Homemade Tortillas in China

Earlier this week, my teammate Theresa asked me to make some homemade tortillas for a taco night. Yes, tonight we had a taco night. Be jealous. It was amazing, and the tortillas turned out great. I even had one with just honey in honor of Rosa's. Comfort food: check.

I photographed the tortilla making process, and thought I'd share.

Basic Ingredients:
5&1/2 cup of flour
10 tbsp shortening
1&1/2 cup very warm water
1&1/2 tsp salt

First, you combine the flour and shortening into a big bowl. Mix by hand until the flour and shortening are completely combined. It will look like breadcrumbs.

Then, dissolve the salt in the water. Easy peasy.

However, if you happen to have a sink that only has a single temperature, and that is scalding hot, you have to wait for a while for it to cool down to be just warm. If the water is too hot, it will turn the dough into an ooey gooey mess. So, while you are waiting, you can do something productive like plan lessons or clean your apartment...

I don't have pictures of me mixing the dough together, mainly because my hands were all messy, and I didn't want to get flour all over my camera. The basics: pour about 3/4 of the water over your flour mixture, and mix this with a fork first, and then use your hands. After that is mixed, slowly add the rest of the water. I ended up not needing the last tbsp of water.

After it is mixed, dump it on your counter or table, and knead it. If it is really sticky, add a tiny bit of flour. I kneaded about two minutes before it was nice and smooth.

Then, you must let the dough rest a while, because it is tired after all of that kneading.  Just kidding, it will be easier to roll out if you let it rest at least half an hour.

After both you and the dough rest, take small segments and roll them into a ball. Then, using a rolling pin, roll the dough out very thin. I like thinner tortillas, so I made the dough very thin.

Place the dough in a medium-heat pan (no oil!), and wait till one side gets the slow-building big bubbles. Then, flip it over, and let it cook another 30-45 seconds. I have no idea how to tell what heat my stove is on, since all the buttons are in Chinese, but I figured it out. If you see lots of little bubbles when you place the dough in the pan, it means it is too hot. If it is too cold, the tortilla will not cook. Try for something in between. :)

Voila! The finished product. These were pretty tasty, and I have a few leftover in my fridge right now. :) Can you say breakfast burrito??? If only China had bacon or sausage... or cheese.