Chilaquiles Rojos with Fried Eggs

Tortillas fried at home, dusted with chili-lime seasoning and tossed for one minute in a charred tomato and guajillo salsa. Crisp-edged egg, crema and queso fresco on top.

Fry your own chips from dried-out tortillas. Bagged chips are too thin and turn to paste in the salsa. Then give them one minute in the pan, no more. You want soft edges with some crunch left in the middle, so have the plates out before they go in.

Chef's shortcut: Dust Pinche Crack on the chips the second they leave the oil so it sticks, and leave the salt out of that step, since the blend already has it. Get it at Crack Spice

Ingredients

• Salsa roja
• 1½ lb Roma tomatoes, halved lengthwise
• ½ white onion, in thick slices
• 3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 3 dried guajillo chiles, stemmed and seeded
• 2 dried chiles de arbol, stemmed
• 1 cup low-sodium chicken stock
• 1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
• Chips
• 12 corn tortillas, each cut into 6 wedges
• 3 cups neutral oil, for frying
• 1 tbsp Pinche Crack chili-lime seasoning, plus a pinch to finish
• To finish
• 4 eggs
• ½ cup Mexican crema or sour cream
• 3 oz queso fresco, crumbled
• ¼ white onion, sliced paper thin
• 1 avocado, sliced
• ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
• 1 lime, in wedges

Method

1. Spread the tortilla wedges on a sheet pan. If they sat out overnight, they're ready. If not, dry them in a 250°F oven until leathery, about 15 minutes. Move them to a bowl.
2. Heat the broiler with a rack 6 inches from the heat. Line the sheet pan with foil. Lay out the tomatoes cut side down with the onion and garlic. Broil until the skins blacken in spots, about 10 minutes, turning the onion and garlic once. Peel the garlic.
3. Toast the guajillos and chiles de arbol in a dry 12-inch skillet over medium, pressing them flat, about 15 seconds a side. Do not let them blacken. Cover them with boiling water and soak until soft, 15 minutes. Drain and throw out the water.
4. Blend the tomatoes and their juices with the onion, garlic, soaked chiles, stock and salt until smooth, about 1 minute.
5. Heat the oil in the 12-inch skillet to 350°F, about 1/2 inch deep. Fry the tortillas in 3 batches, stirring, until golden and the bubbling slows, about 3 minutes a batch. Drain on a rack and dust with the Crack Spice right away.
6. Carefully pour the hot oil into a heatproof pot, leaving about 1 tablespoon in the skillet. Set it over medium-high and pour in the salsa, which will spatter. Simmer, stirring, until it darkens and coats a spoon, about 8 minutes. Taste and salt. Turn the heat to low.
7. Heat 2 tablespoons of the frying oil in a nonstick pan over medium-high. Fry the eggs, spooning the oil over the whites, until the edges brown and the yolks stay runny, about 2 minutes.
8. Bring the salsa back to a simmer. Add the chips and fold for 1 minute, until coated with a little bite left.
9. Divide among 4 warm plates right away. Top each with an egg, then the crema, queso fresco, sliced onion, avocado, cilantro and a pinch of Crack Spice. Lime wedges on the side.