Flautas With Shredded Chicken - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 tablespoon canola plus oil (for frying) or 1 tablespoon safflower oil, plus oil for frying
1/2 white onion, finely chopped (about 3/4 cup)
3 serrano peppers (remove seeds and veins if you do not like too much heat) or 3 jalapeno chiles, finely chopped (remove seeds and veins if you do not like too much heat)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large ripe tomatoes, finely chopped or 1/2 cup drained canned diced tomato
2 1/2 cups finely shredded poached chicken
sea salt
12 thin corn tortillas, about 6 inches in diameter
4 cups finely shredded romaine lettuce
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
garnishes
salsa verde
crema or sour cream
6 radishes, trimmed and sliced
guacamole

Preparation

In a frying pan over medium-high heat, warm the tablespoon oil. Add the onion, chiles, and garlic and saute until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in teh tomato and continue to cook, stirry constantly, until the mixture thickens and the color changes, about 3 minutes. Fold in the chicken, season to taste with sea salt, and heat thoroughly. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Place a heavy frying pan over medium-high heat until hot. Lay a tortilla on the pan a few seconds until hot. Transfer it to a plate and arrange several tablespoons of the chicken filling across the lower third of the tortilla. Tightly roll the tortilla up into a tube to make a flauta, secure with a toothpick and set aside. Repeat with the remaining tortillas. (I usually fry them as I make them to cut down on prep time and keep the tortillas from cracking).
In a bowl, toss the lettuce with the lime juice. Spread it out on a serving plate or on individual plates, dividing it evenly.
Pour oil to a depth of at least 3/4 inch into a deep heavy frying pan and heat over medium-high heat until the oil shimmers and registers 350 on a deep-frying thermometer. Add the flautas, a few at a time, and fry until crisp and pale gold on all sides, about 4 minutes. Using tongs, transfer them to paper towels to drain. Keep warm in a low oven while frying the rest.
Place al lthe flautas on the lettuce on the platter, or arrange 2 or 3 flautas on each plate. Spoon 1/2 cup salsa across the flautas in a ribbon, then top with the crema and the radishes. Serve at once, accompanied with more salsa, crema, and guacamole if desired.