(intriguing music)
(energetic music)
- [Rick] There is nothing
like biting into a big, thick torta -
layers of salty, sweet, spicy, and sour flavors,
all piled high and wrapped in a fluffy bolillo.
In Mexico City, tortas are everywhere.
They're portable, they're satisfying,
and they're really delicious.
But there was one torta
that was haunting my dreams
and my Instagram feed.
It looked like nothing I'd ever seen before
and it came from this place,
El Trompo Imperial.
The owner,
a tatted-up former rock band manager named Carlos,
has crafted a creative menu
inspired by family recipes,
nostalgic childhood snacks,
and, well, you know, the munchies.
(Rick chuckles)
He promised me a feast,
but this visit was so much more.
I fell in love with the restaurant,
the man,
and his torta.
In this episode, we're gonna break down the artistry
of each ingredient,
and I'll show you
how to recreate it all in your home kitchen.
This torta is not for the faint of heart,
or vegetarians, either.
Sorry.
But if you're ready,
it is my great pleasure
to introduce you to the tortaco!
(music ends)
Carlos!
- Hey. - Como estas?
- Welcome. Como estas?
(both speaking Spanish)
(energetic music)
(both speaking Spanish)
- Oh my god. Look at this.
Wow.
- Oh, for you. - This is incredible.
Wow. Okay.
I'll be here for a little while.
(Carlos speaking Spanish)
Right.
Wow.
(Carlos speaking Spanish)
This is everything I want in life.
In one plate.
Oh my god.
So good.
(Carlos speaking Spanish)
Mm-hmm.
(both speaking Spanish)
And after that bite,
I knew Carlos was the man I had to marry.
(dramatic music)
I'm ready
to make a tortaco.
My Mexico City husband
was kind enough to share with me
all of his secrets
for the recipes in this amazing tortaco.
I faithfully executed it one time
and realized that it was a lot.
So what I did the second time around
is tried to pare it back
and make it a lot more home cook friendly.
And so this version,
you'll get all of the flavors
that you got in the tortaco,
but it's not gonna take quite as long.
But it's still gonna take a long time.
Carlos has a plethora of meats to choose from
at El Trompo,
but my favorites were suadero and tripitas.
(both speaking Spanish)
(Rick laughing)
(Carlos speaking Spanish)
(mellow music)
Time to cook the meats.
The first thing we're gonna do is make the suadero.
I'm gonna heat up my cast iron pot
until it gets really, really nice and hot
and then we'll brown the meat.
Heat the lard
in a large heavy pot over medium high
and cook suadero
until browned on all sides,
about 10 to 12 minutes.
Add 1/2 cup of water,
salt, spring onion,
garlic, jalapeno,
orange, oregano, and thyme.
Bring to a boil.
Cover and place in the oven
and roast until the meat is very tender
and shreds easily
with little resistance,
about two and a half to three hours.
We're making tripas,
which I absolutely adore.
I realize this is not for everybody.
You're either going to love it, hate it,
probably make it,
or not make it.
Up to you.
I'm gonna show you how.
(mellow music)
(knife hits board)
(garlic breaking)
Place tripas, onion,
garlic, salt,
pepper, thyme,
and three cups of water
in a large, heavy pot.
Cover. Bring to a boil and reduce to low.
An hour and a half later,
transfer tripas and pan juices
to a large skillet, preferably non-stick,
and cook over high until the liquid evaporates
and the tripas begin to fry in their rendered fat.
Fry, stirring occasionally
and pressing on the beef with a spoon
to break them up
until brown and just beginning to crisp,
five to 10 minutes.
(mellow music)
Carlos has no less
than four salsas on the table
for every service,
but there were two salsas that I could not stop eating -
the caramelized onion and the salsa de chicharrones.
Let's check 'em out.
(Carlos speaking Spanish)
(Rick speaking Spanish)
(Carlos speaking Spanish)
(both speaking Spanish)
Now, the caramelized onion
and the salsa de chicharron.
The first one we're gonna make
is the caramelized onion and serrano salsa.
It's really simple,
but the flavors were incredible
and it's unlike any other salsa I've ever eaten.
(knife hitting board)
Rick's tips for not crying over onions -
put them in the refrigerator.
Keep them chilled.
That actually renders the gas inert,
and then you won't cry.
Look, no tears.
But don't stick your face
by the cutting board, or you will cry.
(upbeat music)
(garlic breaking)
(knife hitting board)
(upbeat music)
Cook onion, garlic, serranos, and salt,
stirring occasionally
until the onion is deep golden brown and very soft.
These look incredible.
(onion sizzling)
You can smell the sweetness of the caramelized onion.
Transfer to a blender with one cup of water
and blend on low speed
until the mixture is pourable
but not completely smooth.
Thin with water if necessary.
Now we're gonna work on the salsa de chicharron.
This is another one
of Carlos' amazing salsas
that sort of blew my mind,
mainly because it has not one, not two,
but, yes, three different types of chicharrones.
(upbeat music)
Bring two cups of water, tomato,
and chiles de arbol
to a boil in a large pot
over high heat.
