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Looking for recipes or advice for making a Spanish omelette/Spanish tortilla
I've tried before and it didn't come out the way I wanted it to. I ate one that was amazing and I would like to up my game. Please share if you make these.
We've been making Kenji's Spanish Tortilla for a few years now and it's been awesome! Very much recommend.
For a treat, we add a little leftover chorizo, very finely chopped, to the mixture - makes for an amazing extra flavour boost!
Edit: Oh btw if you're like me and usually skip past all the blah blah to get to the actual ingredients and steps section of the recipe, consider actually only skipping the first paragraph in this instance! Kenji speaks about his trials and errors with this recipe in his 'blah blah', and has a lot of great additional tips in that section - tips that he explains the science behind usually!
I expected that recipe to be an abomination, but my wife's Spanish, we live in Spain, and that recipe looks pretty authentic to me. In fact, my Mrs compromises and partially cooks the thin-sliced potatoes in the microwave, then adds them to the oil with the already-cooked onions (so you save a lot on oil for frying the spuds) just to get a bit of fried edges and oil into them. The flipping section is also spot on. We have a special thicker dinner plate that's the right size to just fit in the frying pan to flip the tortilla. That part is pretty messy, because you put the plate onto the squishy raw top part, turn the pan over trying not to spill anything, then slide the whole thing back into the pan raw-side down. Also, when flipping, I've seen it all go horribly wrong for her, but don't give up! She just puts it all back in the pan and has another go a couple of minutes later, or if the whole thing is undercooked, it goes back into the bowl, stir a bit and start over. Failure is usually from lack of oil, even with non-stick (aging non-stick I suppose) the "crust" can grab on to the pan a bit if it isn't oiled up enough.
Getting the outside nice and cooked while keeping the inside the right amount of moist that you want is down to trial and error. Some people prefer a fully set center, whereas others like a runny middle. But it's like cooking a steak rare or well done, it's pretty much down to knowing your own cooking utensils, how hot the pans get, and experience of getting it wrong a few times.
Thank you!
I have a lot of ties to Spain and have definitely experienced how difficult it is to recreate this seemingly simple dish. Unlike you, I've accepted that I'll just have to enjoy it made by others. When made correctly, it is phenomenal.
Maybe try Spanish legend Jose Andres's technique? His restaurant chain Jaleo has a recipe here.
More than anything, I think this is something you make many times until you understand the variables. Consider saving the two cups of olive oil for frying. Spaniards filter it and store it for reuse since frying doesn't need pristine oil.
Sadly I am no longer near the person who would cook them for me. I live in California and while we have excellent food, I haven't seen spanish tortillas commercially available here.
One method: Whisk the eggs (with salt) in a bowl, then add the just-fried potatoes into the eggs and stir them in. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes before pouring the whole thing into a hot cast iron pan. Fry a short while on high heat, then a minute or two on low. Then flip the tortilla and repeat on the other side. Let it rest for a while before serving.