Mayte's Pipián
One of our scholarship student moms, Mayte, was excited to share her recipe for Pipián with us, which has a long history on the Yucatan Peninsula. There are other versions around Mexico but the most common preparation uses a base of ground, roasted pumpkin seeds for its sauce.
Locals love using this recipe when they’re lucky to hunt or come across a freshly hunted tepezcuintle or venison. Even if you can’t find any of this jungle meat yourself, it’s still delicious with pork or chicken.
Mayte had some help from our Spanish students and donors, Lenore and her daughter, Nadia. Nadia has her own food pop-up, Little Kitchen, in New Orleans and is excited to make this when she returns!
Serves 6 - 8
INGREDIENTS:
1¾ lbs of meat (pork stew meat, chicken pieces, turkey, venison - Mayte used bone-in pork ribs cut in chunks)
½ large white onion
3 Roma tomatoes
1 clove of garlic
⅛ cup recado rojo* (achiote paste)
1 large sprig of epazote**
¾ cups ground pumpkin seeds***
½ lb corn masa**** (tortilla dough)
Salt and pepper to taste
PREPARATION:
Place the pork pieces in a large pot filled 2/3 with water and boil for 30-40 minutes.
Meanwhile, chop the onions and tomatoes and smash the garlic.
Set aside ¼ cup of chopped onion and sauté everything else in the vegetable oil.
Dilute the recado rojo in a small bowl with water and mix with your hands or a spoon until it's smooth.
In a separate small bowl, dilute the ground pumpkin seeds in the same manner.
In another separate bowl, dilute the masa as well, removing all the lumps or mix the Maseca corn flour with water until it’s a thick consistency.
Add the liquid pumpkin seed mixture to the pot with the meat by pouring it through a fine sieve.
Add a bit more water as needed.
Depending on how the seeds were ground, there will be thicker particles left in the sieve - discard these.
Add the recado rojo mixture to the pot, passing through the sieve, adding water if needed and discarding leftover particles.
Add the sautéed tomatoes mixture to the cooking pot along with the chopped onions that were set aside.
Add the fresh epazote, no need to chop or remove from the stem.
Add the masa, through a sieve, adding water as needed and discarding remaining particles (if the mixture was made from Maseca, simply add to the broth slowly while mixing).
Be sure to stir the pot so the masa doesn't stick or form lumps.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes or more.
Remove foam that rises to the top and stir occasionally until all the ingredients meld.
Serve with corn tortillas (homemade are the best) and salsa of your choice. We charred a couple of habaneros and a few cloves of garlic and mashed them all together with salt. ¡Buen provecho!
Notes:Check imported food aisles of your grocery store or a Mexican or Latino market to find ingredients.
*Achiote paste is better than dry powder because it's a mix of flavors*
*Epazote is a bit elusive but worth the search. You can replace with cilantro.*
**If you can't find grounded pumpkin seeds or pepitas, get whole raw pumpkin seeds, roast in a dry frying pan and grind in a food processor or blender.**
**Corn masa is what tortillas are made from. You can buy corn flour in a package similar to how wheat flour comes and follow directions to make the masa dough. A common brand sold here and in the US is ‘Maseca’.
If you enjoyed this, don't forget to check out Manuela's Pollo Adobado and Armando's Frijoles recipes which are just as delicious! We post a new local recipe every month, so make sure you're signed up to our newsletter to be the first to hear about it.