Tortas, an everyday street food in Mexico, became popular in the US during the 20th century. Tortas are sandwiches made on a crusty bread and derive from French influences on Mexican cuisine. Tortas are usually made with regional breads like bolillo or telera but can also be made on a French roll. They are usually toasted or grilled and can have a variety of fillings. Increasingly, they can be found for sale as street food and in Mexican restaurants around the US.
Recipe Servings: 4
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time
1 hour 30 minutes
Vegetarian
Vegan
Gluten Free
Dairy Free
Kosher
Halal
Ingredients
- 1¼ lb pork leg
- 2 small white onions, chopped and divided
- 2 Tbsp oil
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 4 rolls (bolillos, teleras or french rolls)
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1½ cups refried beans
- 1 small head iceberg lettuce, shredded
- 3–4 small plum tomatoes, sliced
- 1 can (7 oz) jalapeños in vinegar
- 2 small avocados, deseeded, peeled, and sliced
Directions
- Combine pork and ¼ of the onion in a large pot, add water until it covers the food by 2 inches, and bring it to a boil.
- Reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour 15 minutes, until meat is fork-tender. Add water as needed.
- Remove the pork from the cooking liquid and, with a knife, roughly chop or pull apart into bite-size pieces.
- Heat oil in a frying pan set over medium heat.
- Add the shredded pork and salt to the hot oil and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until pork is browned. Transfer the meat to a bowl.
- Slice the rolls in half and generously spread mayonnaise on the inside of each slice.
- Return the frying pan to medium heat and place the rolls mayonnaise-side down into the hot pan, cooking until toasted.
- Spread refried beans on the bottom half of the rolls, then layer each with browned pork, lettuce, tomato, the remaining onion, and vinegar jalapeños.
- Place the avocado slices on the top halves of the rolls.
- Top each bottom roll with its top half and serve.
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