How to Make Rodrigo Cervantes’ Chilaquiles Rojos – a Crunchy, Soggy, Perfect Hangover Cure

The quintessential Mexican breakfast for hangover… well maybe every Mexican breakfast is a hangover cure. But I like this one because it’s simple.

As for every recipe I try to put down into words, this one is flexible and open to individual resourcefulness. 

My brother loved this place in Mexico City called Chilakillers… I know… The name! I wish I had come up with it. But this place only did chilaquiles, different sauces, different toppings, like a chilaquiles Dairy Queen. Don’t feel bound by the simplicity of this recipe. Dig in your cupboard and add some stuff to it. 

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The Recipe

The Sauce

500g of plum tomatoes (roughly chopped)
1 clove of garlic
120g onion (½ an onion)
5 guajillo chilies

1kg of fried tortilla chips (totopos)

To Finish

Drizzle of sour cream

Thinly sliced onion

Coriander leaves

Queso fresco (or feta, not the same but could be worse)

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Take the seeds and veins out of the guajillos, and toast them until they smell nice — either in the oven or on a hot pan. 

Soak them in hot water for 20 mins or until soft. 

By doing this you’re taking the most flavour out of them – guajillos have a particularly tough skin, by soaking them you help them soften and make the blending easier and smoother. 

In a hot pan with a dash of oil, sauté the onions for 2 mins, add chopped tomatoes and let them break down and their juices begin to fill the pan. Then add garlic and the guajillo chilies and cook for further 5 mins. Blend it all to a smooth sauce and season with salt.

Wipe the pan clean and bring to a medium heat. Pour over the sauce until it’s bubbling, then add the tortilla chips. Coat them with the sauce and serve.

The sogginess of the tortilla really depends on taste. Iin Mexico they’re usually really soggy, but a crunchier texture is nice as well. So it’s really up to you how long you keep the tortilla in the sauce.

Top with sour cream, onion, coriander and some crumbs of feta cheese.

Rodrigo Cervantes is from Mexico City, but lives in east London with his family. He is head chef at Bad Manners. Read more of his work on Something Curated here.

Bad Manners reopened in Shoreditch, east London, this week, serving burritos from a truck in the grounds of Shoreditch Church, Wednesday – Sunday 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Shoreditch Church, 119 Shoreditch High Street, London, United Kingdom E1 6JN

All photos by Rodrigo Cervantes.