Classic Chicken Tinga Tacos

Do you know anyone who, upon seeing the Sriracha bottle on the dinner table, says: “That’s a good sign.”? Or who likes to enjoy a side of scrambled eggs with his hot sauce in the morning? Or who, when watching Rick Bayless make chilaquiles on the cooking channel nods his head and says, “Amen, brother, amen.”?

Well, if you do, tinga is something you should add to your repertoire. Made with only a handful of ingredients, tinga derives most of its flavor from chipotles in adobo sauce, which offer both smoke and heat. Traditionally, the dish begin by boiling a chicken, then pulling and shredding the meat from the carcass. Once the meat is off the bone, it stews with onions, chipotles, tomatoes and chicken stock. Chopped fresh cilantro finishes the dish.

I first tasted tinga in tostada form layered with crispy corn tortillas, shredded lettuce and crumbled cotija cheese, and while I love tostadas, I prefer eating tinga this way: wrapped in warm, soft flour tortillas — I know, I’m a wimp — topped with grated cheddar cheese, diced white onion, a dollop of sour cream and a squeeze of lime.

The heat of tinga precludes the need for salsa, though some sort of fresh, crisp, minimally spiced tomatillo or cucumber salsa would be really nice. As noted, tinga can be used in tacos and tostadas but it’s also delicious in burritos or quesadillas, and while I’ve never made them, I suspect it would work well in enchiladas, too.

Tinga starts by boiling a chicken:

Meanwhile, you sauté an onion:

Then add half a can or a heaping quarter cup of chipotles in adobo:

Into the sauce go crushed tomatoes and chicken stock, and when the chicken has cooked and cooled, you shred it and add it to the sauce:

Stir it around:

Add cilantro:

And that’s all there is to tinga:

You can use tinga in tacos, burritos, tostadas, enchiladas, etc.:

Making chicken stock with carcass and onion scraps:

Description

Feeling ambitious? Make those tortillas .

for the tinga:

• 1 3-4 lb. chicken
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 white onion, sliced
• 1 small can chipotles in adobo sauce (you’ll only need half the can or about 1/4 heaping cup)
• 1½ cups canned crushed tomatoes, I use the Pomi brand
• 2 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade , or water
• kosher salt to taste
• 1 bunch cilantro

for serving:

• flour or corn tortillas
• grated cheese, cheddar or monterey jack or whatever you like
• diced white onion
• sour cream
• lime wedges

1. Place chicken in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, turn off the heat, cover the pot and let sit for 25 minutes. Transfer chicken to a large bowl or a colander placed in the sink to cool. Return the pot with the cooking liquid to the stove.
2. Meanwhile, in a large sauté pan or pot, add the oil and place over medium heat. Add the sliced onion to the pan with a pinch of kosher salt and sauté over medium heat until translucent or lightly brown, about 5 minutes. Add half the can of chipotles in adobo or about 1/4 cup including two or three of the chilies. (If you are really sensitive to heat, add just a tablespoon or two of the sauce. You can always add more.) Stir for a minute until the onions are nicely coated in the sauce, then add the tomatoes and chicken stock. Season with a pinch of salt.
3. Let the sauce simmer over low heat while you pull the chicken meat from the skin and bones. Shred the meat and add to the sauce. (Discard the skin; place bones in the reserved cooking liquid and let simmer for a couple of hours. Strain, and transfer the stock to storage containers. Refrigerate overnight. The following day, scrape off the fat and discard. Freeze stock.)
4. Bring the pan with the chicken to a simmer and let cook for 15 minutes over low heat. Coarsely chop the cilantro, add to the pot and stir to incorporate. Taste mixture, add more salt if necessary. You can pull out any chipotles that are still intact or you can just avoid pulling them from the mixture when you are serving.
5. Serve with heated tortillas, grated cheese, lime wedges, chopped onion and sour cream on the side.

Notes

Can be made a day or more ahead of time. To reheat, simmer mixture very slowly adding chicken stock if liquid becomes too thick. Freezes well, too.

