Chilaquiles are Mexico's gift to world breakfast and it is one of my favourite breakfast/brunch dishes. Essentially it is eggs over crisp tortilla chips, called totopos in Mexico, and loaded with salsa, beans and cheese. There are a million variations of the dish, it changes with region and community. The word chilaquiles comes from the ancient Nahuatl word for chilis and greens and dates back to the Aztecs.
Chilaquiles seems to have arisen from the need to finish leftovers from the day before. Stale soft corn tortillas were fried crisp, beans were reheated or refried, meats were cooked with eggs, and salsa, both green and red, and occasionally moles, were consumed and all turned out on a magical plate of chilaquiles. The addition of freshly cooked eggs spruces up the dish and the eggs can be fried, scrambled, poached and even boiled. Loaded with cheese, scallions, cilantro and other toppings local to the region, this dish has reached its culinary peak across the world. The magic lies in the contrasting textures between the soft ehhs and cheese and the crispy tortilla chips.
This is a simple variation of the dish. The soft eggs are smothered in the mildly spiced chile pasilla salsa and the soft cream cheese melts on your palate. This is a variation atht is easy to make and so delicious.
Diana Kennedy is the queen of Mexican cuisine. She has received heaps of awards, including the Order of the Aztec Eagle (big in Mexico), and a James Beard Foundation Award (big in food land). In 2002, Prince Charles visited Kennedy at her home to appoint her an MBE, for “furthering cultural relations between the UK and Mexico”. Every cookbook of hers is massive, filled with fantastic recipes and keeps me very happy in the kitchen. This is one of her early cookbooks and one that is filled with authentic recipes and flavours.
For more recipes from this cookbook, click here.
Ingredients:
for the eggs:
4 eggs
Salt, to taste
1 tablespoon oil
For the pasilla salsa:
3-4 pasilla chillies
1 clove garlic, sliced
Salt, to taste
1 tablespoon oil
3/4 cup water
1 tablespoon onions, finely diced
Toppings:
Tortilla/nacho chips
2 tablespoons onions, finely chopped
Cream cheese
cilantro, minced
Start by making the salsa. Heat a frying pan and roast the pasilla chillies, pressing down on them till they smoke. Be careful not to burn them. Cool. Remove the stems and seeds and add to the rest of the salsa ingredients, except the onions and blitz until you have lightly textured salsa—taste for salt. Add the onions and mix in.
Set aside 1-3 hours for the salsa to mature and the flavours to integrate.
Heat the oil on low heat in a small saucepan. Beat the eggs with the salt till frothy. Add the eggs to the pot and stir continually while the eggs slowly cook. Cook till they are just formed but still fluffy and moist. Do not overcook them to a dry mess. Also if you overcook the eggs they will give out water that will turn the crisp tortilla chips soggy.
Line a large platter with tortilla chips. Gently scoop the eggs over the tortilla chips and drizzle with the salsa. Dab with blobs of the cream cheese and garnish with the onions and cilantro. Serve immediately with extra salsa on the side.