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Tinga de pollo (chicken in chipotle-tomato sauce)

Time1 hour 15 minutes
YieldsMakes 12 tostadas
Tinga de pollo (chicken in chipotle-tomato sauce)
(Kirk McKoy/Los Angeles Times)
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This dish is a guisado. The word guisado is an umbrella term for a stewed mixture, usually meat or vegetables simmered in chile sauce or tomatoes. Most guisados contain a short list of ingredients (they’re not like moles), but when done well, they’re unforgettable). Chile sauces coax out the flavors of the meat. Vegetables, mixed with garlic and onion and broth, taste like the universe intended them to: hearty and unadorned.

I think of it as comfort food and it is what I choose to cook at home most days of the week.

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1

In a large saucepan, place the chicken breasts and add enough water to cover. Add the bay leaf, unpeeled garlic clove and small chunk of onion and bring to a boil. Cover and remove from heat. Set the pan aside until the chicken has cooked all the way through, about 20 minutes. Remove the chicken to a bowl, and set aside until cool enough to handle, then shred the meat with your fingers or a fork.

2

In a skillet heated over medium-high heat, add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the chopped onion and cook until translucent, stirring often, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the minced garlic and cook until aromatic, 15 to 30 seconds. Add the tomato, cooking until pieces break down and become a thick, chunky paste, about 5 minutes.

3

Stir in the shredded chicken, then add the chipotle, oregano and chicken broth, and season with three-fourths teaspoon salt, or to taste. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer about 10 minutes to thicken slightly and marry the flavors. Taste, and add more salt if desired. This makes about 2 cups of tinga de pollo.

4

To serve the tostadas, slather a thin layer of crema on each tortilla. (For more amped-up chipotle flavor, mix a little of the adobo sauce in the crema.) Add a few spoonfuls of tinga, the slices of white onion and two slivers of avocado. Top with crumbled cotija cheese.

In Mexico City, you can find chipotles in a spicy-sweet piloncillo adobo, which is what I used here. If you’re using a different variety, start with one teaspoon and work your way up. Before serving, soak the thin white onion slices in cold water at least 15 minutes.