Chef Lupita
Birria Tacos with Consome
Jalisco's goat birria, born around Cocula and carried into Guadalajara's markets, slow-braised in ancho, guajillo, cascabel, and chile de arbol, then tucked into corn tortillas crisped in its own red fat.
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Sincronizadas Norteñas
Created by
Two paper-thin flour tortillas from the Noroeste pressed around ham, queso asadero, and a smear of pinto beans, crisped on a lard-slicked comal until the cheese pulls in long strings.
Sandwiches & Wraps
Mexican
Quick Meal
Weeknight
Game Day
15 min
Active Time
15 min cook•30 min total
Yield4 sincronizadas (4 servings)
Sincronizadas belong to the north. To Chihuahua, Sonora, Coahuila, Nuevo León, the states where the flour tortilla is not a Tex-Mex shortcut but a regional birthright. The wheat grew where the corn struggled. The tortilla de harina is what the Noroeste cooks built instead, and the sincronizada is what they made when they wanted something fast, hot, and filling on a weeknight or after a long day.
This is not a quesadilla. A quesadilla is one tortilla folded over cheese. A sincronizada is two tortillas pressed flat with ham and cheese between them, synchronized, which is where the name comes from. The order of the layers matters. Beans on the bottom tortilla so the cheese has something to anchor to. Ham next. Queso asadero on top, because asadero is the cheese that melts the way this dish needs it to melt: long strings, no graininess, a clean pull when you lift a wedge off the plate. Chihuahua cheese works. Oaxaca string cheese works in a pinch. Cheddar does not. I will say it once and not apologize: there is no yellow cheese in northern Mexican cooking.
The lard is not optional. The flour tortilla browns differently in manteca than it does in oil or butter. It blisters. It develops the dark spots that tell you the comal was hot enough. My mother did not make sincronizadas. She was from Jalisco and we ate corn tortillas in our house. I learned this dish from a senora in Hermosillo who fed her grandchildren on a cast iron comal balanced over a propane burner in her courtyard, with a small clay pot of lard beside her and a jar of pickled chiles within reach. Asi se hace y punto.
The flour tortilla is a Noroeste creation born from the wheat that Spanish missionaries planted in the arid lands of Sonora, Chihuahua, and the rest of northern Mexico beginning in the 17th century, where corn was harder to cultivate at scale than in the central and southern valleys. The sincronizada itself is a 20th-century dish, popularized in the cafés and loncherías of northern Mexico and Mexico City as a quick, affordable lunch built around three ingredients that were widely available after the postwar expansion of industrial ham production: flour tortillas, sliced ham, and melting cheese. The name 'sincronizada' references the synchronized layering of the two tortillas, distinguishing it from the quesadilla (one tortilla folded) and the gringa (a sincronizada made with al pastor pork instead of ham, born in the taquerías of Mexico City).
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
thin flour tortillas (tortillas de harina)
Quantity
8
8-inch, the thinnest you can find or make
refried pinto beans
Quantity
1 cup
warm and loose enough to spread
queso asadero
Quantity
8 ounces (about 2 cups)
shredded
good cooked ham (jamón de pierna)
Quantity
8 thin slices
trimmed to fit the tortilla
manteca de cerdo (pork lard)
Quantity
2 tablespoons
for the comal
salsa de chiltepín (optional)
Quantity
for serving
pickled jalapeños and carrots (optional)
Quantity
for serving
lime wedges (optional)
Quantity
for serving
sliced avocado (optional)
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| thin flour tortillas (tortillas de harina)8-inch, the thinnest you can find or make | 8 |
| refried pinto beanswarm and loose enough to spread | 1 cup |
| queso asaderoshredded | 8 ounces (about 2 cups) |
| good cooked ham (jamón de pierna)trimmed to fit the tortilla | 8 thin slices |
| manteca de cerdo (pork lard)for the comal | 2 tablespoons |
| salsa de chiltepín (optional) | for serving |
| pickled jalapeños and carrots (optional) | for serving |
| lime wedges (optional) | for serving |
| sliced avocado (optional) | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 12-inch cast iron comal or wide skillet
- •Wide metal spatula for flipping and pressing
- •Sharp knife or pizza cutter for serving
- •Small clay cazuelita for warming the beans
Instructions
- 1
Warm the beans and the comal
Warm the refried pinto beans in a small saucepan over low heat until they are spreadable, not stiff. If they are too thick, loosen them with a tablespoon of warm water or a little bean broth. Set a heavy cast iron comal or wide skillet over medium heat. The comal needs to be hot before the first tortilla touches it. A cold comal gives you a soggy sincronizada and that is not what we are making.