Cover and reduce to a low boil
and cook until the skin starts to peel away
from the tomatoes,
about 15 minutes.
So this is a salsa de chicharron three ways.
Everybody loves a three-way.
These are the most typical kind of chicharrones
you'll find pretty much across the country
and also in the United States.
This is probably what you'll find
in a bag in the chip section.
This is chicharron norteno.
It's basically like a lardon.
(upbeat music)
And this is chicharron prensado.
So basically, at the end of the cooking process
for the chicharrones,
they gather up all the little bits
and pieces of pork
at the bottom of the fat
and then they press them together
and they make this amazing prensado.
If you can't find these two types of chicharrones,
you can always fry up a little bit of bacon,
about four ounces,
and crumble that into your salsa.
(upbeat music)
Working in batches if necessary,
transfer tomato mixture,
garlic, oregano,
salt, cumin, peppercorn,
and cooking liquid to the jar of a blender
and carefully puree until completely smooth.
(upbeat music)
Wipe out the pot.
Heat the lard over high heat
until you see little wisps of smoke rising over the lard.
Carefully pour the salsa into the hot oil.
The liquid will bubble violently
then quickly subside.
Stir and bring to a boil.
Add the chicharrones and stir to combine.
Continue cooking until the salsa has thickened slightly
and the chicharrones are tender,
about 10 minutes.
(energetic music)
Volcanes put the taco in tortaco.
(Carlos speaking Spanish)
Basically, this is a type of tostada.
What we're gonna do
is we're going to place these in the oven
and they're gonna dehydrate
and then slowly toast.
And what ends up happening
is they sort of pucker up
and the edges will get really nice and wavy.
And depending on what part of the country you're in,
in the South, where there are volcanoes,
it looks like a volcano,
hence the name Volcan.
In the North, where there are vampire bats,
the edges look like bat wings.
And so they're called vampiros.
(intriguing music)
The costra,
a crunchy cheese chicharron,
cooks on the flat top,
soaking up all of those incredible meaty, delicious flavors.
(Carlos speaking Spanish)
Combine gouda, queso Chihuahua,
and quesillo in a large bowl.
Toss to combine.
♪ It's rainin' queso ♪
♪ Hallelujah ♪
Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium
and add 1/2 cup of the cheese mixture
into the center of the skillet
and arrange in a wide mound.
So you want to let this melt.
You'll see it get really lacy
and kind of make a little cheese pancake.
It's gonna take about four minutes on medium.
And then once it's really deep golden brown
around the edges
and just beginning to brown in the center, it's done.
The beans are extremely important
to engineering this tortaco.
They're the glue that hold everything together.
I made these refried beans yesterday.
As you can see,
they're super, super thick.
So I'm gonna show you my way for reheating them.
I'm just gonna throw them into a skillet
and then add a little bit of water,
between 1/4 and 1/2 cup.
Give this a stir.
We'll bring it to a boil
and they will thin out
and then thicken up as they sit.
Almost there.
Alright.
We're gonna chop up the tripas,
chop up the suadero and all the vegetables.
(mellow music)
(Rick speaking Spanish)
(both speaking Spanish)
Wow.
Now, finally,
after hours of cooking,
let's grab a bolillo and put it all together.
The way that I like to layer any sandwich
is I like things to stick together.
The worst thing to me
is when a torta, sandwich, hamburger,
you take a bite and everything shoots out the back.
So we are going to start with frijoles,
and they're gonna hold onto the meat.
Now the costra.
Wow.
It's like a crown.
Only there's more.
Two volcanes.
(upbeat music)
I think my husband would be very proud of me right now.
(upbeat music)
Oh. I am gonna use a fork and a knife,
'cause there's no way that I'm picking this up
and shoving that in my mouth.
I don't even really know how I'm gonna cut into this,
but here we go.
(tortaco crunching)
Listen to the crunch.
The volcanes.
Still super crunchy.
Actually, you know what?
Maybe I'll pick up this little piece here.
That's easier.
Uno,
dos,
tres.
(tortaco crunching)
(upbeat music)
There are so many things happening.
It's actually taking me back to
that time at Trompo Imperial.
This
is
in-(bleep)-sane.
Carlos, you are a genius.
This is legitimately the best torta I have ever had.
Certainly the best one that I've ever made.
I love this so much.
You have to make this.
I know it seems like a lot of work,
but it is so completely worth it.
Your friends and family
are going to absolutely love you.
I'm about to go into a food comma,
so I'm gonna keep eating.
But if you like the series,
make sure that you watch us
on the next episode of Pruebalo.
- Stop. No.
No, no, no, no.
(both speaking Spanish)
- [Rick] Oh my god.
(Carlos speaking Spanish)
(both speaking Spanish)
Holy shit.
(Carlos speaking Spanish)
(Rick laughs)
Wow.
(Carlos speaking Spanish)
(both speaking Spanish)
(energetic music)
Oh my god.
It is so good.
(Rick laughs)
(bleep)
How'd you do this?
- I don't know. The munchies.
(both laugh)