Fried Corn Tortilla Chips with Lime Salt

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Corn tortillas cut into wedges, dried briefly, then fried in shallow oil until they shatter — the kind of chip a good taqueria brings out warm, before you've even ordered. Salting them the second they leave the oil with a bright lime-zest salt is the whole trick: the salt sticks to the hot surface, the lime perfumes them, and they taste nothing like a bag. About 15 minutes of hands-on work and a stack of cheap tortillas gets you a bowl that disappears faster than you can fry the next batch.

Ingredients

• 16 6-inch white corn tortillas (thin, plain corn — not flour)
• 5 cups neutral frying oil, such as peanut, canola or corn

• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp finely grated lime zest (from 1 large lime)
• 1/4 tsp ancho or New Mexico chile powder (optional)

• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• salsa, guacamole or queso, for dipping

Instructions

1. Make the lime salt first so it's ready the moment the chips come out: on a cutting board, pile the kosher salt with the lime zest and chile powder, if using, and chop/rub them together with the flat of a knife or your fingertips until the salt is faintly green and smells strongly of lime. Transfer to a small bowl and set it right next to the stove.
2. Dry the tortillas. Fresh, moist tortillas steam instead of crisping and drink up oil. Arrange them in a single layer (overlapping slightly is fine) on two baking sheets and set in a 200°F oven for 8 to 10 minutes, flipping once, until they feel leathery and dry at the edges but are not browned. Day-old or slightly stale tortillas can skip this step.
3. Stack 4 tortillas at a time and cut through the stack with a large sharp knife into 6 wedges, like a pizza. Keep the wedges loose and separated on a tray — any two that are stuck together will fry into a soft double chip.
4. Pour the oil into a 5- to 6-quart Dutch oven or deep heavy pot to a depth of about 1 1/2 inches (never more than a third of the way up the sides). Clip on a deep-fry or instant-read thermometer and heat over medium-high to 360°F, 8 to 10 minutes. Line a large baking sheet with paper towels or set a wire rack over it.
5. Fry in batches of about 12 to 15 wedges — enough to float in a single loose layer. Slide them in, then stir gently with a spider skimmer or slotted spoon to keep them from fusing. They will bubble hard for the first 30 seconds. Fry 60 to 90 seconds total, until the bubbling slows noticeably and the chips are stiff and just barely tinged gold at the edges. Pull them before they brown; they darken slightly as they cool.
6. Lift the chips out, letting the oil drain back into the pot, and spread them on the lined sheet. Immediately shower with a big pinch of the lime salt and toss with your hands (or shake the whole pan) while they're still glossy and hot — this is the only moment the salt will cling.
7. Let the oil come back up to 360°F between batches, adjusting the burner as you go; it will drop 20 to 30°F each time you add tortillas. Repeat until all the chips are fried, salting each batch as it comes out. Total frying time is about 15 minutes for 16 tortillas.
8. Let the chips cool 5 minutes to reach full crispness, then pile them into a bowl and serve warm with lime wedges and salsa, guacamole or queso. Squeeze a little lime over the top just before serving if you want them extra bright.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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