These sloppy sandwiches are proper soccer fare while you cheer for the Chivas at the city soccer stadium.
Drowning the Sandwich
The "drowning" of this sandwich happens in a chili de arbol sauce bath. While this sauce is quite spicy, you can adjust the amount of heat you use to accommodate your own personal taste. Another way to adjust the heat is by "half-drowning" the sandwich (media ahogada) or by "well drowning" the sandwich (bien ahogada).
Despite being one messy dish, most eat this item with their hands and get in up to their elbows in the spicy sauce.
Bolillo bread
The sandwich is made on a thick, crusty type of bread called bolillo or birote that can hold up to a heavy dunking in the chili sauce. A nice ciabatta roll works as a fine substitute. I was pleasantly surprised that my local super-grocer carried bolillo bread in the bakery section.
Meat Filling
For the filling of the dish you can use everything from pulled pork, shredded beef, or even tequila shrimp. This recipe uses pre-sliced deli roast beef for ease and convenience.
Garnishes
To cut the at-times-overwhelming heat of this sandwich, it is typically served with sliced of avocado, and pickled onions (recipe follows)
Torta Ahogada
(Serves 4)
Difficulty: Easy
Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 lb. stewed tomatoes (substitute an 8 oz. can of diced tomatoes and an 8 oz. can of tomato sauce)
- 5 arbol chilies (long, green, skinny, firey chilies) Instead of arbol chilies, a few chipotles packed in adobo along with a teaspoon of the adobo sauce works wonderfully.
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 cup broth or water (to thin sauce if needed)
Procedure
- Combine all the ingredients in a sauce pan over medium heat. Once bubbling, reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Keep in mind the pan should be big enough to dunk a sandwich in.
Sandwich
Ingredients
- 1 lb. of sliced roast-beef (if you're not using pulled pork, tequila shrimp, or shredded beef)
- 1 onion, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 4 bolillo, birote, or ciabatta rolls
Procedure
- Saute onion, garlic, and cumin until soft.
- Toss in meat to heat through.
- Pile mixture high onto the rolls.
- Using tongs, grab a sandwich and dunk it into the sauce. Alternatively, you can ladle the sauce over the sandwiches. Serve with sliced avocado and pickled onions.
Pickled Red Onion Garnish
Ingredients
- 2 medium red onions, sliced thin
- 2 jalapeños, sliced thin lengthwise
- 4 limes, juiced (about 1/2-3/4 cups juice)
- 6 oranges, juiced (about 1-1 1/2 cups juice)
- pinch of sugar and salt
Procedure
- Blanch onions briefly in a pot of boiling water to cut the sharp onion flavor.
- In a large mason jar combine juice, sugar, and salt. Screw the lid on tightly and shake to dissolve the sugar.
- Add onions and peppers. Refrigerate for at least an hour. These keep for a couple weeks and get better with time.
