Making the correct tortilla is critical in understanding one of the most important foundations of Mexican cooking. There is finesse involved. There is an understanding of knowing when your dough is too dry or sticky, as well as how to correct the issue during the process. It is not a recipe it’s a feeling you come to know.
Even though making a tortilla only takes 4 ingredients including the water and salt, it’s the method of making the best masa to achieve the best possible tortilla. Mexico is full of different varieties of corn to use in making masa. They do differ slightly, some produce more protein, while others can have a different starch content, giving a different texture to the tortilla after it is cooked.
Once the corn is soaked, then processed by using some type of mill or grinder. You will have naturally created a soft pliable dough know as masa. The masa dough rolled into small golf ball size balls, then pressed between two heavy pieces of steel with a lever, called a tortilla press. After the ball of masa is pressed into a thin flat circle, it is cooked on a dry, hot, flat surface. This traditional cooking tool is called a Comal. Cooking the tortilla on the Comal will help to cook the tortilla evenly with enough heat to produce the PUFF. When properly cooking a tortilla, it will create steam inside from the moisture from the masa. This will make the tortilla PUFF completely to the edges, allowing the tortilla not only to cook from the outside, but the inside as well. This important in keeping the tortilla strong enough to perform one of its many functions. Being a vessel to deliver deliciousness to your mouth. Another pretty cool thing is after the homemade tortilla has lived it first purpose, hot right off the Comal. It can take on a second life as a tostada buy drying them out or they can be totopos {tortilla chips) when fried in oil.