Tostada- Mexican Food

Mexican food is very appealing due to the variety of styles and dishes and flavors. Tostada is one of them, it shows;

• versatility – You can add whichever flavor you require, that is you can play with your best flavors.
• Flavors – it has sweet, sour, savory, and a combination of the above flavor.
• Well priced– the prices of dishes are for the masses. The tacos, nachos, etc all have a reasonable price.
• Healthy – the food is very healthy with protein, green vegetables, etc.

What is Tostada?

Tostada is a Mexican snack like tacos which is served with a layer of bean paste and various toppings giving it a mini pizza look. It is mainly a toasted tortilla given as an appetizer or side dish similar to tortilla chips (corn tortillas).   It is available as nachos in supermarkets.

The stale tortilla is repurposed as tostada by frying or baking it into chips and then putting a layer of bean paste and then other meat/ proteins and toppings.

It was invented in Oaxaca as Mexican flat round corn tortillas stacked with meat, vegetables, cheese, and beans.

How to Prepare Tostada?

Ingredients that are used to prepare a tostada –

1. Olives
2. Sour cream
3. Sauce
4. Corn oil/ extra virgin olive oil
5. Salt
6. Corn tortillas
7. Iceberg lettuce
8. Avocado
9. Tomatoes
10. Sliced pickle/ salsa
11. Bean paste
12. Cheese
13. Beef meat
14. Onion
15. Lime

Recipe –

• Preparation of tortillas –

Baking:

Oil the tortillas using a brush or a spray. Keep it flat on a baking sheet at 415°F and flip it when the color turns brown and it looks crispy.

Frying: 

Dry the tortillas in the oven for 10 min at 250°F. Add oil to a pan and add tortillas to it one by one when the oil is sizzling hot. Take it out on a paper towel for extra oil absorption after it becomes crunchy and golden. Sprinkle salt in it and warm it in the oven at 250°F before serving.

• Preparation of bean paste –

Add warm and refried beans to a frying pan. In the case of canned beans, wash it with cold water first. 

Add water to the pain and mesh the beans to prepare a paste. Add salt, bacon fat, and cheese to it. Give it a creamy consistency.

• Preparation of toppings –

Cut vegetables required for toppings. Prepare sauces required. Keep ready the chopped meat and cheese.

Saute the vegetables with onion, salt, and other flavors.

Tender the meat and add the required taste to it.

• Assembling of tostada –

To the warm, dry tortilla chips add a base layer of warm refried bean paste first for the other toppings to hold on to it.

Then add prepared meat and vegetables to it.

Add olive, cheese, lime, etc to it and serve it.

Storage –

• You can store Tortilla chips in a ziplock bag for 48 hrs after frying or baking. But the freshly fried/ baked ones are best to serve for their crunchiness.
• You can store the toppings for a long time in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Tostada is a healthy stuff/ snack that is a light meal that can be consumed any time of the day. This contains vitamins, iron, and magnesium. It is a source of whole grains so it keeps away heart diseases, cancer, and diabetes. It contains meat so good protein content is present in it. Tostada is very flavourful and tasty due to the lots of vegetables, cheese, and other toppings present in it. So to eat well, eat a tostada.