Guadalajara-Style Drowned Pork Tortas Ahogadas
Crusty birote bread stuffed with juicy braised pork carnitas and refried beans, then ceremoniously drowned in a fiery dried chile de arbol salsa and a milder tomato sauce. This gloriously messy Guadalajara specialty is eaten with a fork and knife, with plenty of pickled onions and napkins on standby.
Ingredients
- 4 crusty bolillo rolls or small French bread loaves
- 2 cups shredded carnitas or braised pork
- 1 cup refried beans, warmed
- 15 dried chiles de arbol, stemmed
+ 11 more ingredients
Instructions
Roast the Roma tomatoes, onion, and garlic under the broiler for 8 minutes, turning once, until charred and softened.
Toast the chiles de arbol in a dry skillet over medium heat for 1 to 2 minutes, shaking the pan frequently, until they darken and become fragrant. Be careful not to burn them.
For the spicy salsa, blend half the roasted tomatoes with all the toasted chiles, vinegar, half the water, and half the salt until smooth. Strain through a sieve.
For the mild tomato sauce, blend the remaining tomatoes with the roasted onion, garlic, oregano, remaining water, and remaining salt until smooth.
Heat the oil in a saucepan. Pour in the mild tomato sauce and simmer for 10 minutes until slightly reduced. Keep both sauces warm.
Split the bolillo rolls lengthwise but not all the way through. Spread refried beans on one side and stuff generously with warm carnitas.
Close the tortas and place each one in a shallow bowl. Ladle the mild tomato sauce generously over and around each torta until it is half-submerged. Drizzle the spicy chile de arbol salsa over the top.
Garnish with pickled red onions and radish slices. Serve with lime wedges and extra salsa on the side.
Nutrition Estimate
Per serving • Estimated by Blinner AI