The most famous Mexican dishes, served everywhere in restaurants outside of Mexico - are almost never served in restaurants inside of Mexico. What many of us know as Mexican food (tacos, enchiladas etc.) is actually Mexican street food – Mexican snack food, food not generally served in restaurants or at home, but enjoyed all the time from street side vendors. These dishes are called antojitos (little snacks)

And of all the Mexican Antojitos, the most popular has got be the flauta (little flute). The flauta is simply a crispy fried tightly rolled up corn tortilla, filled with some simple ingredients, and topped with a couple of garnishes and salsas - Very simple, always fried, and always very very good.

It's a perfect little snack, and one you can assemble with whatever you have lying about in the kitchen, and it can be made - start to finish - in a matter of minutes.

Here is a simple recipe for chicken flautas, but the ingredient list is not all that important. It is far more important that you get an idea of how to make a flauta, and understand what kinds of things go well in one – and once you know these things, you will create your own recipes!

The filling for flautas is normally quite simple, and some shredded leftover roast or boiled chicken is a very common filling in entirety for a flauta. Other common fillings include refried beans, mashed potatoes, potatoes and chorizo, chillied mushrooms and braised beef in a simple chili sauce.

Chicken Flautas

Forget about boring leftover meals of roast chicken forevermore…

• 8 corn tortillas (6-8 inch)
• About 1 cup of shredded cooked chicken
• Vegetable oil for frying
• Toppings for the flautas (any combination of sour cream, guacamole, spicy red or green chili sauce, queso fresco, radishes and romaine lettuce tossed in vinegar)

1. In a heavy fry pan, heat about ½ an inch of oil over medium. When hot, using tongs, dip each tortilla in the oil for a few seconds to soften it, and then return the tortillas to your work surface.
2. Divide the chicken up between the tortillas and roll each up into a tight little tube. Secure each with a toothpick to hold it in place. (Once you get good, you can forego the toothpicks entirely – using simple chef's tongs, you can just hold each flauta in place for a moment in the oil, and the oil will soon harden the shell into the rolled shape. Takes a little practice though, and you might want to start off with the toothpicks.

3. Raise the heat on the oil to medium high, and working in batches (no more than 4 at a time for a large pan, add the rolled flautas into the oil. Fry for about 2 minutes per side, or until nicely browned and crispy (and until your kitchen has that great aroma of frying corn)

4. Let dry on paper towels.
5. Arrange on a large serving platter and place your garnishes and sauce ingredients in a line down the center (perpendicular to the flautas)

The garnishes and sauces you use are up to you, but I like - sour cream, a spicy red or green chili sauce, some queso fresco and some onions in vinegar.

That's it! Serve as an appetizer for a larger Mexican meal or as an anytime snack that will always satisfy.