gabriela cámara's tinga de pollo tacos
This week, Gabriela Cámara released her first cookbook, and the world is a better place for it. Gabriela is the chef of Cala in San Francisco and Contramar in Mexico City. She’s also about to serve as advisor to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. “I want to be sort of like a Human Rights Watch but for food,” she says.
This recipe of hers is one of my favorites. I first came across it on Panna a few years ago and it immediately became fundamental to my kitchen. Tinga de pollo is a guiso of shredded chicken in a sauce of stewed onions, tomatoes, and chipotles in adobo. It’s deceptively simple to make but tastes like a long, effortful braise. The chicken is poached with a few aromatics, then shredded and added to a stew of lightly caramelized onions and a sauce made from tomatoes, garlic, chipotles, and chicken stock (or poaching liquid) quickly blitzed in a blender. In taco form, with fresh tortillas and sliced avocados or guacamole, it will have you genuinely thinking you could open your own taqueria. Probably don’t do that. But maybe!
Gabriela Cámara's Tinga de Pollo Tacos
Slightly adapted from My Mexico City Kitchen by Gabriela Cámara; also from Panna Cooking.
The recipe from Panna predates the cookbook version by a couple of years. The Panna recipe uses two onions instead of three and repurposes the poaching liquid as stock. This is my preferred method. I like to serve these tacos with guacamole. When I have the time, I also make Gabriela’s homemade corn tortillas. The tinga can be stored in a sealed container for up to 5 days, and it’s actually better after a day or two.
Serves 4.
INGREDIENTS
POACHED CHICKEN
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts or thighs (or combination)
Kosher salt
1/2 large white onion
1 clove garlic
4 springs cilantro
TINGA SAUCE
1/4 cup safflower or other neutral oil
2 medium white onions, slivered
6 ripe Roma tomatoes, halved, OR 14 ounces canned whole tomatoes—use canned when tomatoes aren’t in season!
4 cloves garlic
2 chipotle peppers (from 1 can of chipotles in adobo)
1 cup reserved poaching liquid from above (or chicken stock)
Kosher salt
TO SERVE
8 warm corn tortillas
Guacamole or sliced avocados
Lime wedges
Fine sea salt
METHOD
POACH CHICKEN: In a large saucepan, add chicken and enough water to cover by 1 inch. Add 2 large pinches of salt, onion, garlic, and cilantro. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until opaque and cooked through, 20–30 minutes. Remove chicken from poaching liquid. Strain liquid through a fine-mesh sieve, reserving 1 cup. When chicken is cool enough to handle, shred by hand. Meanwhile, make tinga sauce.
MAKE TINGA SAUCE: In a Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat until smoking, 2 minutes. Add the onions (you should hear a sizzle when they hit the pan). Stir until lightly caramelized, 20 minutes. Meanwhile, place tomatoes, peeled garlic cloves, chipotle peppers, and 1 cup reserved poaching liquid (or chicken stock) in a blender. Purée on medium speed until smooth, 30 seconds; then add tomato mixture to the onions. Stir and simmer, 5 minutes.
FINISH AND SERVE: Add shredded chicken to tinga sauce. Taste and adjust salt (more than you think to bring out the flavor of the tomatoes; this is crucial). Simmer another 5 minutes. Taste and adjust. Divide the chicken evenly among the tortillas, top with guacamole and sea salt, spritz with lime.