Any one here make tostadas from scratch?
 

Mine turned out terrible. I used Maseca brand corn masa flour to make my own tortillas. Two cups of flour, 1 1/4 cups of water and 1/4 tsp salt. That is supposed to make 16 tortillas 5 -6 inches in diameter.

My tortillas press won't flatten them out nearly that thin, so I rolled them thinner between two sheets of plastic using a rolling pin. I fried them on a griddle for 50 seconds on each side without oil. At this point, as tortillas, they weren't half bad. They weren't as big as commercial tortillas; but the flavor and texture were fine.

After they cooled, I cut my tortillas in sixths and fried them on both sides in about 1/8 inch of olive oil in a small skillet 7 or 8 pieces at a time. If I didn't get them cooked adequately, they were chewy instead of crunchy -- not good. If I cooked them longer until they began to brown, they were crunchy all right, and hard as rocks -- even worse.

What did I do wrong? Is there a secret or tips that any of you can give me? Or am I the only one of the forum who has been foolish enough to try to make his own tostadas? It was a lot of work and the results were very disappointing.

Re: Any one here make tostadas from scratch?
 

I believe olive oil is not a good frying oil, it has a low smoke point. The chips are usually deep-fried too.

Use a deep-fryer, and different oil.

Re: Any one here make tostadas from scratch?
 

Thanks. Canola, peanut, coconut? Or any of the above.

Re: Any one here make tostadas from scratch?
 

I'm going to try again this weekend. Will let you know what happens :)

Re: Any one here make tostadas from scratch?
 

your oil needs to be hotter. I have a Mexican GF that makes them all the time she uses corn oil.

Re: Any one here make tostadas from scratch?
 

+1 for hotter oil. I remember when my father-in-law was making sopapillas a couple of months ago he said if you don't get the oil hot enough they turn out soggy.

Re: Any one here make tostadas from scratch?
 

I agree with the hotter oil - I use a much thinner oil as well - like Canola. nothing wrong with using a bit more than that 1/8 inch of oil on the pan- will make it easier to get the tortilla's just right - get the oil just a bit below smoking before you put the tortillas in. Love making tacos this way.

Re: Any one here make tostadas from scratch?
 

Maseca is a good brand. You should use the kind in the white bag. The one in the brownish colored bag is for tamales.

For tostadas, the tortillas are fried whole, not cut up. You use them to make an open faced taco after they are fried, basically. If you cut them into smaller pieces before you fry them, you have totopos. At least, that's what they are called in northern Mexico. In Oaxaca in the south, totopos are something a little different.

The trick is to get the consistency of the masa harina just right, and it takes practice. Incorrect consistency is probably what is causing your problem. You don't mix in all the water at once. Depending on humidity, you might need a little more or a little less than what the recipe calls for. It's just a guideline. So go slow, mix well (by hand), and add water gradually until the dough will form a cohesive ball that is not sticky wet, but not dry and crumbly. It's hard to explain, but it's easy to see.

This is a very good video to show you the proper consistency of the masa and the mixing technique. Notice they are cooking the tortillas on a comal, which in this case is a flat, dry iron griddle. You can use any seasoned dry iron skillet, or even a steel plate.


Now if you want to do it totally from scratch "old skool", you need dried corn kernels and slaked lime (calcium hydroxide). It takes about a day to nixtamalize the corn in the lime water, then you remove the skins and grind the kernels by hand on a metate. This vid shows a metate being used:


I haven't tried the nixtamal and metate method yet, but I will if I can find a good metate.

This also might be useful:

http://www.myhomecooking.net/mexican...lla-recipe.htm