One Sorry Blog

Homemade chips taste so much better, it’s ridiculous!
By Clare Nisbet

I’ve been making my own tortilla chips for a year, and not by any choice of my own. Since living in Buenos Aires, I have had to become accustomed to manual labor in the kitchen that was never necessary with all the convenience available in the US. I never thought I’d beat a giant chocolate bar against my tile counter to make chocolate chips (hello, Ghiradelli Double Chocolate Chips!), make giant pitchers of fresh iced tea (can anyone say Snapple?!), or grate tomatoes to make fresh homemade salsa (oh how I miss Trader Joe’s). But living in Latin America has made me draw a line between the things that I miss and the things that I refuse to live without – Tortilla Chips are part of the latter group. Making them from scratch and perfecting the process at home has only enlightened me as to how much better, warmer, saltier, crispier and mouth wateringer homemade tortilla chips are compared to the store-bought kind. Here is how you can really make those Tostitos shake in their bag. There are two ways to go about making your own, homemade, fresh tortilla chips from scratch (or not so scratch).

Method 1: Designed for sissies that still demand taste
A really great description of how to make your own tortilla chips at home is available at Muffin Top, another WordPress blog. Muffin Top is one of my favorite blogs, and even better because it’s about cooking. Here, I was a little unimpressed that they took the easy way by using packaged tortillas instead of making them, but they thoroughly demonstrate the process for baking and frying using a package easily found in the US. In Santa Barbara, we buy Milpa Real corn tortillas for super tastiness. Anyway, the point is that even if you are too chicken to get your hands dirty making dough, five minutes with a package will yield warm, fresh chips that will knock your socks off. Basically, it boils down to buying a bag of corn tortillas, cutting them triangles and frying them. Not exactly rocket science, but still a concept new to most and still blows doors on store-bought chips.

Method 2: Designed for maximum pain-in-the-ass and ultimate flavor
This method involves getting your hands dirty and assembly line manpower, but in the end it’s more fun and rewarding. Combine masa harina (available in any US grocery store – I use Maseca brand) with water and a pinch of salt to make a big ball of dough. Divide masa into balls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Here I cheat using a tortilla press (mine was $19.95 from Sur Le Table and a bit of an extravagant purchase for me) to make flat tortillas while the expert Mexican doñas flatten them by hand, Jedi mind force and years of practice. They are warmed on a medium-hot skillet about 30 seconds on one side, 60 on the other, and then you have homemade corn tortillas that don’t just rival any bought in a store – they heartily kick their ass and make the best, warmest, tastiest, crunchiest, saltiest, most satisfying and delicious homemade tortilla chips you’ll ever try.

Those new to frying can give the super-easy first method a whirl to see how it goes. Those who just want homemade tortillas could go for number two. The point is, at home or abroad you should never deprive yourself of the goodness of warm, homemade corn tortillas. Baked versions are also tasty, but be warned that baked versions can become soggy, stale, and unsightly for party time much faster than their lightly-fried cousins. Baked versions also require a lot more finagling, and baking in single layers takes a lot of time and patience. Chips, in general, whether baked, fried, homemade, or bought, are always – if you ask me – worth the trouble.