This dish is really just three things – tortillas, fried eggs and salsa; anything else is an adornment. It’s my favourite breakfast and one of my all-time favourite Mexican dishes. So much so, that we often have it for dinner at home when we want something easy.
The charred peppers and the chipotles give the salsa an irresistible smokiness and it’s spicy enough to brush off any cobwebs for those stumbling across it in their pyjamas.
(Serves 2)
Ingredients
2 large red peppers
½ large onion, sliced
A good slug of basic olive oil, not extra-virgin, as it will burn
1 heaped tbsp chipotles in adobo, available in tins from supermarkets or online
3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp coriander seeds
Dried oregano
3 tbsp moscatel vinegar, or use cider vinegar
1 tbsp muscovado sugar
1 tbsp sea salt
4 eggs
4 10cm corn tortillas
Small bunch of coriander, chopped
Optional ingredients
Avocado, sliced
Refried beans
Method
Turn the grill up as high as it will go – on this occasion, char is your friend.
Toss the peppers and onions in oil and put on tray close to the grill to scorch. Turn peppers every few minutes so they char all over (in total this will take about 20 minutes). Remove both from oven.
While you are letting the peppers cool, put a frying pan on the highest heat possible to warm up, with a good slug of oil.
While the pan heats up, remove the stalks and seeds from the peppers and add the charred skins and onions to a blender, along with the chipotles, garlic, coriander seeds, vinegar, sugar and oregano. Blend for 1 minute. Add salt to taste.
Fry the eggs on high heat to achieve crispy bottoms but gorgeous runny yolks. (You need a really runny egg for this dish to work well.) Set aside.
Leave the pan on high heat (if there is a lot of oil remaining, absorb some of it with a dab of kitchen roll). Now toast the tortillas for 15 seconds on each side.
Take two hot tortillas and start building the rancheros – eggs first, then a generous covering of salsa and coriander to garnish. I like to serve them with avocado and refried beans on the side but they are delicious by themselves.
Mexican beer is incredibly light, so works well at breakfast time (I favour Corona or Pacifico). Alternatively, you could just have a coffee …
James Hart is director of El Pastor
