Tortas ahogadas (drowned sandwich)
Photo: ismael villafranco · CC BY 2.0

History

Tortas ahogadas were born in Guadalajara in the early 20th century, when a street vendor's dropped sandwich landed in a pot of salsa and the customer asked for the same again. The dish travelled north with Jalisciense migrants and now anchors a cluster of LA tortas-ahogadas specialists, of which Tortas Ahogadas Ameca on South Atlantic Boulevard in East LA, founded in 1996 by a family from the Jalisco town of Ameca, is the canonical Eastside reference.

Book a food experience

Tours, tastings and classes from the cities on this page, bookable on GetYourGuide.

Browse every bookable food experience

Common allergens: Gluten

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 40 minTotal 3 hrDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 1kg pork shoulder, cut in 5cm chunks
  • 1 tablespoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 orange, halved
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 200g pork lard
  • 4 birote (Jaliscan crusty rolls) or chewy short baguettes
  • For the salsa: 25g dried chile de arbol, 6 ripe tomatoes, 1 small white onion, 3 garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon oregano, 2 cloves, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, 1 tablespoon white vinegar, salt to taste
  • 1 small red onion, sliced thin
  • Limes and pickled jalapenos, to serve

Method

  1. Place the pork in a heavy pot with salt, oregano, the orange halves, milk and lard. Add cold water to barely cover.
  2. Bring to a simmer and cook 2 hours uncovered until the liquid has evaporated and the pork is frying gently in its own fat.
  3. Fry the pork in the rendered fat 15 minutes more until the edges are crisp. Shred with two forks and keep warm.
  4. For the salsa, char the tomatoes, white onion and garlic in a dry pan until blackened in spots, about 10 minutes.
  5. Toast the dried chiles in the same pan 20 seconds. Blend the toasted chiles, charred vegetables, oregano, cloves, cumin and vinegar with 200ml hot water until smooth.
  6. Strain the salsa into a wide saucepan, season with salt, and bring to a simmer.
  7. Split each birote. Pile the carnitas inside, close the bun, and lower the whole sandwich into the simmering salsa for 30 seconds; lift onto a plate.
  8. Ladle more salsa over the top so the bread is fully drowned. Scatter with sliced red onion. Serve with lime and pickled jalapenos.

Tip from the editors. Birote bread is essential; its dense chewy crumb holds under the salsa where a fluffy bolillo collapses. If you cannot find birote, use a stale-day baguette and crisp the cut faces under a grill first.

Where to eat tortas ahogadas (drowned sandwich)

Tortas ahogadas (drowned sandwich) in Los Angeles

Tortas Ahogadas Ameca ★ 4.0

$ Mexican

Tortas Ahogadas Ameca in East LA serves the Guadalajara-style drowned pork torta. A birote bun filled with carnitas and submerged in chile sauce.

TryDrowned pork torta

Directions

All Los Angeles signature dishes →

More cities are in research. Want tortas ahogadas (drowned sandwich) covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.

Browse all dishes →