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1
Place the chicken pieces in a saucepan with the water or stock and salt. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat and poach for 20 minutes, or until the meat is cooked through and yields without resistance when pressed. Remove the chicken and reserve the poaching liquid. When cool enough to handle but still warm, shred the meat by hand into fine, even strips — the chicken is ready when it pulls apart cleanly along the grain.
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2
Heat the oil in a wide sauté pan over medium heat. Add the sliced onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6 to 8 minutes until fully translucent and beginning to soften at the edges — no trace of raw, sharp aroma should remain.
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3
Add the chopped tomato and the chipotles in adobo along with the adobo sauce. Cook over medium heat, breaking down the tomatoes and chipotles with a spoon, for 5 to 7 minutes until the mixture has collapsed into a rough, cohesive sauce. Taste: the chipotle smoke should be present but balanced — add a third chipotle only if the heat and smokiness are insufficient. This is the step where the dish lives or dies: too little reduction leaves a watery sauce that will not coat the chicken; too much chipotle obscures everything beneath it.
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4
Add the shredded chicken to the sauce along with 60 to 80 ml of the reserved poaching liquid. Stir to combine and simmer over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes, reducing until the sauce clings to the shreds and no liquid pools at the base of the pan — the surface of the tinga should appear glossy rather than wet.
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5
Season with salt, stir once more, and serve immediately on warm tortillas or tostadas, topped with avocado, crema, and crumbled queso fresco.