Making enchiladas and flautas has it’s challenges, but rolling the tortillas into nice neat tube forms can turn you off from ever making them at home again. Luckily, I have discovered a very easy way to keep the flauta and enchilada magic alive. As long as you have a microwave oven, you can take advantage of my little trick. KW Episode 18 shares this process.
Several people have messaged me to say thank you for showing them how to steam tortillas in a microwave. It really made my day! I really love cooking at home and there are several hacks that make any task a pleasure.
Hacks for Better Flautas
Softening a tortilla before you make an enchilada or flauta can be done by lightly frying the tortilla, or heating it on a comal (griddle). But if the goal is to have a supple tortilla for rolling into a tube shape, the frying method is messy and the griddle method tends to dry out the tortilla. I really like steaming the tortilla because it is so quick and works so well.
Flautas made Easy
If you are making other tortila based Mexican dishes, such as tacos or tostadas, softening the tortillas is not necessary. The tortillas can be fried into flat or folded shapes very easily. But shaping a corn tortilla into a tube shape can be a challenge, especially if the tortilla is stale. The tortilla will break apart, and the tube will unroll when it is fried.
Another helpful hint you may notice in KW Episode 18 when making flautas is to make sure the flautas are lined up next to each other at all times. While you are forming the flautas, roll them up and store them seam side down on a plate or tray until you are ready to fry them all. Once they are formed, fry the flautas seam side down. Use a pair of metal tongs to move the flautas closer to each other.
Making flautas can be easy if you know all the right tricks!
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