The Mexican Torta Sandwich

I have to admit, I love the torta. It could possibly be up there as one of my favorite sandwiches, and if you have never had one, either make mine, or go buy one. My other favorite sandwich is the Banh Mi, due it the awesome flavors, but that is another day. The torta however is nothing but simple to make, and the results are truly one of a kind. As my wife put, and she does not say this often “That was really killer, possibly the best sandwich”. I have to admit, as I have already stated, that this is really great.

The torta really can consist of a variety of ingredients, and I think this is what makes this even better. My personal go to is the torta milanesa, or torta con pastor. The possibilities however are endless, and other common ingredients are ham and cheese, chorizo, carnitas, carne asada, fried chicken, or fish.

My take on the torta is with fried chicken. Heck, enough talk, lets get you started!

Ingredients:

• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 1 cup seasoned flour (salt and pepper)
• Bolillo Roll, or good crusty large roll, lightly toasted
• Refried beans
• Avocado, pitted and mashed
• Shredded lettuce
• Sliced tomato
• Sour cream (optional)
• oil for frying
• plastic wrap

Heat a large skillet with about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of oil. Bring to medium heat.

Begin by getting a large piece of plastic wrap out, make that two pieces. Lay the chicken breast on one of the pieces of plastic wrap, then top with the other. The point is that you are going to flatten this into a think breast. You do this with a meat mallet. If you don’t have a mallet you can use a skillet, and bang from the center outward. Once this is flattened to at least a quarter inch thick, transfer to the seasoned flour.

You just want a light coating of flour, shaking off any excess. Do the same with the second chicken breast.

Drop one breast at a time into the oil. Due to how thin it is, this will only take a few minutes per side. During this time, heat your refried beans, slice your tomatoes, and mash your avocado.

Flip over the breast, and cook another few minutes. Once fully cooked, remove from the oil, lightly salt, and let it drain off any excess oil on paper towel, or in a strainer of sorts. Cook your breast.

To prepare your torta, layer a coating of refried beans on the bottom bun. Top with mashed avocado, sour cream, lettuce, chicken breast (or carnitas, ham, etc), top that with sliced tomatoes. Place a thin layer of avocado mash on the top bun.

That’s it. Looks simple, and it is. The combined flavors of beans, avocado, chicken, and the bun itself is just something really wonderful. Hope you enjoy.