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A crisp tostada topped with shredded chicken, avocado and salsa

Chicken Tinga

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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 252
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 2 lb chicken thighs boneless, skinless
  • 6 each roma tomato
  • 1 each onion half sliced thin, half left whole for poaching
  • 4 each garlic clove
  • 3 each chipotle peppers in adobo plus 1 tbsp of the sauce, or fewer for less heat
  • 2 cup chicken broth
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 each bay leaf
  • 2 tsp salt

Method
 

  1. Put the chicken thighs in a pot with the broth, the whole half onion, 2 garlic cloves, the bay leaves and 1 teaspoon of the salt. Bring to a bare simmer and poach 18 to 20 minutes, until cooked through.
  2. Lift the chicken out and let it cool enough to handle. Keep the poaching liquid; strain it and set 1 cup aside.
  3. While it cools, simmer the tomatoes in water for 8 minutes, until the skins split and loosen, then drain and slip the skins off.
  4. Blend the peeled tomatoes with the chipotles, their adobo sauce, the remaining 2 garlic cloves and the oregano until smooth.
  5. Shred the chicken with two forks, along the grain first and then across, into pieces rather than threads.
  6. Heat the oil in a wide pan over medium-high and cook the sliced onion 5 minutes, until soft at the edges.
  7. Pour in the blended sauce all at once and let it fry hard for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring, until it darkens, thickens and pulls away from the side of the pan.
  8. Add the shredded chicken, the reserved cup of poaching liquid and the remaining salt. Simmer 8 to 10 minutes, until the sauce clings to the meat and no loose liquid pools in the pan.