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Chalupas and Salsa De Jitomate

Chalupas are small corn tortillas topped with tomato salsa and crumbled cheese.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Garlic and mexican oregano share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 85 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Chalupas and Salsa De Jitomate

Ingredients

Directions

Fry the tortillas

  1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.

  2. Carefully place several tortillas in oil.

  3. Cook, turning, until thoroughly heated but still pliable with chewy texture, but not brittle.

  4. Remove from heat, drain on paper towels, and continue until all tortillas are used up.

Make the salsa

  1. Heat heavy, ungreased skillet to medium-high heat.

  2. Flatten guajillo chiles with spatula and toast them 2 minutes per side until they change color and release aromas.

  3. Remove guajillo chiles to a bowl of hot water.

  4. Toast d'arbol chiles 30 seconds, then add them to the water.

  5. Soak the chiles at least 30 minutes or up to several hours until soft.

  6. Roast tomatoes and unpeeled garlic cloves until each is covered with black spots.

  7. Remove from heat, cut out tomato stem ends, and transfer tomatoes to a blender.

  8. Trim hard ends from garlic, peel, and scoop into the blender.

  9. Add chiles and enough water to facilitate blending, then purée until well blended.

  10. Pour salsa into a bowl and stir in oregano and salt.

  11. Let the salsa sit at least 30 minutes for flavors to meld.

Assemble and serve

  1. Top mini corn tortillas with Salsa de Jitomate.

  2. Sprinkle crumbled Mexican quesofresco (or feta or goat cheese) over the salsa.

  3. Serve salsa in a decorative bowl at a buffet and allow guests to serve themselves.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

506Calories
18 gProtein
35 gFat
32 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Corn Tortilla1 medium flour (45g)140
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Feta Cheese1 oz (28g) cheddar113
Goat Cheese1 oz (28g)103
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Mexican Oregano1 tsp dried (1.8g)5
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Garlic + mexican oreganotop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together85 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,076 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Corn + tomatotop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,099 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Clove + mexican oreganotop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together19 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Garlic + clovetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,368 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Corn tortillas
Form the crisp-chewy base that holds the toppings when fried in oil.
Vegetable oil
Conducts heat to fry the tortillas, adding richness and browning.
Guajillo chiles
Toasting deepens their aroma and gives the salsa a mild, fruity heat.
Tomatoes
Provide the main body, moisture and acidity of the salsa once roasted and blended.
Garlic cloves
Roasting mellows their sharpness and adds savory aroma to the salsa.
Quesofresco
Adds salty, crumbly creaminess that contrasts with the warm salsa.

The step that matters

Cook, turning, until thoroughly heated but still pliable, not brittle. Frying too long dries the tortilla's starch and makes it brittle and prone to cracking, while too little leaves it greasy and limp. Pliability shows the tortilla is heated through with its chewy texture intact.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (corn, goat cheese, tomato, garlic, mexican oregano):

  1. Cuminfits better
  2. Corianderfits better
  3. Oreganofits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against corn, goat cheese, tomato, garlic, mexican oregano. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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