Cooking in
Washington State
Mexican
Enchiladas de Mascota
A striking regional enchilada from Mascota, Jalisco, where a sauce built on ancho chile, dried prunes, Mexican drinking chocolate, cinnamon, and a splash of vinegar produces something sweet-sour and deeply savory all at once. Tortillas are dipped raw into the sauce before a flash in hot oil sets the coating, then filled with crumbled queso fresco, chopped white onion, and dried oregano. The result reads nothing like the blanketed enchilada of restaurant familiarity — it is lighter, more aromatic, and frankly unusual in the best sense. Diana Kennedy documented this recipe from Mascota, a mountain town in the Sierra de Jalisco, where the sauce's sweet-sour profile reflects older cooking traditions that blend fruit, chile, and chocolate without apology.
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Cook
I
The Market List
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1 large
ancho chile, veins and seeds removed
Not yet stocked in Washington State
10
dried prunes, pitted
Not yet stocked in Washington State
1
to 1¼ cups water (250–313 ml)
Your own market
4 oz (115 g)
tomatoes, simmered until soft
Not yet stocked in Washington State
1½ oz (45 g)
Mexican drinking chocolate
Not yet stocked in Washington State
¼-inch (scant 1 cm)
cinnamon stick, crushed
Not yet stocked in Washington State
1 slice
white onion, roughly chopped
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2 tablespoons
mild vinegar (or half rice, half white wine vinegar)
Not yet stocked in Washington State
Salt to taste
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1 tablespoon
sesame seeds, lightly toasted
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Approx. ½ cup (125 ml) vegetable oil
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12
five-inch corn tortillas
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¾ cup (188 ml)
finely chopped white onion
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1½ cups (375 ml)
finely crumbled queso fresco, plus extra for garnish
Not yet stocked in Washington State
½ teaspoon
dried oregano, finely crumbled
Not yet stocked in Washington State
II
The Method
1
Simmer ancho chile and prunes in the water over medium-low heat until both are soft, 12–15 minutes. Do not drain.
2
Transfer to a blender with simmered tomatoes, chocolate, cinnamon, onion, vinegar, salt, and sesame seeds. Blend to a smooth, medium-bodied sauce.
3
Pour sauce into a wide, shallow bowl. Reserve roughly half in a small saucepan and set aside.
4
Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat to approximately 175°C / 350°F.
5
Dip one tortilla in the raw sauce to coat both sides, then lay it into the hot oil and fry for about 30 seconds per side — just enough to set the coating and soften the tortilla. Remove and place flat.
From the canon — The corn tortilla is the foundational food of Mexican cuisine — a thin, round disc of nixtamalized masa cooked on an ungreased comal (flat griddle) until it … Tortilla — hand press, comal, and the puff →
6
Working quickly, fill the center with a spoonful of chopped onion, crumbled queso fresco, and a pinch of oregano. Roll and place seam-side down on a serving dish. Repeat for all 12 tortillas.
From the canon — Queso fresco is a young, unaged white cheese made from whole or partially skimmed cow's milk, sometimes blended with a proportion of goat's milk where the lo… Queso Fresco →
7
Bring the reserved sauce to a boil in the saucepan, thin if needed, and pour over the plated enchiladas.
8
Garnish with additional crumbled queso fresco. Serve immediately.
III
Sensory Tests
◇Hold a dried ancho against light: the skin should glow a translucent brick-red and bend without cracking or crumbling to powder — a brittle, black, or grey-skinned chile will produce a bitter, thin sauce.
◇After the sauce is blended and reduced, drag a wooden spoon through the pot; the sauce should coat the back and hold a clean line for a count of three before the edges begin to creep — too thin and it slides off the tortilla, too thick and it seizes to a paste in the oil.
◇Bite into a finished enchilada within two minutes of plating: the tortilla exterior should offer a faint, papery resistance before giving way, not limp through entirely — if it collapses immediately on the fork, the oil was too cool or the tortillas spent too long in the sauce before frying.
◇Where it lives or dies. The dish lives or dies in the ten seconds the sauced tortilla spends in the hot oil: the oil must be at 180–190 °C (355–375 °F) so the coating sets and the tortilla holds its structure rather than absorbing fat and turning to a wet sheet — too cool and you get a greasy, slack wrapper; too fierce and the sauce scorches before the tortilla warms through.
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V
What to Pour
The pairing
Agave spirit
From Washington
Ancient Lakes of Columbia Valley Riesling
Ancient Lakes Vineyard — Cave B · Ancient Lakes
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Wine
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The whole pairingPillar VI
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The working kitchen