Here's When You Should Steam Or Char Tortillas

A tortilla should just about always be eaten warm, whether corn or flour, homemade or store-bought. A little heat helps make the ubiquitous flatbread supple so it can more effectively wrap or scoop up rich Mexican and Latin American flavors. How you heat a tortilla can affect its texture and flavor, so choose wisely. There are several ways that you can do it — in the microwave, oven, on a skillet, or even straight on the burner flame. Covering the tortillas with a damp cloth, or just heating them in a container with the lid on steams them. 

Alternatively, when subjected to high heat, uncovered, tortillas get nice char spots and a subtle roasted flavor that's especially delicious paired with a corn tortilla's lightly sweet masa flavor. Because a corn tortilla doesn't have gluten, it tends to become tough when cooled — another reason to serve warm. Of course, there are ways to make soft flatbreads by adding fat to the dough, but it's also influenced heavily by the type of flour you use.

However you're serving your tortillas, consider how they're being used. This will tell you whether you need to steam or char them. Marc Marrone, the Executive Chef at Arriba Abajo, a Mexican cantina-style restaurant in the Thompson Austin hotel, talked to Foodie about how he likes to prep his tortillas. According to him, "The practice of steaming versus charring tortillas widely depends on the kind of tortilla you are working with and the flavor profiles you are trying to pull from the tortilla."

When heating tortillas, remember they are already cooked and you are essentially bringing them back to their "freshly cooked" state. Flour tortillas tend to be sturdier and more elastic, making them great for homemade burritos since they can be stuffed with lots of fillings without tearing or falling apart. To keep them pliable, it's best to steam these tortillas as Marrone likes to do, allowing you to load them with fajitas, sauces, and refried beans, which can be made at home with canned black beans. You can easily steam tortillas in the microwave by wrapping them in a moist kitchen towel before heating. Alternatively, use a microwavable tortilla warmer to steam.

Corn tortillas are relatively brittle and better employed as tacos, which are generally less aggressively filled and folded. These also have a more distinctive flavor courtesy of masa in the dough. As such, charring is the way to go, as the lightly toasted flavor complements the masa's sweet notes. Marrone likes to give his corn tortillas the best of both worlds: "Using an open flame or grill, I char my corn tortillas and immediately wrap them in a towel. The heat will create steam, which then combines both techniques to marry the complex flavor of a char with the tenderness and enhanced flavors that result from steaming corn tortillas." 

You can also use a skillet to warm corn tortillas but the process takes slightly longer. Regardless of the exact method, remember to always char them dry, without any oil or fat.