What are nachos corn chips, how are they made? Nutritional value and composition, benefits and harms. Food recipes and product history.
Nachos is a product of the national Mexican cuisine, crispy chips that were first made from tortilla (thin corn tortilla), and now they are immediately baked from corn flour. Chips are usually produced in the form of triangular petals. Color - golden, brownish-beige, taste - spicy, largely depends on additives. Used as a snack or for making other dishes.
How is nachos made?
No special tools or accessories are required to prepare the chips. You don't need to have culinary knowledge to master kitchen processes.
How to make nachos at home:
- Tortilla … The oven is heated to 190 ° C. Corn tortillas, 4 pieces, cut through the center into triangles. The baking sheet is covered with parchment greased with olive oil. The same oil is sprayed on the blanks from above. Sprinkle with red pepper powder - paprika, add salt. Black pepper may be added. Bake the nachos at home for 20 minutes until crisp.
- Of flour … Knead the choux pastry: pour 40 ml of olive oil into boiling water (1, 5 cups). You can replace it with sunflower, but then the flavor of the dish will be lost. Gradually pour in corn flour - approximately 400 g is required. You need to get an elastic lump of dough that does not stick to your palms. A rolling pin is rolled in corn flour, poured onto the table and a layer 2 mm thick is rolled out, no more. Cut the rolling into strips, and then into diamonds or squares, as it is more convenient. Cover a baking sheet with parchment, set the oven to a temperature of 180-190 ° C, lay out the pieces and sprinkle with salt, paprika and cinnamon. Bake until golden brown. You can deep-fry nachos chips. Boil sunflower oil and cook in it blanks, boned in a mixture of spices on all sides. Remove from deep fat using a silicone slotted spoon.
Homemade nachos are eaten by themselves, dipped in different types of sauces, or used to make more complex dishes.
Composition and calorie content of nachos
Highest nutritional value when deep-fried. It reaches 736-926 kcal per 100 g, depending on the type of oil and the degree of impregnation.
The calorie content of nachos after baking in the oven is 500-557 kcal, of which:
- Proteins - 7 g;
- Fat - 25-34 g;
- Carbohydrates - 57-61 g;
- Water - 1, 6 g;
- Ash - 1, 6 g.
Vitamins per 100 g:
- Vitamin A - 4.0 mcg;
- Beta-carotene - 42.0 mcg;
- Vitamin E - 1.4 mg;
- Vitamin K - 33.6 mcg;
- Vitamin C - 2.0 mg;
- Vitamin B1 - 0.1 mg;
- Vitamin B2 - 0.2 mg;
- Vitamin B3 - 1.5 mg;
- Vitamin B4 - 18.1 mg;
- Vitamin B6 - 0.2 mg;
- Vitamin B9 - 7, 0 mcg.
Minerals per 100 g:
- Calcium - 124 mg;
- Iron - 1.7 mg;
- Magnesium - 70 mg;
- Phosphorus - 184 mg;
- Potassium - 185 mg;
- Sodium - depends on the amount of salt;
- Zinc - 0.9 mg;
- Copper - 0.2 mg;
- Selenium - 6.7 mcg
Eating 100 g of corn chips per day can replenish the daily rate of fats by 40%, carbohydrates by 19%, and proteins by 9%.
There are other substances in the composition of nachos:
- Organic acids - maintain the acid-base balance of the body.
- Cholesterol is mostly harmful, with an excess of it, the lumens of blood vessels narrow and blood flow is disturbed.
- Starch - prevents intoxication, protects the mucous membrane from the aggressive influence of digestive juices.
- Dietary fiber - accelerates peristalsis and softens feces.
- Trans fats - contribute to weight gain and have a negative effect on liver health.
- Beta-carotene - without it, the skin dries up, nails and hair break, vision deteriorates rapidly, and children grow stunted.
- Vitamin B4 - prevents the destruction of nerve cells and stabilizes impulse transmission.
- Calcium - when it is deficient, bones become brittle and often break.
- Potassium - without it, metabolic processes are disturbed, urination becomes more frequent, edema occurs and the vascular walls become fragile.
