How to Have Tater Tots & Nachos at the Same Time
Portland, Oregon is arguably the top food city in the U.S. right now. With a blue collar background, a love of all things local, and artisan everything, our food scene is dynamic. We have something for everyone, from vegan barbecue to brûléed bone marrow.
Related: 22 Recipe Hits From the 90s
Chile verde totchos. (Photo: James Ransom/Food52)
A desire to innovate the classics with new ingredients and a huge market for comfort food (it rains a lot, if you haven’t heard) have conspired to form a movement of nostalgic foods and products.
Related: 5 Upgrades That Will Change Your Nacho Game
One iconic quirky Portland dish that’s right up there with bacon maple bar doughnuts is the “totcho,” a plate of tater tots, the fried, cafeteria favorite, covered in the cheese and toppings that usually accompany the sports bar nacho.
Related: Best of the Hotline: Your Guilty Pleasure Foods
Super(bowl) chicken and black bean nachos. (Photo: James Ransom/Food52)
When it was invented almost a decade ago by Jim Parker, the owner of Oaks Bottom Public House, his cooks thought he was crazy. But Mr. Parker’s idea quickly spread to several other bars and became a staple on many menus here in the Rose City.
Related: 5 Ways to Eat Burgers in the Middle of Winter
My first meeting with the nacho of tots was an eye opening experience. As a former bar cook, I immediately had the why-didn’t-I-think-of-this regret: There may not be a better food to go with beer.
How to make DIY nachos without a recipe. (Photo: James Ransom/Food52)
Oregonians are quite fond of the tater tot in general, as it was invented here. The story goes that a pair of brothers by the name of F. Nephi and Golden Grigg purchased a potato processing plant close to the Idaho border in 1951 and named it Ore-Ida. Noticing that the byproduct of French fries was a lot of shredded potato waste, they combined the shredded potato with flour and seasoning. And so in 1953, the tater tot was born.
Related: 10 Cheesy Pastas
By 1956, tater tots were sold in stores. Today, they’re on tables all over the United States and beyond. (You may say the Grigg brothers were ahead of their time on the repurposing trend.)
Hand-formed parmesan tater tots. (Photo: James Ransom/Food52)
The original Portland totchos was composed of tots, chopped tomatoes, Jack and cheddar cheese, olives, jalapeños, sour cream, and salsa. But as imitations spread, so did the diversity of ingredients. I set out on my own totcho mission, to hunt down the best of what the Rip City has to offer.
The popular sandwich and cocktail spot Bunk Bar didn’t disappoint. Bunk’s version with mole, crema, avocado, and a bit of queso fresco was one of my favorites. At one of our hipper ramen havens, Boxer Ramen, the menu lists “Okonomiyaki tots” drizzled and decorated with traditional Japanese ingredients like bonito, tonkatsu sauce, nori, spicy mayo, and togarashi. And finally, I went to Blitz Ladd to check out their offering: cheddar and Jack cheese, roasted tomato salsa, and chipotle sour cream.
Totchos at Bunk Bar (top) and Blitz Ladd (bottom). (Photos: Alexandra V. Jones/Food52)
With such endless possibilities, I set out to make my own version of this local phenomenon. I knew I wanted mine south-of-the-border style and I liked the combination of a cheese sauce drizzle along with grated cheddar. I decided a cheese béchamel would be delicious and creamy (with none of the chemicals of the bright orange “nacho cheese” that we have all, at times, drunkenly gobbled).
For the meat component, I decided a chili verde with quick-cooking ground pork would be tasty with the cheese and potatoes, and I knew that serving them up hot was also mandatory for totcho perfection.
Being a Portland resident, I also decided to try my hand at “artisan” tots. Oddly, no one in this craftsman city has caught on to making their own tots—at least not at the spots I went to. While, at first, I was under the “If it ain’t broke, why fix it?” mindset, after making my own from scratch, I was very impressed and surprised with the end result.
Why not try your hand at homemade totchos? It might change your relationship with the nacho forever! Make sure and invite some friends over (this makes ample servings) and bring the PDX totcho revolution to your town.
Serves 6 to 8
2 pounds (about 2 large) Russet potatoes
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
3 tablespoons peanut oil
For the baked tater tots:
Place potatoes (skin and all, they are super easy to peel after boiling) in a pot of water, bring to a boil, and boil for 30 minutes (if your potatoes are small, check after half the time). Turn off the heat and let the potatoes sit in the water 10 to 15 minutes.
Drain potatoes over a colander and run under cold water. Peel potatoes with your hands: The skin literally rubs off and there is very little wasted potato. Preheat oven to 450° F.
When potatoes are cool, grate on the medium size hole of a box grater into a medium bowl. To the bowl add salt, pepper, and parsley and combine with hands. The natural starch in the potatoes will hold the mix together. When well blended, shape into “tots.” I used about 1 ½ teaspoon of the mixture for each tot, but I stopped measuring halfway through and eyeballed the rest.
Place peanut oil on a Silpat- or parchment-lined half sheet pan, place in oven for a minute or two. Place the tots on the hot pan, then bake 15 minutes, turn the tots, and bake another 15. They should be golden brown and crunchy.
For the chili verde and nacho béchamel:
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ pound ground pork (substitute ground chicken if you prefer)
1 small can green chilies
½ medium onion, diced
3 tomatillos, husked and cut in half
2 cloves garlic
¼ cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 ¼ cups milk
1 ½ cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 to 2 tablespoons pickled jalapeños, depending on heat preference
1 pinch salt
2 tablespoons sour cream, for garnish
½ tablespoon piment d'espelette, for garnish
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro, for garnish
Start by making the chili verde: Add olive oil to a skillet and brown the ground pork over medium-high heat, until golden.
In a blender or processor, add green chilies, onion, tomatillos, and garlic. Blend until you form a thick salsa, then add to pork, cook until bubbly, add stock, reduce heat to medium-low, and let simmer for 20 minutes, frequently stirring and add salt and pepper to taste. While it simmers, prepare béchamel.
Make béchamel by heating butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add flour then stir and cook for about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and slowly whisk in milk, cooking until thick and bubbly.
Add ½ cup cheddar and the Parmesan, stir until melted, then add jalapeños. Check for salt and add a pinch if needed. Turn heat down to low.
Preheat broiler. Place baked tater tots on a broiler-safe tray or platter, drizzle béchamel over the top, add chili verde, and top with 1 cup remaining shredded cheddar. Broil until golden.
Top with sour cream and sprinkle with piment d'espelette and cilantro. Enjoy this with cerveza while watching football with friends.
Save and print the recipe here.
By Alexandra V. Jones.
