Torta Ahogada — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

A drowned sandwich from Guadalajara featuring a crusty birote roll stuffed with tender meat and completely submerged in a spicy chile de arbol tomato sauce. It is Jalisco most iconic and fiery street food.

Ingredients

4 birote or crusty bolillo rolls
500g cooked shredded beef
8 dried chile de arbol
6 medium tomatoes
3 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 small white onion, sliced into rings
1 lime, cut into wedges
200g refried beans

Instructions

1 Roast the tomatoes, garlic, and dried chile de arbol on a hot comal or skillet until charred and blistered on all sides, which intensifies their smoky flavor.
2 Blend the roasted tomatoes, chilies, and garlic with vinegar, oregano, salt, and a cup of water into a thin, fiery red sauce that should have serious heat.
3 Slice each birote roll lengthwise, spread the insides with refried beans, and stuff generously with the warm shredded beef, pressing the sandwich firmly closed.
4 Bring the chile sauce to a simmer in a deep pan, then fully submerge each stuffed roll in the hot sauce for thirty seconds, spooning sauce into every crevice.
5 Transfer the drowned tortas to plates, pour extra sauce over the top, and garnish with sliced raw onion rings and lime wedges for squeezing over each bite.

Did You Know?

The torta ahogada must be made with birote salado, a bread unique to Guadalajara that was invented by a French baker named Camille Pirotte, whose name was gradually Mexicanized to birote.