

Kayelle said:


> My Mom went one step further with the corn tortillas Cheryl. She would dip each one quickly in hot oil, then in the sauce and roll with the filling of choice.  *She always topped her cheese Enchilada's with chopped egg *and green onion. They were just delicious.




Hmm...that's something I haven't heard of before, I will have to try that.


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## pepperhead212 (Sep 21, 2019)

I've always preferred corn to flour tortillas. The enchiladas I have made have always been lightly fried corn tortillas, sometimes dipped in a sauce first (and messy!).  This seemed to make them less likely to break up.  Still, they are not great leftover, if trying to keep them whole.  But then, that doesn't stop me from eating them!

I think that the reason flour tortillas got so popular was because way back they were the only tortillas available in much of the country (except for those fried corn tortillas, which weren't even masa!), even in restaurants.  Now, at least around here, fresh corn tortillas are found just about everywhere.  I don't have to make my own anymore!  Unless doing something with raw dough, that is.


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## larry_stewart (Sep 22, 2019)

Years ago ( like 25 +) I watched a special on PBS station ( it may have even been a clip from Sesame Street , or some kids show) where the followed a Mexican family, and showed how they made their cheese Enchiladas.  Everything from picking the vegetables and collected other ingredients, to cooking the meal, and how every family member participated.   Anyway, I paid close attention and took mental notes, so I could reconstruct the meal myself ( since it was a kids show, they didn't go to fast, so my notes were pretty accurate ( considering ingredients and technique).

Obviously, this was one families recipe and methods, and like mist dishes, will vary from house to house, region to region ...

They also heated up some oil and dipped the corn tortillas in for a few seconds, just to make them soft and pliable to stuff, wrap, and stay together.  A little to short of time and they are brittle, a little to long and you just got yourself the mother of all corn chips ( which is what I usually did with the extra corn tortillas I had after I made what I needed).

This is what ive been doing ever since, and I personally prefer taste of corn over the flour.

Their sauce consisted of Onion, pepper that was grilled , seeded and skinned, a couple of garlic cloves, couple of tomatoes and enough broth to make it bendable and give you the consistency to use as a sauce .  It didn't have a deep red, it was more of a lighter orange color.  The grilled pepper was the more dominant flavor , but all the other ingredients played their part.  It was one of those sauces that were so simple, when eating and concentrating you could pick out al the ingredients by taste, yet they worked so well together.  Honestly, Id basically use the same recipe , add a little more broth , and eat it as a soup sometimes.  In fact, after writing it out, I just got myself in the mood for it. Im putting it on the menu for this week. Thanks ( self) , I needed one more dinner for the week anyway.


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## caseydog (Sep 22, 2019)

Here in Texas, corn tortillas are dominant in enchiladas. But, that's TexMex, so I can't say for sure whether flour tortillas are used in "traditional" Mexican enchiladas. 

I would worry about flour tortillas getting soggy sauced and baked. 

I use flour tortillas for tacos, most of the time, because the process of making soft, elastic corn tortillas is very time and labor intensive, so they are hard to find. Tacos are finger food, and even the freshest corn tortillas crack and crumble.

But, for enchiladas, I prefer corn tortillas. That's fork food, and they are filled and sauced, so they stay together. 

CD


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## caseydog (Sep 22, 2019)

Here is a good video on making corn tortillas the long way. They are very pliable when done this way...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VyjfgtHyl0&t=4s

CD


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## giggler (Sep 22, 2019)

Absolute Blasphemy!


Enchiladas are Corn Tortillas!


If you use flour tortillas ( Masa) and sort of fry them,


It is a Chimmy Chonga or some other San Diego abomination!


Love, Eric, Austin Tx.


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## CraigC (Sep 22, 2019)

giggler said:


> Absolute Blasphemy!
> 
> 
> Enchiladas are Corn Tortillas!
> ...



Um, masa is corn, not flour (wheat). 

I prefer corn tortillas. Enchiladas are lightly "fried" in manteca, then dipped in the sauce, filling added and then rolled. Red or green sauce, the procedure is still the same.


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## GotGarlic (Sep 22, 2019)

caseydog said:


> I would worry about flour tortillas getting soggy sauced and baked.



I lightly toast flour tortillas over a gas flame and then sauce, fill and roll. They don't get soggy.


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## Sir_Loin_of_Beef (Sep 22, 2019)

Traditionally? Corn tortillas, and, again traditionally, corn tortillas only come in one size; 15 centimeters. I just made 30 enchiladas last week with corn tortillas. To make the tortillas more pliable I steam them between damp paper towels for 30 seconds (6 at a time) in the microwave, spread a little enchilada sauce on the inside surface, put in the filling (in this case it was carnitas, shredded pepper jack cheese, black olives, and Hatch chiles), rolled them up and placed them seam side down in a 9- x 13-inch pan end to end along the 13-inch length. Then I hit them with the enchilada sauce and shredded Mexican blend cheese and garnished with cilantro. For those who think cilantro tastes like soap, you can substitute epazote.


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## Sir_Loin_of_Beef (Sep 22, 2019)

giggler said:


> Absolute Blasphemy!
> If you use flour tortillas ( Masa) and sort of fry them, it is a Chimmy Chonga or some other San Diego abomination!
> 
> 
> Love, Eric, Austin Tx.



Sorrry, but a chimichanga is a deep fried burrito, not a deep fried enchilada.

https://amoretti.com/blogs/recipes/chimichanga-sauces?_pos=1&_sid=5cc3f66b6&_ss=r

https://amoretti.com/blogs/recipes/southwestern-chimichangas?_pos=2&_sid=5cc3f66b6&_ss=r

BTW, that is me doing the cooking, so I know of what I speak!


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## Whiskadoodle (Sep 22, 2019)

Well, I get confused.   When flour tortillas are an option, then I have to ask, what is the difference between an enchilada and a wet burrito?


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## CraigC (Sep 22, 2019)

Whiskadoodle said:


> Well, I get confused.   When flour tortillas are an option, then I have to ask, what is the difference between an enchilada and a wet burrito?



Enchiladas are usually open ended, while a burrito is completely sealed and coated with sauce.


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## skilletlicker (Sep 22, 2019)

Wet burrito? Googled it and looks like it's just a burrito with sauce. Which you would expect if it was served on a plate to be eaten with a fork.

Everything I've ever called enchiladas were meat, cheese, maybe beans, rolled in corn tortillas and baked in a sauce.

But to be honest, doesn't bother me a bit if somebody else rolls up sauerkraut in rye bread and call it an enchilada.

By the way, I think masa is generally understood to mean ground, freshly slaked maize but it could refer to any dough. And the correct dimensions of a traditional corn tortilla is whatever size your Abuelita says it should be.


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## GotGarlic (Sep 22, 2019)

skilletlicker said:


> But to be honest, doesn't bother me a bit if somebody else rolls up sauerkraut in rye bread and call it an enchilada.



I would be supremely disappointed if I ordered enchiladas in a restaurant and got this instead


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