From the demo January 16, 2010. Recipe courtesy of Nancy Zaslavsky.
For about 2 dozen, 5-inch tortillas1 pound fresh masa (corn dough) for tortillas, from a tortillería
or
2 cups masa harina (dried and powdered masa)
Heavy-duty, quart freezer bags (a few)
- Heat a griddle to medium hot.
- With fresh masa: The dough is soft and warm. With masa harina: In a mixer bowl, mix the masa harina with 1½ cups tepid water until a dough forms a ball, and the texture is of stiff bread dough. Add another spoon of water to soften the dough if necessary.
- Using a tortilla press, put half a plastic freezer bag, slightly larger than the diameter of the press, on the bottom part of the press with the opening to one side.
- Pull off a ping pong ball-sized piece of masa and roll it into a ball. Cover the masa with another half bag, with opening on the same side as the other bag. Lower the top of the press and gently push on the handle—less hard for thicker, smaller tortillas. Open the press. For thinner tortillas, turn the tortilla (and bags) 180 degrees, and push again.
- Open the press. The tortilla will have plastic stuck on the top and bottom. Peel away the top plastic, then flip the tortilla over into your other hand and carefully peel that plastic away. If dough sticks to the plastic it is too moist. Return to bowl and either knead in more masa harina, or let the dough rest 10 minutes, uncovered, to dry out a bit.
- With a sweeping motion lay the tortilla gently on the griddle to avoid air pockets. The tortilla should make a small sizzle. After 30 seconds, when it starts to unstick and looks speckled brown underneath, turn the tortilla over. Cook for 30 seconds. Turn over and cook 30 seconds more. Thin tortillas will puff (if it doesn’t, press down slightly on the tortilla with a spatula). Don’t overcook! Remove the tortilla to a napkin-lined basket to keep warm. If this first tortilla has cracks along the edges the dough is too dry, so knead a little more water in before continuing with the others.
- To work fast, divide the masa into balls on a baking sheet and cover with a moist towel to keep them from drying out. Continue making the remaining tortillas, stacking them in a cloth napkin-lined basket to keep warm.
Reheat a tortilla on a griddle, directly on a gas burner, or microwave a wrapped stack.
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