When it comes to the best tortillas and the best tortilla-based dishes, there is nothing quite more impressive than the kind of tortillas found in Mexico and Central America, where they originate.
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Today, however, you need only travel to your nearest grocery store to find all sorts of tortilla options, or if you got some chef skills, grab the ingredients and make them at home.
There are essentially only two types of tortillas.
The main difference between one tortilla and another is in the ingredient. The first were tortillas made from corn and these have been around since Mesoamerica, although they were called differently then.
Second were flour tortillas, which are only a few centuries old and were created presumably when the Spanish colonizers, not being much into corn, brought wheat into Mexico and used it to make tortillas.
Later, during the Spanish Inquisition, Jewish immigrants who settled in the area that is today Texas started making tortillas from wheat as well and today still flour tortillas are more popular than corn tortillas throughout the Texas-Mexico border region.
Now you can also find whole-grain tortillas.
If you had to make the healthiest tortilla choice, that would be whole-wheat.
Tortillas made with whole grains provide superior nutritional value because they retain the essential nutrients not found in white flour due to processing.
You will also get more fiber with tortillas made from whole-grain wheat. One cup of white flour provides only 4 grams of fiber while whole-wheat has 12.8 grams. In addition, the latter will also give you more B vitamins.
Another tortilla to consider is brown rice.
For a healthier change, you can also try brown rice tortillas, gluten free and as soft as the other varieties when you warm them up.
More commonly found in specialty stores, brown rice tortillas may also be available at your local Kroger store, Walmart, Trader Joe’s and definitely Amazon.
If you find store bought options disappointing, you could try making them at home. It is very simple. The secret is to use boiling water for making the dough and adding arrowroot powder for flexible tortillas.
Ingredients: 1 ½ cups brown rice flour; ½ cup arrowroot powder (can be substituted with tapioca flour); ½ teaspoon sea salt, 1 cup boiling water.
Ideally you would use a tortilla press to shape, but you can also roll the dough with a rolling pin in between two pieces of parchment paper so that the dough doesn’t stick to the rolling pin, which can happen especially when you add more arrowroot or tapioca flour.
If you buy your brown rice tortillas, the secret to softening them up is heat, so heat up a pan, evenly spray a little olive oil and warm up the tortillas. You should notice a change in texture right away and should be able to get a more pliable food.
Brown rice tortillas are yeast free, gluten free and vegan and they contain a lot of potassium, so extra health benefits.
People also tend to choose between corn and flour tortillas when they make tortilla-based dishes.
For example, when making breakfast tacos or burritos, flour tortillas are highly recommended since they are able to hold the ingredients much better than a corn tortilla.
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But if you were in Mexico and having tacos al pastor, you would most definitely be served a corn tortilla. Same goes for fish tacos or Baja-style fish tacos that is one the most complimentary tortilla-based dishes.