Chilaquiles are one of my favorite things to eat. Up until this visit to Mexico I thought the recipe for them was very straightforward. You take corn chips (I like to use all the broken pieces at the end of a bag) soak them in a couple lightly beaten eggs, fry them and cover them in salsa fresca. Kind of like a Mexican version of Matzo Brei. Not so. It turns out that in Mexico they soften the corn chips in a tin lightly spiced with bay leaf and some pepper tomato sauce and serve either eggs or shredded chicken on top (or both as pictured above). The chicken meat that I have had here with my Chilaquiles has been dark meat and it works so much better then just white meat. Its rich, moist unctuousness is a perfect foil to the tang of the sauce. All Chilaquiles are served with refried beans, which here are looser then the ones I make, always made with pinto beans and served with a generous crumbling of cheese. In one version I had the cheese was almost like Parmesan; it was a great surprise compared to the often ubiquitous queso fresco which is used.
The eggs of course can be scrambled or fried. I have been getting scrambled, but then tried sunny side up and like how the runny yolks adds richness to the chips and sauce. I actually think that poached eggs would be best, but as of yet I haven't seen that as an option.
Lastly, when I was doing some research on the topic of Chilaquiles I discovered that they can also be made with Salsa Verde. Tomatillos have a wonderful citric note that give the dish a whole new flavor profile and really lends itself to cheese and eggs. If you don't have any left over chicken legs to add, a light sprinkling of crunchy bacon would be a damn fine addition as well.
Whether you make them from leftovers or buy the ingredients specifically to make them, Chilaquiles are a great way to spice up breakfast.
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