New Mexico Stacked Red Chile Enchiladas with a Fried Egg
Blue corn tortillas fried soft and stacked flat with longhorn cheese, minced onion and a deep red New Mexico chile sauce, melted in the oven and crowned with a fried egg.
"Stacked enchiladas topped with an egg and smothered in pungent red sauce" are the first dish named in the introduction to New Mexico Magazine's cookbook A Taste of New Mexico Kitchens. New Mexico's classic red enchiladas are stacked flat, three tortillas high, and the state's chile is the point. Wikipedia notes that New Mexico has an official State Question, "Red or green?", that "Christmas" (both) was first suggested by Martha Rotuno, a waitress at Tia Sophia's in Santa Fe, and that red chile is simply green chile left to ripen.
Who stacked first is less clear. Barry Popik's collection of newspaper citations finds stacked enchiladas, with an optional fried egg, in the Corpus Christi Caller-Times in 1950, "flat enchiladas" in an Albuquerque ad in 1954, and "enchiladas chatas" topped with a fried egg in Tucson in 1960; later ads call them Sonora-style. Wikipedia calls the New Mexico version enchiladas montadas and says the stack is often topped with a fried egg.
Why it works the kitchen science
Stacking, not rolling
Flat tortillas let every layer get its own sauce, cheese and onion, and the stack cuts like a layer cake, with no dry tortilla ends.
A quick fry
A few seconds in hot oil softens the tortillas and seals them, so they hold together under hot red sauce instead of dissolving into it.
Step by step
- Step 1
Heat the lard in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Cook the garlic 30 seconds, then stir in the flour and chile powder quickly with a wooden spoon, 30 to 60 seconds, without letting the chile scorch. Whisk in the broth a little at a time, bring to a simmer and cook 15 to 20 minutes, stirring often and adding water as needed, until it coats a spoon. Salt to taste and keep hot.
- Step 2
Heat the oven to 350°F and set 4 ovenproof plates nearby.
- Step 3
Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat to about 350°F. Fry the tortillas one at a time 5 to 10 seconds per side, just until soft, and drain on paper towels.
- Step 4
On each plate, lay a tortilla, spoon over about 1/4 cup sauce and sprinkle with 3 tbsp cheese and 1 tbsp onion. Repeat to make a stack of three, then top with more sauce and cheese.
- Step 5
Bake the plates 5 to 8 minutes, until the cheese melts.
- Step 6
Meanwhile, pour off all but 1 tbsp oil and fry the eggs over medium heat 3 to 4 minutes, covering the pan for the last minute, until the whites are set and the yolks are firm.
- Step 7
Slide an egg onto each stack and serve immediately.
New Mexico Stacked Red Chile Enchiladas with a Fried Egg
Serves 4 · 4 stacks of 3 tortillas · 50 min total
Red chile sauce (about 4 cups)
- 6 tbsp lard or olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup pure New Mexico red chile powder (not chili powder blend)
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups chicken broth or water, plus more as needed
- About 1 tsp salt
Enchiladas
- 12 blue corn tortillas (yellow or white corn work too)
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 3 cups (12 oz) grated longhorn cheddar or Colby
- 2 small onions, minced
- 4 large eggs
Method
- Heat the lard in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Cook the garlic 30 seconds, then stir in the flour and chile powder quickly with a wooden spoon, 30 to 60 seconds, without letting the chile scorch. Whisk in the broth a little at a time, bring to a simmer and cook 15 to 20 minutes, stirring often and adding water as needed, until it coats a spoon. Salt to taste and keep hot.
- Heat the oven to 350°F and set 4 ovenproof plates nearby.
- Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat to about 350°F. Fry the tortillas one at a time 5 to 10 seconds per side, just until soft, and drain on paper towels.
- On each plate, lay a tortilla, spoon over about 1/4 cup sauce and sprinkle with 3 tbsp cheese and 1 tbsp onion. Repeat to make a stack of three, then top with more sauce and cheese.
- Bake the plates 5 to 8 minutes, until the cheese melts.
- Meanwhile, pour off all but 1 tbsp oil and fry the eggs over medium heat 3 to 4 minutes, covering the pan for the last minute, until the whites are set and the yolks are firm.
- Slide an egg onto each stack and serve immediately.
Adapted from New Mexico Magazine's A Taste of New Mexico Kitchens (an undated subscriber cookbook, Santa Fe; Project Gutenberg eBook 63283, released September 24, 2020): "Classic New Mexico Red Enchiladas" (serves 4: 12 blue corn tortillas, 1/3 cup oil, 3 to 4 cups red chile sauce, 3 cups longhorn cheese, 2 small onions, 4 eggs) and "Red Chile Sauce II" (3 tbsp lard or olive oil, 1 garlic clove, 1/2 cup New Mexico chile powder, 2 tbsp flour, 2 cups water or stock), which we double. The book gives no oven temperature or simmer time; our 350°F, 5 to 8 minutes in the oven, 15 to 20 minute simmer and firm-yolk egg are ours. For a sauce from whole pods, the same book's "Red Chile Sauce I" is Mark Nohl's: boil, blend and strain the pods, add fat, garlic, oregano and salt and simmer about 45 minutes. gutenberg.org. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (4)
Tips
- New Mexico chile powder is pure ground red chile; a chili powder blend with cumin and salt tastes different.
- The same cookbook's green chile enchiladas stack 6 blue corn tortillas with green chile sauce and suggest a poached or fried egg on top.
- Wikipedia notes stacks are sometimes finished with shredded lettuce and sliced black olives.
- For "Christmas", spoon red sauce on half and green on the other half.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Stacked enchiladas are a New Mexico invention. Disputed: New Mexico Magazine calls the cuisine unique to the state, but the earliest newspaper citation Barry Popik found is from Corpus Christi, Texas (1950), and Arizona ads call flat enchiladas a Sonora specialty.
- The egg is required. Folklore: New Mexico Magazine lists the 4 eggs as optional.
- Red and green are the same chile. Documented: Wikipedia, red is the ripe green pod.
- "Christmas" started at Tia Sophia's. Documented as Wikipedia's account (Martha Rotuno).
- A runny yolk is the right way. Folklore: a common choice, not a rule; FoodSafety.gov says cook eggs until the yolk and white are firm.
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