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Enchiladas — the closest cousin to a burrito and why they are harder

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Enchiladas use the same components as a burrito — corn tortilla, filling, sauce, cheese — and yet they are harder to get right. The reasons: The tortilla must be dipped in warm oil first to prevent it from cracking when rolled. Most home cooks skip this and then wonder why their enchiladas crack in the dish. The sauce must be applied before baking, not after. The tortilla should be partially saturated with the sauce before the oven, which means the sauce needs to be thinner than a serving sauce. The filling should be minimal — 2-3 tablespoons maximum per tortilla. Overfilled enchiladas do not roll tightly and the filling falls out in the dish. Once you know these three things, enchiladas are straightforward. Until then, they are frustrating.

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taco_purist

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The minimal filling point is what I see violated most often by home cooks. The instinct is to fill generously — more filling is better. In an enchilada, too much filling prevents a tight roll, which means the enchilada unrolls in the baking dish, and the filling absorbs all the sauce that should be going into the tortilla. Restraint is the technique here.

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