Red Enchiladas

How to make it

1. Put the chicken breasts in a pot with the water, half the onion, the garlic cloves, and the salt. Bring it slowly to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer, covered. Allow 25-35 minutes total, until the meat is white all the way to the center and cooked through (internal temperature 75°C). ⏱ 25 min–35 min · passive
   Chef's tip Keep it at a bare shiver — a few bubbles at the pot's edge, never a rolling boil. Hard boiling squeezes the muscle fibers tight and gives dry, stringy shreds, and it clouds the broth you need for the sauce.
2. Lift the chicken out with a slotted spoon and let it cool for 10 minutes on a cutting board so you can handle it. Meanwhile, strain the cooking liquid through a sieve into a bowl and reserve it. This is now chicken broth, and it will both soften the chilies and thin out the sauce. ⏱ 10 min · passive
3. Pull the warm chicken apart into fine shreds using two forks. The shreds should be thin enough to lie flat in a tortilla, not coarse chunks that split the roll.
4. Snap the stem off each guajillo and ancho, split them open lengthwise, and shake out the seeds. Also scrape away the pale ribs, since these are what make the sauce sharp and bitter.
5. Toast the chilies in a dry, hot skillet for 2-3 minutes, turning them several times. They're ready when they smell sweet and nutty and have become pliable. They must not develop dark spots, since scorched chili makes the whole sauce bitter. Remove them from the skillet.
   Chef's tip Toast at moderate heat and count seconds, not minutes, per side — the chili should just puff slightly and release a raisiny smell. Bitterness from scorching cannot be strained, soaked or seasoned out later.
6. Put the remaining half onion for the chili sauce and the unpeeled garlic cloves in the same dry skillet and toast them for 4-5 minutes, until the cut side is spotted dark brown and the garlic smells sweet through the skin. Peel the garlic cloves once they're cool enough to handle.
7. Put the toasted chilies in a bowl and pour 5 dl of the hot chicken broth over them. Place a plate on top to keep them submerged, and let them soak for 20 minutes, until they're completely soft and can be mashed between your fingers. ⏱ 20 min · passive
8. Put the soaked chilies in the blender along with the soaking liquid, the toasted onion, the peeled garlic, the cumin, oregano, and pepper. Blend for at least 2 minutes, until the mixture is deep red and completely smooth with no visible pieces of skin.
9. Strain the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing the mixture through with the back of a spoon. Skin and seed remnants stay behind in the sieve, and the sauce turns silky-smooth on the tongue.
10. Heat the lard for the chili sauce in a deep skillet over medium-high heat until it's melted and clear. Pour in the strained sauce all at once; it will sputter vigorously the moment it hits the fat. Let it cook down for 8-10 minutes, stirring regularly, until the color darkens to brick red and the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Season with the salt and thin with chicken broth until the sauce flows like light whipping cream. ⏱ 8 min–10 min
    Chef's tip Frying the purée in hot fat is what turns it from raw and thin to brick red and rounded; a puddle of red-tinged fat separating at the edges tells you it's there. Use a lid or splatter screen — it spits hard for the first minute.
11. Melt the lard for the beans in a skillet over medium heat and sauté the finely chopped onion for 4 minutes, until it's soft and glossy without taking on color.
12. Add the drained pinto beans and 1 dl of the reserved bean liquid, and roughly mash the beans with a potato masher as they cook. Let them cook for 8-10 minutes, until the mash is thick and comes away from the pan in one mass. Season with salt, since the beans need to hold their own next to the bold chili sauce. ⏱ 8 min–10 min
13. Heat the sunflower oil in a small skillet until the edge of a tortilla sizzles the instant it touches the oil. Pull the tortillas through the oil one at a time, a few seconds on each side, until they're soft and pliable but still pale. Let them drain on paper towels. Allow 8-10 minutes for all twelve, and keep them warm under a kitchen towel. ⏱ 8 min–10 min
    Chef's tip The oil should be hot enough to sizzle on contact but the tortilla stays pale and floppy — a few seconds a side only. This brief fry seals the surface so the tortilla can absorb sauce without dissolving; skip it and the rolls tear.
14. Dip one of the oil-bathed tortillas all the way into the hot chili sauce so both sides are coated, then lift it onto a cutting board. Place three tablespoons of chicken across the middle and roll the tortilla around the filling. Place three rolls seam-side down on each of four warm plates, and continue until all twelve are rolled. Work quickly, since the tortillas grow fragile the longer they sit in the sauce. ⏱ 10 min
15. Pour the rest of the hot chili sauce over the rolls so they're completely covered, and drizzle the crema over in thin lines. Sprinkle the crumbled queso fresco and onion rings on top, and lay the shredded iceberg lettuce in a strip along the edge of the plate. Set a spoonful of warm frijoles refritos alongside and carry the plates to the table. Enchiladas are eaten immediately with knife and fork, while the tortilla still has some bite.