If you can find homemade flour tortillas from a Sonoran panadería or tortillería, buy them. Supermarket flour tortillas are thicker and chewier and the texture is wrong. The Noroeste tortilla is paper-thin for a reason. - 2
Build the sincronizada
Lay one flour tortilla flat on the counter. Spread two tablespoons of warm refried beans evenly across the surface, leaving a half-inch border. Lay two slices of ham on top, edge to edge. Scatter a generous handful of shredded queso asadero over the ham, about half a cup. Cap with a second tortilla and press lightly so the beans hold everything together. Repeat with the remaining tortillas. The order matters: beans on the bottom for grip, ham next, cheese on top so it melts down through the ham.
- 3
Crisp the first side
Smear a teaspoon of manteca across the hot comal. Lay one sincronizada on the comal and press down with a wide spatula. Cook for two to three minutes. Lift an edge with the spatula. The bottom tortilla should be golden brown with dark blistered spots. The cheese underneath should be starting to melt. La manteca es el sabor. Butter will not give you the same browning. Vegetable oil will not give you the same flavor. Use the lard.
- 4
Flip and finish
Slide the spatula all the way under the sincronizada and flip in one motion. Add another teaspoon of manteca to the comal beside it if the pan looks dry. Press down again with the spatula. Cook for another two to three minutes, until the second tortilla matches the first: golden, blistered, crisp at the edges. The cheese should be fully melted and starting to crawl out the sides. That is the signal. Pull it off the comal.
- 5
Cut and serve immediately
Transfer the sincronizada to a wooden board. Let it rest for thirty seconds, no longer. Cut into four wedges with a sharp knife or a pizza cutter. The cheese should pull in long strings between the pieces. Serve right away with salsa de chiltepín, pickled jalapeños, lime, and avocado on the side. Sincronizadas wait for nobody. The moment they cool, the tortilla loses its crisp and the cheese seizes up. Eat them hot or do not bother.
Chef Tips
- •Queso asadero is the right cheese. Chihuahua and Oaxaca string cheese are acceptable substitutes. Monterey Jack is a compromise, not an upgrade. Cheddar is wrong. No me vengas con atajos.
- •The flour tortilla matters more than people realize. If you can find sobaqueras or tortillas de harina from a Sonoran panadería, you are most of the way there. Thick supermarket flour tortillas will give you a heavy, doughy sincronizada. Thin and pliable is the standard.
- •Use real ham. Jamón de pierna, the kind a butcher slices from a cooked leg, not the rubber pink squares from a vacuum pack. The ham is half the flavor. Cheap ham makes a cheap sincronizada.
- •Make your own pinto beans if you have time. A pot of frijoles de la olla cooked with onion, garlic, and a spoonful of lard, then mashed with their broth and refried in more lard, will outperform any can. Cada estado, su propia cocina, and in the north, the bean is pinto, not black.
Advance Preparation
- •The refried pinto beans can be made up to three days ahead and refrigerated. Reheat with a splash of bean broth or warm water to loosen them before spreading.
- •Sincronizadas do not hold. Build and cook them to order. Once they cool, the tortilla goes leathery and the cheese seizes, and there is no recovering from it later.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 245g)
Calories
630 calories
Total Fat
33 g
Saturated Fat
15 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
18 g
Cholesterol
85 mg
Sodium
1585 mg
Total Carbohydrates
49 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
32 g
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