When running with a meetup group a few years back, I was
invited to an afternoon party hosted by two elderly couple,
Ellen and Karl. Back then, I just lost 40+ lbs and started
to look closer at nutrition beyond counting calories. I made
guacamole and bought a bag of tortilla chips for the
gathering. Karl liked my dish but warned of the chips:
"Don't eat them often." I, in turn, pointed to the label:
"Traditional Stone Ground, 100% Whole Grain, No Cholesterol
..." and that silenced him.
I had never questioned the labels and been consuming one
brand or another corn chips ever since I started to make the
avocado dip. Even my wife recently showed interest in the
Mexican fare and I considered that a big compliment of my
culinary effort.
It was when reading "Grain Brain" that I started to look at
the oils we consume, i.e., blindly ingest. Those in tortilla
chips were mostly mass-produced canola, sunflower seed,
or soybean oil. This further piqued my curiosity and I finally
went on the Web and found out that the chips are basically
fried thin corn flour dough and therefore the oil does play
a huge part. Karl's disapproval did have some teeth.
OK. As they are often guacamole's best mates, I decided to
try to make the chips myself. Mine might not be as tasty or
pretty but they would get better through practice and I
could tell myself that I have done my best to fix the oil
problem, tiny or giant.
Unexpectedly, my research opened a door that has been there
forever. I have learnt that the tortilla was an ancient food
that traced back to the Mayans and Aztecs. That single fact
was a good sign*. And in the end, I had to act.
I picked up a product from Mi Rancho made of the following
ingredients:
- Water,
- Organic Whole White Corn,
- Organic Yellow Corn Masa Flour,
- Trace Of Lime, and
- Organic Guar Gum.
The last three were new to me and I charged at them with
gusto. I learnt that turning corn kernels into masa was a
vital and wonderful process called nixtamalization, an
ancient practice that helped corn flour form dough (think
gluten and wheat dough), and that the calcium-hydroxide
(lime) and cluster beans (guar) were actually beneficial.
Out of the fridge, the round cornmeal sheet feels dead and
rubbery. One minute over medium heat (with or without oil),
however, layers form, bubbles appear, and it becomes airy
and stretchy, ideal for wrapping around things. The texture
is chewy and it tastes smoother than most corn-based
foodstuff I have had in China. (The alkaline processing must
tame the hard bran.)
We wrapped almost every dish with it, eggs, bacon, beef,
tofu, guacamole, and even godeungeo-mujorim (Manngchi's
braised mackerel with radish). Tim even melted cheese in
his tortilla. This was a great discovery as I finally found a
replacement for my favorite unleavened wheat bread (烙饼
in Chinese) which I have given up for years!
As for the chips, which started all this, I decided not to
make them until I find the ultra-thin tortilla to cut and
fry. And there is no hurry.
* Read nothing from the past one hundred years; eat no
fruits from the past one thousand years; drink nothing from
the past four thousand years (just wine and water); but talk
to no ordinary man over forty. -- Nassim Taleb
