Corn Tortilla's In A Nutshell

Everyone seems to be aware of flour tortillas, although not many understand their next of kin, the corn tortilla.  Corn tortillas are made with a special kind of corn flour known as Masa Harina. Hopefully many of you are aware that the original taco is made out of fresh corn tortillas and should be gobbled up while still warm.  Also, the popular Mexican dish loved around the world, enchiladas,needs to actually be made with corn tortillas as well, otherwise you get mush.  Don't pay attention to those prepackaged Mexican Kits, there is nothing Mexican about them. 

So what is the story behind masa harina?  It pops up in many Mexican and Latin American recipes from tortillas, empanada pastries and even hot drinks such as champurrado.  Masa Harina is made out of corn that is dipped in a lime solution which makes the dough more pliable.  It is not wise to replace this ingredient with corn meal, which is much finer and will make the end result drier and more brittle.  We don’t have a lot of access to Masa Harina in the United Kingdom, so we must search online for it or have our relatives bring some along with them.  One replacement though, if completely out of luck is regular corn flour.  Once again, the texture is not the same, it is a bit tougher.  Here are a couple online links where you can buy masa harina so don’t despair!

Mexgrocer.co.uk

Maseca 1kg

Maseca Blue Corn Flour 1kg

Cool Chile Co.

500g regular masa harina GM free

Souschef.co.uk

Minsa 1kg

It is worth trying a tortilla press rather than trying to make them by hand like I have done.  Unless you are good at rolling and patting perfectly thin flat circles, a tortilla press will do the job for you.  Don’t buy the cheaper finish ones because they wear out quickly.  Cast iron is your best choice.  When using a tortilla press use the thicker sandwich bags, make circles on both sides that are equal to the size of the press, cut out and then place the ball of masa harina between the tortilla press before pushing the handle down.

They generally come in 6.5 or 8 inch sizes.  The smaller ones are great just for tacos and the larger for burritos and tacos. I personally would go for the larger one.  Here is a link where you can buy one in the UK, but also check out Ebay and Amazon.  Depending on what day you are looking you may find a great deal.  You get more variety with the companies that ship from the USA.  


Cool Chile Co.
Cast iron tortilla press 185mm