- Sodium - without it, protein breakdown does not occur, nitrogen accumulates, kidney function is disrupted.
- Phosphorus - with a deficiency, there is constant weakness, lethargy, tremors of the extremities appear.
Corn chips are not a dietary product and should not be included in a weight loss diet, even in small amounts. And if you really want to crunch, you should limit yourself to a few things. Although it is very difficult to stop if you have already started eating. Flavors like cinnamon, pepper and salt increase your appetite, and giving up corn nachos requires willpower.
Useful properties of nachos
If there is a choice about which chips are safer, then corn should be preferred. They are much less starch and trans fats than potatoes. And if you prepare a product yourself, you can be sure that it does not contain GMOs. This means you can enjoy delicious crispy triangles.
Benefits of nachos:
- They quickly restore the energy reserve, increase the tone.
- They restore blood pressure, stabilize the heart rate.
- Accelerate peristalsis, stimulate the production of bile salts, hydrochloric acid and promote the digestion of food.
- If you are very tired, you feel weak and lethargic, you can quickly recuperate and restore vigor.
- Stimulates appetite and helps to gain weight.
Knowing how to cook nachos yourself, you can not be afraid that an allergic reaction will occur.
If you plan to treat children, you need to reduce the amount of salt and pepper during cooking, or sprinkle the dough with sugar and cinnamon. Of course, the crunchy sweet tortilla cannot be called real Mexican nachos, but the negative effect on the body will be significantly reduced.
Contraindications and harm to nachos
Despite the content of vitamins and minerals in the composition of the product, the benefits of consumption are minimal.
Nachos can cause harm in people:
- with increased acidity of gastric juice - after abuse, heartburn, nausea, intestinal upset may appear;
- with peptic ulcer and chronic gastritis;
- with liver diseases;
- with unstable kidney function - an overload of the urinary system causes the appearance of edema;
- with arterial hypertension - due to the large amount of salt, water is retained in the body, blood pressure rises;
- with gout - an exacerbation may occur.
Regular use of nachos is dangerous: the likelihood of developing atherosclerosis and diabetes mellitus increases, the functioning of the hematopoietic and immune systems is disrupted, and obesity develops. This product is especially harmful for men. When eaten daily, libido decreases, testosterone production decreases, and sperm quality deteriorates.
In the manufacture of nachos corn chips, food factories necessarily use preservatives to increase shelf life, flavorings to reduce the cost of production, food colors and stabilizers to make the product look more attractive and crunchy. Culinary additives are dangerous as allergens. Therefore, when introducing a new product into the diet, you should analyze your own feelings.
Nachos Chips Recipes
Traditional Mexican breakfast - nachos corn chips with sauce. The simplest options for starting the day are:
- ketchunez - mix 2 parts of ketchup and 1 part of mayonnaise;
- sour cream - combine 3 parts of sour cream, 1 part of mayonnaise and 3 crushed garlic teeth;
- avocado - tropical fruit puree, beat with a blender with lime juice and salt;
- vitamin - tomato juice is evaporated, generously pepper, salted, interrupted in a blender along with basil, cilantro and parsley.
The most successful breakfast addition of the average Mexican is nachos with cheese sauce. Chilli pods are interrupted in a food processor, after removing the partitions and seeds, with sour cream and sea salt. Spread out in a saucepan. Hard cheese is grated on a fine grater, melted in the microwave so that a cheese slurry is obtained. Spread it with chili puree with sour cream. Stir and apply immediately to chips until thickened.
Nachos recipes:
- Casserole with beans … Open up a can of red canned beans. The oven is heated to 110 ° C. Cover the baking sheet with parchment, lay out a layer of nachos, on top - the beans in an even layer, pour a small amount of guacamole and salsa sauces, sprinkle with hard salted cheese. Bake for 7 minutes. The hot dish can be served with any sauce you like, but cheese should be preferred.
