Smoked Chicken Flautas Ahogadas
Authored by Mike Sheeran, a BBQ Distro Box Member, avid griller, and graduate of Joe Zavala's Brisket Class! Follow Mike's mouth watering cooks @bigmiketx_cooks
Ingredients
- Whole Chicken
- Zavala's Bird Rub
- Corn Tortillas
- Frying Oil
- Olive Oil
- Tomatillos
- Jalapeño
- Serrano Peppers
- White Onion
- Cilantro
- Knorr Caldo de Pollo
- Crema
- Cabbage
- Queso Fresco
The Cook!
One of my favorite things to do is try new things and if I like them, I like to create my own version of the dish. There’s a food stand close to where I work that serves “taquitos in a cup” which is essentially the street food version of this. I got to thinking about making a BBQ version of it and here’s what I did.
Let’s start with the chicken. When I smoke chicken, I always spatchcock it. It cooks more evenly, you’re able to apply more seasoning, and it cooks much faster. To spatchcock a chicken, you remove the spine either with kitchen shears or a knife and press flat.
I also like to remove the breastbone, but you can also just push down hard and the chicken will lay flat. Season liberally with Zavala Bird Rub, starting on the underside and flip to season the skin side. I like to cook chicken hotter so fire up your smoker and get it to 325-350. Place the chicken on the smoker and let it ride till the breast reaches 165 and the thigh 175. When you start to get close to being done, spray the skin with fat (I like duck fat) to get the skin extra crispy. Let the chicken rest for 30 minutes and shred. Add a bit more seasoning to the shredded chicken.
While the chicken is cooking, we also need to get our sauce started. For this sauce, we need 4 tomatillos, 1 serrano, 2 jalapeños, 1/4 a white onion, 2 cloves of garlic smashed, cilantro, Knorr Caldo de Pollo, and olive oil. Remove the husks off the tomatillos and rinse the outside off. Dry them and cut them in half. Place the tomatillos, peppers, and onion in the smoker and cook for 20 minutes or till they get some color on them. Blend them up with all the other ingredients and put in a sauce pan with some oil to simmer and thicken up. Keep warm till we’re ready to serve.
Now that we have the chicken shredded it’s time to roll these babies up. Heat a half inch of oil in a pan and bring up to frying temp. Warm the tortillas on a comal or skillet with a little oil till pliable (if you skip this step, you’re going to have a bad time). Place some chicken on the warmed tortilla and roll. Place seam side down in your oil and hold it down with your tongs for a few seconds. Fry till crispy, flip, and fry till crispy. Let drain on a paper towel. Rinse and repeat.
To plate: spoon some sauce to cover the bottom of the plate, place the flautas on the plate, and spoon more sauce on top. Drizzle with crema and sprinkle queso fresco on top. Add shredded cabbage for crunch. You can also serve in a cup: fill halfway with sauce, add the flautas, drizzle crema, sprinkle queso fresco, and top with cabbage. Great garnishes: pickled red onion, radish, sliced avocado, and pickled or fresh jalapeño slices.
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