Enchiladas consist of a tortilla that is usually dipped in a chile-based sauce, then stuffed with various fillings such as cheese, meat, or fish. Then it is rolled up, baked, and topped with sauces, onions, beans, or more cheese. This highly versatile dish is believed to have originated from a Mayan dish called papadzules, consisting of corn tortillas dipped in pumpkin purée and filled with chopped boiled eggs.
From there, numerous variations developed throughout Mexico and outside of its borders. The word enchilada, which first appeared in print in 1885, comes from the Spanish word enchilar, meaning to season with chile pepper.
Today, there are countless versions of enchiladas.
VARIATIONS OF Enchiladas
Enchiladas mineras are traditional Mexican enchiladas hailing from Guanajuato, a mining town where the women took this dish to their husbands at the end of their work hours. These enchiladas are traditionally filled with onions, cheese, and a stew-like combination of carrots and potatoes.
Once assembled, the filled enchiladas are topped with the remaining sauce and baked until the sauce begins to bubble. They're then served over a bed of lettuce and often garnished with jalapeños, shredded cheese, or tomatillo salsa.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Mexican enmoladas are essentially enchiladas covered in mole sauce. The enchiladas might be filled with a wide array of ingredients, but they are most often filled with chicken and crumbled cheese. The tortillas are first fried, dipped into the warm mole sauce, then filled with chicken and cheese.
If needed, more mole sauce is spooned over the enmoladas. Before serving, enmoladas can be garnished with sliced onions and chopped coriander. This tasty Mexican dish is a great example of using leftover mole sauce for the creation of a new meal.
Enfrijolada is a Mexican dish consisting of fresh corn tortillas smothered with beans in their liquid. Fillings and toppings vary from one cook to another since this dish is popular throughout Mexico due to its nutritive value and inexpensive ingredients.
Some of the choices for the filling include shredded cheese, chicken, and various vegetables. The name of the dish means in bean sauce, and the dish is usually consumed for breakfast.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Salsa verde enchiladas is a Mexican dish prepared by covering enchiladas with green salsa. The enchiladas are traditionally filled with shredded chicken, and the salsa is made with small green tomatillos, chili peppers, coriander, parsley, onions, garlic, and oregano.
Once filled with chicken, the enchiladas are covered with salsa verde, and the dish is typically topped with shredded cheese, onions, and coriander. Some cooks like to add sour cream as an additional topping, as it balances the sharp acidity of the green salsa.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
Tacos are the national dish of Mexico, dating back to the Mexican silver mines of the 18th century, when the word taco referred to gunpowder that was wrapped in a piece of paper and inserted into rocks. It was used to excavate the precious ore from mines and was called tacos de minero or miner's tacos. Today, the word is widely known to signify the leading street food and fast food item in Mexico – thin, flat griddle-baked tortillas topped with numerous fillings, folded and eaten without any utensils.
A taco is basically anything eaten on a soft tortilla, and there is an infinite variety of them. In Sonora, in the north of Mexico, they eat the classic carne asada - thinly sliced meat grilled over coals and topped with salsa, onions, guacamole, and a lime wedge.