‹ The Sandwich 100 › Make it at home

The Sandwich 100 · make it at home

Torta de milanesa (Mexico City torta)

40 min · 4 tortas

Mexico City's lunch: a soft bolillo or telera roll toasted on the griddle, spread with refried beans and mayo, piled with a crisp breaded steak, avocado, chipotles, tomato, onion and quesillo. The Cuadrilátero's giants stack every meat at once; start with one.

Save it and it opens in Chef Amazing with a timeline, mise en place, what you already have and a shopping list.

The real one

You need

• 4 telera or bolillo rolls
• 4 thin beef cutlets (milanesa), about 120 g (4 oz) each, pounded thin
• Salt and pepper, 60 g (1/2 cup) flour, 2 eggs, beaten, 120 g (1 1/2 cups) dry breadcrumbs
• Oil for frying
• 200 g (1 cup) refried beans, warm
• 4 tbsp mayonnaise
• 2 ripe avocados, sliced
• 4 to 6 canned chipotles in adobo, chopped (or pickled jalapeños)
• 2 tomatoes and 1/2 white onion, sliced thin
• 150 g (5 oz) Oaxaca cheese (quesillo) or mozzarella, pulled into strings
• Shredded lettuce, butter

How to make it

1. Bread the steaks (10 min): Season the cutlets, then dredge in flour, dip in egg and press into the breadcrumbs.
2. Fry (10 min): Heat 1 cm (1/2 in) oil in a large skillet over medium-high and fry the cutlets 2 minutes a side until golden and crisp. Drain on a rack and salt.
3. Toast the rolls (4 min): Split the rolls, butter the cut sides and toast them on a griddle until golden. Lay the cheese on the bottom halves for the last minute so it starts to melt.
4. Spread (2 min): Spread the top halves with beans and mayonnaise.
5. Build: Layer the milanesa, avocado, chipotles, tomato, onion and lettuce on the cheese, close, press, and cut in half.

Tips

• For a torta de chilaquiles, swap the steak for a heap of chilaquiles in green salsa.
• The griddle-toasted roll is non-negotiable; it stops the beans soaking through.

Chef Amazing's own home version, in our words; not any shop's recipe.