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Agua de Chaya Tabasqueña
Created by Chef Lupita
Tabasco's daily green refresher from the Chontalpa, made with blanched chaya leaves, limón criollo, and piloncillo, poured over ice for the kind of heat that makes the kitchen slow down.
Tabasco, especially the Chontalpa and the river country around Nacajuca and Jalpa de Méndez, knows chaya as kitchen medicine and daily food. This is not a decorative green drink. It is what you make when the heat is sitting on the roof and the market has fresh chaya leaves in tight bundles.
Chaya must be blanched. Raw chaya is not something to play with, because the leaves contain compounds that need heat to become safe. The women who taught me this in Tabasco did not discuss it like a laboratory lesson. They said, cook the leaf first, then blend. Así se hace y punto.
The flavor is clean and green, softened by piloncillo and sharpened with limón criollo. Do not bury it under pineapple, cucumber, or mint because you saw a pretty version somewhere. This is agua de chaya tabasqueña. The leaf is the point. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
Ingredients
fresh chaya leaves
Quantity
2 cups
stems removed and leaves rinsed well
water
Quantity
6 cups
divided
grated piloncillo
Quantity
1/2 cup, packed
plus more to taste
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fresh chaya leavesstems removed and leaves rinsed well | 2 cups |
| waterdivided | 6 cups |
| grated piloncilloplus more to taste | 1/2 cup, packed |
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