Help making good corn tortillas?
Hey! I recently made carne asada for my partner -- they haven't had good mexican food like that before, and I spent a number of years in texas and grew up with a mother from texas so tex mex food is very near and dear to my heart, and everything came out great, except the home-made tortillas. They felt more like griddle cakes than the corn tortillas I'm used to, and I don't think i got the ratios wrong on water to masa harina? It's hard to say if it was actually an issue with the ratios, if it was something with the heat of the cook surface (We don't have a griddle yet so I had to use a stainless steel pan, not sure if those get hot enough/retain enough thermal mass), if it was something with the masa harina itself, or what. Do any of you have experience making corn tortillas and have any advice? Or should I just go to the carniceria i got the carne asada from and ask if they make fresh tortillas lmao
Adding a little salt to the mix is a good first step. I don't think it changes how they cook, but it makes them taste a lot better.
As for the pan, your stainless steel pan should be fine. If the tortillas are thin enough, you don't really need a lot of thermal retention (and your stainless probably has an aluminum core to hold and spread heat anyway). First step once they're in the pan is to almost immediately flip them. You seal off one side so too much moisture doesn't escape. Then cook as normal. Good luck!
I did use salt, just did the ratios specified on my masa bag, and yeah it did make them taste wonderful (the issue is they were cake-y and thick, not that they weren't tasty lmao)
So what I'm gathering is I probably made them too thick if they weren't able to drive off that much of the moisture hitting that ripping hot pan? How thick are yours typically? I think mine were like, maybe about the width of two or three pennies stacked on top of one another? About that thick, I don't know how else to explain it lol
Some are saying your pan is fine, but my all clad was always shit for tortillas. A cast iron or plancha is my recommendation. And do try for 2 pennies thick.