Tostadas de Frijoles "Engañados"
The Borderlands Pantry: Salsas, Bases, and Grocery Store Hacks
Meat was an expensive luxury in the borderlands, but grandmothers are nothing if not culinary magicians. They figured out that blending a stale corn tortilla with the exact aromatics of chorizo—dried red chiles, garlic, and onions—creates a paste that tastes and feels indistinguishable from the real thing. Fried in hot oil and mashed with humble pintos, this "fooled" bean hack yields the rich, fatty, smoky depth of a Sunday feast on a Tuesday night. Pile it on a crisp tostada with sturdy shredded cabbage—never iceberg lettuce—and you've captured the absolute soul of Northern Mexican ingenuity.
Before you start
Stale the tortilla.
If your tortillas are fresh, just leave one out on the counter for a few hours, or toast it lightly in a dry pan until stiff before blending.
Ingredients
- dried Guajillo chiles2
- yellow corn tortilla1
- white onion1/4 med
- garlic2 clove
- canned pinto beans30 oz
- neutral oil or pork lard2 tbsp
- kosher salt1/2 tsp
- corn tostada shells8
- green cabbage2 cup
- Roma tomato1 large
- red onion1/4 med
- Queso Fresco1/2 cup
- Crema Mexicana1/4 cup
- pickled jalapeños1/4 cup
Method
- 01
Awaken the chiles.
Place the dried chiles in a small bowl, cover them with boiling water, and let them steep for 5 to 10 minutes until they are soft and pliable.
- 02
Blend the fake chorizo base.
Toss the softened chiles, stale tortilla pieces, white onion, and garlic into a blender with a quarter cup of the chile-soaking liquid. Blend on high until you have a thick, brick-red paste. That stale nixtamalized corn is going to toast in the fat and perfectly mimic the crumbly texture of actual ground chorizo.
- 03
Fry the illusion.
Heat the oil or lard in a large skillet over medium heat. Once shimmering, carefully pour in the paste—it will sputter. Stir constantly for about 2 to 3 minutes until the paste darkens slightly and the oil separates into a deep, beautiful orange-red.
- 04
Mash the beans.
Pour the entire contents of both cans of pinto beans, including the liquid, into the skillet with the fried paste. Bring to a gentle simmer, then mash the beans directly in the pan until they are thick, creamy, and have completely absorbed the red adobo. Taste and adjust salt as needed.
- 05
Assemble the tostadas.
Spread a generous, edge-to-edge layer of the hot beans onto a crispy tostada shell to act as the glue. Immediately top with a heavy handful of shredded cabbage, scatter the tomatoes and onions, drizzle with crema, and finish with a dusting of Queso Fresco.
Notes
Respect the cabbage.
Do not substitute iceberg lettuce; authentic borderlands tostadas rely on the sturdy crunch of shredded green cabbage to stand up to the hot beans without turning into a soggy mess.
Fix metallic canned beans.
If your canned beans have a tinny smell, drain and rinse them thoroughly in a colander first, then add a half cup of chicken or vegetable broth to the skillet when mashing to wash away the can flavor.
From Cook Tex-Mex.