INGREDIENTS
- 3 tablespoons fresh-rendered pork lard or vegetable oil, plus a little more if needed
- 2 ounces (about 1 cup) fluffy-looking machaca (pounded/milled dried beef)
- 1 small onion, chopped into small pieces (1 cup)
- Fresh hot green chiles to taste (roughly 1 to 2 serranos, 1 small to 1 large jalapeño), stemmed, seeded (if you wish) and finely chopped
- 1 medium red-ripe tomato, cut into small pieces
- 8 eggs beaten just enough to roughly combine the yolks and whites
- Salt
- About 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- 18 warm tortillas, flour or corn
- 2 avocado, pitted, scooped from the skin and cut into small pieces (optional)
- Mexican hot sauce, like Tamazula or Valentina (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
In a large (10-inch) skillet, preferably non-stick or seasoned cast iron, heat the lard or oil over medium. Sprinkle the machaca evenly over the fat and stir nearly constantly as the mixture moves from a little foamy looking to toasty and aromatic, about 2 minutes. Add the onion, green chile and tomato to the pan and stir frequently until the onion has softened and any juices from the tomato have evaporated, about 8 minutes. Season the eggs with salt (less than you’d normally use because of the saltiness of the machaca, for me about ½ teaspoon), then add them to the pan along with half of the cilantro. Stir slowly until the eggs are as scrambled as you’d like, then scoop into a serving dish and sprinkle with the remaining cilantro. Diced avocado is never out-of-place on machacado, but it’s not required.