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Category: Chicken
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: Mexican

Description

Feeling ambitious? Make those tortillas .

for the tinga:

• 1 3-4 lb. chicken
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 white onion, sliced
• 1 small can chipotles in adobo sauce (you’ll only need half the can or about 1/4 heaping cup)
• 1½ cups canned crushed tomatoes, I use the Pomi brand
• 2 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade , or water
• kosher salt to taste
• 1 bunch cilantro

for serving:

• flour or corn tortillas
• grated cheese, cheddar or monterey jack or whatever you like
• diced white onion
• sour cream
• lime wedges

1. Place chicken in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, turn off the heat, cover the pot and let sit for 25 minutes. Transfer chicken to a large bowl or a colander placed in the sink to cool. Return the pot with the cooking liquid to the stove.
2. Meanwhile, in a large sauté pan or pot, add the oil and place over medium heat. Add the sliced onion to the pan with a pinch of kosher salt and sauté over medium heat until translucent or lightly brown, about 5 minutes. Add half the can of chipotles in adobo or about 1/4 cup including two or three of the chilies. (If you are really sensitive to heat, add just a tablespoon or two of the sauce. You can always add more.) Stir for a minute until the onions are nicely coated in the sauce, then add the tomatoes and chicken stock. Season with a pinch of salt.
3. Let the sauce simmer over low heat while you pull the chicken meat from the skin and bones. Shred the meat and add to the sauce. (Discard the skin; place bones in the reserved cooking liquid and let simmer for a couple of hours. Strain, and transfer the stock to storage containers. Refrigerate overnight. The following day, scrape off the fat and discard. Freeze stock.)
4. Bring the pan with the chicken to a simmer and let cook for 15 minutes over low heat. Coarsely chop the cilantro, add to the pot and stir to incorporate. Taste mixture, add more salt if necessary. You can pull out any chipotles that are still intact or you can just avoid pulling them from the mixture when you are serving.
5. Serve with heated tortillas, grated cheese, lime wedges, chopped onion and sour cream on the side.

Notes

Can be made a day or more ahead of time. To reheat, simmer mixture very slowly adding chicken stock if liquid becomes too thick. Freezes well, too.

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Category: Chicken
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: Mexican

Find it online : https://alexandracooks.com/2014/04/29/chicken-tinga-tacos/

Making stock is as simple as throwing chicken (whole, pieces, or bones) into a pot, covering it with water, and letting it simmer for a few hours. Vegetables and aromatics such as onions, carrots, celery, bay leaves, peppercorns, etc. will add depth of flavor to a stock, but they are not essential — if you don’t have them or don’t feel like adding them, don’t go running out to buy them.

In fact, when I worked in professional kitchens, we only made stock from scraps — scraps of chicken, beef, and pork, onion skins, carrot peels, celery bottoms, pepper stems, etc. We never chopped up whole chickens or cut up onions for the sake of making stock.

Having a walk-in full of ingredients is a luxury the home cook does not have and thus buying meat and vegetables for the purpose of making stock makes sense, but my point is this: if you have an onion, you can peel it and simply use the peel; or you can peel it, chop it up, and use all of it; or you can save the onion entirely for something else.

Make sense?

Additionally, there is no need to brown meat or sauté vegetables for your homemade stocks—again, these extra measures will provide depth of flavor, but they are not necessary. I repeat: throwing chicken or chicken bones into a pot with water and letting it simmer will yield a flavorful stock.

When I want to make a big batch of stock, I will buy chicken legs and wings, anywhere from 3 to 6 lbs. depending on how much stock I want to make.

When I’m feeling economical, I like to do this: Buy a whole chicken, remove the legs with their bones (to be used for one meal ) as well as the breasts (to be used for another meal ) and throw the two wings and remaining carcass into the stock pot. I cover these bones/meat with water and let simmer for 2 to 3 hours without any additions (carrots, celery, etc.), and I get about 1.5 quarts of really flavorful stock. This is a small amount of stock, however, so if you wish to make more, use a whole chicken or more legs, wings, etc. Recipe below.

These quart containers are so handy to have on hand for freezing stock, soups, stews, etc.

If you want guidance breaking down a chicken as described above, here’s a video:

Description

Making stock is as simple as throwing chickens in a pot, covering them with water, and letting them simmer for a few hours. Additions such as onions, carrots, celery, bay leaves, peppercorns, etc., of course, enhance the flavor of the stock, but if you don’t have them or don’t feel like adding them, it doesn’t matter.

The below recipe truly can be simplified to chicken + water.

• 3 lbs chicken, such as a whole chicken or wings or legs or just bones
• 2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped, no need to peel
• 1/2 tsp . whole peppercorns
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 onion, cut in half, peel and all

1. Place chicken or chicken bones into a large pot. Add remaining ingredients. Cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat so that the water is gently simmering. Scoop off and discard any scum that bubbles up at the surface. Let simmer gently for about 2 hours.
2. Place a colander over a large bowl. Pour contents of stock pot through the colander. Discard all of these pieces once they have cooled. Transfer stock to storage containers and place in the fridge overnight or until completely chilled and fat has formed a solid layer at the top of the container. Scoop off this fat and discard. Freeze stock for up to 3 months or store in fridge for at most a week.

• Prep Time: 10 hours
• Cook Time: 2 hours 30 minutes