Puebla-Inspired Chicken Tinga Tacos for Cinco de Mayo

Recipe below ðŸ'‡ and at my website: https://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/chicken-tinga-tacos/ **** You may know Cinco de Mayo here in the States as a fun, festive holiday. But what you may not know is the holiday is little celebrated in Mexico. It"s a day that marks a victory by Mexican forces in a battle that took place in Puebla in 1862. But that warâ€"the Franco-Mexican Warâ€"was eventually lost by Mexico. Simply put: Cinco de Mayo is just not that big of a deal in Mexico. So my way of celebrating Cinco de Mayo is cooking of Puebla’s most classic dishes, Tinga Poblana. Yes, it"s typically made with pork but the flavors are right at home with chicken thighs. Looking for something to drink? Try a Puebla Spritz before dinner: https://youtu.be/D-gdkIMcymI **** FOR THE PICKLED MORITA/CHIPOTLE CHILES: • 2 ounces piloncillo (unrefined sugar) OR a generous ¼ cup dark brown sugar • 1/3 cup vinegar (a fruit one like apple cider vinegar is typical in Mexico) • 2 ounces dried morita/chipotle colorado chiles, stemmed • 3 garlic cloves, peeled and halved • Salt FOR THE TINGA: • Vegetable or olive oil to coat the pan • 1 large white onion, sliced a little less than ½ thick • 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into half-inch pieces • 3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped • One15 -ounce can diced tomatoes (preferably fire-roasted), lightly drained • 3 to 4 pickled morita/chipotle chiles, thinly sliced, plus some of their pickling liquid OR 3 to 4 canned chilpotle chiles en adobo, thinly sliced • About 1 teaspoon Mexican oregano • A little additional vinegar, if you think the dish needs it • 12 warm corn tortillas • 1 ripe avocado • About 3/4 cup Mexican queso fresco or other fresh cheese like farmers cheese, mild feta or fresh goat cheese • A handful of cilantro leaves for garnish **** Make pickled moritas. In a small saucepan, combine the piloncillo (or brown sugar), vinegar and 1/3 cup water. Bring to a simmer and stir until the piloncillo dissolves. Add the garlic, chiles and ½ teaspoon salt, then simmer for a couple of minutes. Cool. You’ll want to weight the mixture with a small plate to keep the chiles submerged. Let stand for a couple of hours and let the sweet-sour liquid to soak into the chiles until they"re softened. Make the chicken tinga. Set a very large (12-inch) skillet over medium-high heat and film the bottom liberally with oil. When hot add the onion. Stir for several minutes until it softens, then lay the chicken over the pan. Nestle it down to the bottom of the pan so that it will brown. Cook until everything is richly browned, then stir in the garlic and cook a minute longer. In a blender or food processor, process the tomatoes to a very coarse puree. Add to the browned chicken in the skillet, along with the chiles and oregano. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the chicken is tender and the mixture is thick. Taste and season with salt. Serve. Serve your chicken tinga on warm tortillas with slices of avocado, a sprinkling of fresh cheese and a few cilantro leaves.


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