Usually cooks use masa to make the pliable tortillas we high with absolutely anything. Usually cooks use masa to make the pliable tortillas we high with absolutely anything. But it surely’s made right into a panoply of different shapes too, corresponding to steamy tamales, crammed sopes, and chochoyotes, to call only a few. In addition to the dishes which are outlined by masa, you can too use it in pancakes, shortcakes, cornbread, cookies, and—my present crush—fried rooster.
This concept got here by the use of a spacey mistake. Although I’m knowledgeable chef, I am not all the time meticulous within the kitchen, particularly my very own throughout off hours. Someday, once I was fulfilling an obligation to make tamales for my buddies (google Rosca de Reyes and tiny child Jesus to get why), I unintentionally poured twice as a lot water into the masa harina as I ought to have. It regarded similar to fry batter.
I ended up fixing these tamales, however the concept of turning masa dough into batter caught. So I did it once more, on goal, with bone-in rooster items. The outcome: a brilliant crispy, tremendous flavorful crust. I attempted all types of variations, however discovered that every one you really want is masa harina, cornstarch, and water. To gild the lily for this recipe, some heat spices and musky lime zest tie all of it collectively.
Masa dough can come collectively two methods: The primary is from freshly floor nixtamalized corn, yielding a moist dough that holds an imprint of your thumb like reminiscence foam. Made by Indigenous Mexican communities for years, freshly floor masa is having something of an American renaissance. The second means is from rehydrated masa harina, which is a shelf-stable flour of dried, floor nixtamalized corn. Nixtamalization sounds tremendous science-y, however simply think about it as a course of that “spins corn into gold.” Dried corn is steeped in water blended with calcium hydroxide, which is an alkaline resolution. This permits the outer shell to be simply eliminated and makes the corn extra digestible, nourishing, and flavorful.
Masa harina has a number of huge advantages over all-purpose flour. It’s naturally gluten-free, which is nice if you happen to’re on the lookout for that, however it’s a lot greater than that too. While you batter rooster in masa, you’re equipping the rooster with a sturdy, crisp exterior, serving to it keep juicy and tender. Additionally, similar to that botched tamale dough, masa batter will be actually forgiving. Skinny with extra liquid or thicken with extra masa harina—the vary of excellent outcomes is huge. Because the rooster cooks, the batter puffs greater than AP would, making a crispy-yet-light crust. One of the best half although? The distinctly tortilla chip–esque taste.
Masa batter would not must be only for rooster. It may be used for something you’d shallow- or deep-fry. Batter shrimp and serve with a fresh salsa. Batter cheese-stuffed poblanos for a tackle chile rellenos. Batter onion rings, inexperienced beans, or zucchini for a snacky appetizer. Even batter bananas, figs, or peaches, then convey on the vanilla ice cream.
