puebla-style shrimp tortas milanese
When I think about Mexico, I think about street food. With this recipe for Legal Sea Foods, I wanted to bring folks to somewhere familiar in both Mexico and the US: what’s more relatable than a sammie? In Puebla, the heart of the torta is a thinly-pounded, breaded and fried piece of pork with everything else I’m recommending to top off this glorious sandwich. I’m the first to admit this didn’t photograph well (my fault, I’m new to this whole food photography thing). When I asked my husband to taste test, he took the Guy Fieri posture to lean into the sandwich, positioned over the plate, elbows splayed. After the first bite, he said, “you need to send this recipe to the New York Times.”
Living where we do with creama, Oaxaca cheese, taleras, and ripe avocados literally two minutes away, I have to feel somewhat like a fraud within the general American gringo population. My biggest decisions are bolillo or talera and which brand of chipotles en adobo to select (I like the ones with the woman on the label). That said, the ingredients for this recipe should be available and scalable to nearly any supermarket among those who read food blogs.
Puebla-Style Shrimp Tortas Milanese
Ingredients
- 1 lb. jumbo shrimp (12-16 count), deveined, shells and tails removed
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 ½ to 2 cups panko bread crumbs
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 6 taleras, bolillos, or French rolls
- 2 avocados, halved and thinly sliced
- 2 tomatoes, thinly sliced
- 12 oz. Oaxaca cheese or 12 sticks of string cheese, pulled apart
- 1 cup of crema or sour cream
- 1-2 cans of chiles en adobo to taste
- 1 lime
- 1 bunch of cilantro, leaves picked
- Vegetable oil
Instructions
- Split, butter, and lightly toast rolls on a hot pan or griddle.
- Mince chiles en adobo and mix with crema or sour cream. Add salt and lime to taste to complete the crema/chipotle sauce.
- Fully dry shrimp and season with salt and pepper.
- Dredge the shrimp in flour, dip in egg, then fully coat in panko. Set aside on a plate.
- Heat a fry pan over medium heat with about one cup of oil, deep enough to fry the shrimp, about half the thickness of the shrimp.
- Once the pan is hot (about 375°), test with a little piece of bread to make sure the oil is hot enough to fry, but not burn the bread in 2 minutes. Pan fry the shrimp about 2 minute on each side until golden brown and the internal temperature reaches 135° F and transfer them to a paper-towel-lined plate – they will continue to cook to 140° F even after removing them from the oil.
- Assemble the tortas: on the bottom bun, lay down about 5 shrimp per bun in an interlocking “C” pattern, top with sliced avocado, cilantro, tomatoes, and cheese. Smear the top bun with the crema/chipotle sauce.
