Acúmara Tatemada al Comal

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large comal de barro or cast iron comal set over leña, carbón, or a strong gas flame
• •Volcanic stone molcajete for grinding the atápakua
• •Small black-clay cazuela from Patamban or heavy saucepan for cooking the sauce
• •Wide spatula and tongs
• •Capula or Tzintzuntzan loza de barro plate for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Source the fish

   Use acúmara only if it is legally caught or responsibly raised from the Lake Pátzcuaro region. Ask the fish seller where it came from. If they cannot name the ribera, do not buy it. This fish is not a generic white fish with a prettier name. Rinse the cleaned fish, check that the gills are removed, and leave the head, tail, spine, and espinas in place.

2. 2

   Salt and rest

   Pat the acúmara very dry. Make two shallow diagonal cuts on each side, just through the skin and into the flesh, not down to the bone. Rub each fish inside and out with sal de grano. Tuck one sprig of epazote into each cavity, adding nurite if you have it. Let the fish rest at room temperature for 20 minutes while the fire settles. Dry fish chars. Wet fish tears.

   Nurite is a P'urhépecha monte herb with a resinous, anise-like fragrance. If you are outside Michoacán and cannot find it, use epazote alone. That is a compromise, not the same dish.
3. 3

   Tatemar the vegetables

   Set a comal over leña or carbón until it holds steady medium-high heat. Place the tomatillos, jitomate, chile perón, chile serrano, garlic, and onion slices directly on the dry comal. Turn them with tongs until the skins blister, black spots appear, and the tomatillos soften enough to collapse slightly. The chile perón should smell fruity before it smells sharp. If it burns black all over, throw it out and use another.

4. 4

   Grind the atápakua

   Peel the garlic. In a molcajete, grind the garlic with 1/2 teaspoon sal de grano until it becomes a paste. Add the chile perón and serrano, then the tomatillos, jitomate, and onion. Work them into a rough sauce, not a blender puree. Transfer to a small black-clay cazuela or heavy saucepan. Stir in the fresh masa or masa harina slurry and the chopped epazote.

5. 5

   Cook the sauce

   Set the cazuela over medium heat and cook the atápakua for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the masa loses its raw taste and the sauce lightly coats the spoon. It should be loose enough to spoon beside the fish, not thick like porridge. Taste for salt. This is P'urhépecha atápakua logic: vegetable, chile, corn body, herb. Not a bottled salsa pretending to help.

6. 6

   Heat the comal

   Wipe the comal clean and let it heat again over the fire. Sprinkle a few grains of salt where the fish will sit. Do not add oil and do not use foil. The skin needs direct contact with the hot surface so it can tighten and release. Cooking on foil gives you soft fish in a wrapper. That is not tatemado.

7. 7

   Tatemar the acúmara

   Lay the fish on the hot comal with space between them. Cook without moving for 5 to 7 minutes, depending on thickness. When the skin has dark patches, the edges around the fins crisp, and the fish releases with a wide spatula, turn it once. Cook the second side 4 to 6 minutes more. The flesh near the shoulder should flake when pressed, the eye should be opaque, and a thermometer at the thickest part should read 145F if you use one. Así se hace y punto.

   If the fish sticks, wait. Fish skin releases when it is ready. Forcing it early tears the flesh and leaves the best part on the comal.
8. 8

   Serve whole

   Spoon the warm atápakua onto a Capula or Tzintzuntzan barro plate and place the whole acúmara beside it, or serve the sauce in a small cazuelita at the table. Warm the corn tortillas on the same comal. Eat with your hands and a tortilla, lifting the flesh along the spine and watching for fine bones. The espinas are part of the plate's truth, not a mistake.

Chef Tips

• •Acúmara is tied to Lake Pátzcuaro and the fishery has been pressured by habitat loss, pollution, and introduced species. Buy only from a legal, local source. If you are not in Michoacán, use a small whole farmed trout as a practical substitute, but do not call it acúmara. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Chile perón is the right chile for this Michoacán table. It has fruit and heat. If you cannot find it, use chile manzano. If you use jalapeño because it was easy, you changed the flavor map.
• •The atápakua should sit beside the fish, not drown it. This dish is about the lago first. The sauce carries the milpa and the monte to the plate.
• •A gas stove with a cast iron comal will work, but leña changes the skin. At Janitzio, the fire is not decoration. It is technique.
• •Do not fillet the fish before cooking. The bones protect the flesh, keep the shape, and remind you this is a lake dish, not a supermarket portion.

Advance Preparation

• •The atápakua can be made up to one day ahead and reheated gently with a splash of water. The epazote flavor settles overnight, so taste again for salt before serving.
• •The fish can be cleaned up to 4 hours ahead and kept cold, uncovered or loosely covered, so the skin dries. Salt it only 20 minutes before it goes on the comal.
• •Tortilla masa can be prepared the morning of serving. Press and cook the tortillas while the fish rests for two minutes off the comal.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 330g)