- Nachos with vegetables … Knead a dough of 2-2.5 cups of cornmeal, mixing with 1.5 cups of warm water, a few tablespoons of olive oil, salt and cinnamon. A dense elastic lump is divided into several parts and a ball is rolled from each, resembling the size of a tennis ball. You do not need to roll it out. Real Mexican housewives sprinkle the bottom of the pan with flour and press the dough into tortillas. Fried in a pan on each side for 30-40 seconds in olive oil, and then cut so that triangles with an elongated top are obtained. In a saucepan with a thick bottom, heat the olive oil, bring to a boil and lower the future chips. Cook until golden brown and crispy. Take out with a silicone slotted spoon, lay out on a paper towel to remove excess fat. Line a baking sheet with parchment and spread the nachos until they are cold. Preheat the oven to 180 ° C, sprinkle each chip with spices - pepper and salt? spread on 1 tsp. fatty sour cream and sprinkle with grated cheese. Bake for 3 minutes, until the sour cream starts bubbling and the cheese melts. Place the ready-made nachos on a plate so that there is space in the middle - in a circle, layers of thinly chopped vegetables are poured on top: bell peppers, pickled chili, onions, tomatoes, olives - cut into 3-4 pieces. Cover with another layer of chips, and spread sour cream in the middle with a slide.
- Mexican salad … Chicken fillet, 700-800 g, baked on the grill or in the oven, disassembled by hand into individual fibers. Finely chop the celery stalk, half the head of red onion and a bunch of green, multi-colored bell peppers - orange, red and green - just take half in half. Prepare the dressing: mix 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 2 tsp. pepper paste or 1 tsp. a mixture of colored peppers, finely chopped cilantro - a bunch, 1 tsp. lemon juice. Pour a handful of chopped nachos into the salad and season. If necessary, add some salt. There is another presentation option: first, they make a salad, and then decorate with chips.
- Bean salad … Boil 300 g of jacket potatoes, peel and cut into cubes. Open a can of beans with tomato sauce and put the beans in a colander to drain the juice. Mix the ingredients, add a cut of fresh cucumber, 200 g of canned corn, 150 g of grated hard cheese. Sprinkle with crushed nachos and season with sour cream.
- Corn salad … Nachos, without opening the pack, knead. Open a 200 g pack of canned corn, discard half of the contents in a colander. All mix, add crab sticks cut into noodles - 50 g. Season with mayonnaise. There is no need to salt and pepper, there are enough spices.
Interesting facts about nachos
This dish, like many, was invented by accident in 1943. In the small town of Piedras Negras, the Mexican state of Coahuila, located on the border with the US state of Texas, a garrison of American soldiers was stationed, who arrived there with their children and wives. Local visitors did not like, and there was a reason - they treated the natives without respect.
Once the wives of the soldiers, after going shopping, went to the local restaurant "Nacho", owned by Rodolfo de los Santos. They were not embarrassed by the fact that the opening hours of the establishment had already ended, and there were no preparations for the dishes left. In order not to lose the honor of the restaurant, head waiter Ignacio "Nacho" Anaya quickly got out of the situation. He cut the tortillas (which are served instead of bread in Mexico, so the stock is always extensive) into triangles, spread them on the grill grate, rubbed the leftover cheddar, sprinkled on top and seasoned generously.
Surprisingly, the new dish turned out to be a godsend. In the future, the recipe was improved, spices were added, the cheese was served separately, and not baked with the tortilla. In the first version, there were only 4 ingredients in the dish - tortilla, salt, pepper and the popular hard cheddar.
The original recipe for nachos is still produced in Piedras Negras in the Moderno diner. But this is not the only place to enjoy corn chips with various sauces. Anaya opened his own restaurant "Nachos" in the same city. The first mention of this dish is found in the cookbook "A Taste of Texas", dated 1949. And in 1959, corn chips were introduced in Los Angeles at the Jolo Mexican restaurant.
How to make nachos - watch the video:
It is unlikely that when inviting guests, they suggest that nachos will be put on the table as a treat. But if you want to surprise your family, you can make a casserole or salad from this product. Guests will be satisfied and will take a long time to guess what the original dish was prepared from.
