Chef Lupita
Carne Salada con Chaya Tabasqueña
Tabasco's salt-cured beef braised with chaya, ripe plantain, chile dulce, and epazote, a humid lowland dish built for the pot, the patio garden, and a stack of warm corn tortillas.
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Asado Chiapaneco de Comitán
Created by
Comitán's special-occasion pork asado, cubed pork loin browned in manteca and braised in a thick chile ancho adobo with tomato, vinegar, olives, raisins, and warm spices.
Main Dishes
Mexican
Special Occasion
Dinner Party
Make Ahead
35 min
Active Time
1 hr 30 min cook•2 hr 5 min total
Yield6 servings
This comes from Chiapas, from Comitán de Domínguez in the highlands near the Guatemalan border, where the table has its own rhythm and its own pride. Asado Chiapaneco de Comitán is not a northern asado and it is not a pot of generic red pork. It is Comiteco pork in a thick adobo of chile ancho, tomato, vinegar, bread, and warm spices, the plato fuerte that can sit proudly in the center of a Sunday table.
The chile ancho gives the sauce its deep red-brown color and dried-fruit sweetness. The vinegar cuts through the lean pork loin. The bread gives body. The olives and raisins tell you something about Chiapas, about trade routes, convent kitchens, ranch tables, and women who understood how to make a special dish from practical ingredients. I learned versions of this from señoras who cooked by smell, not by measuring spoons, but they all watched the same thing: the sauce must be fried until the raw chile disappears and the fat shines at the edge.
Do not confuse this with a fiery dish. Not all Mexican food is trying to burn your mouth. This asado is about balance: ancho, tomato, sourness, sweetness, spice, and pork. If the sauce is thin, you rushed it. If the chile tastes dusty, you didn't toast it. La cocina no es decoración, es trabajo. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.
Comitán de Domínguez sits in the border highlands of Chiapas, a region shaped by Maya communities, colonial cattle routes, Dominican missions, and commerce with Guatemala. Asados of pork in chile-vinegar adobos became established in Chiapaneco festive cooking during the colonial period, when Spanish-introduced pigs, wheat bread, olives, raisins, cloves, cinnamon, and vinegar met native chile sauces. The Comiteco version is distinct from the better-known asados of San Cristóbal and central Chiapas because it favors chile ancho, a thickened adobo, and a sweet-sour balance suited to family celebrations rather than market tacos.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
pork loin
Quantity
2 1/2 pounds
cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
kosher salt
Quantity
1 1/2 teaspoons, plus more to taste
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
manteca de cerdo (pork lard)
Quantity
3 tablespoons
dried chile ancho
Quantity
5
stemmed and seeded
ripe Roma tomatoes
Quantity
3
white onion
Quantity
1/2 medium
garlic cloves
Quantity
4
unpeeled
small bolillo or thick slice day-old white bread
Quantity
1
apple cider vinegar
Quantity
1/3 cup
pork broth or water
Quantity
1 cup, plus more as needed
dried thyme
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
dried Mexican oregano
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
bay leaves
Quantity
2
small cinnamon stick
Quantity
1, about 2 inches
whole cloves
Quantity
3
whole allspice berries
Quantity
4
whole black peppercorns
Quantity
6
piloncillo or dark brown sugar
Quantity
1 tablespoon
pitted green olives
Quantity
1/2 cup
rinsed
raisins
Quantity
1/3 cup
warm corn tortillas (optional)
Quantity
for serving
white rice (optional)
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| pork loincut into 1 1/2-inch cubes | 2 1/2 pounds |
| kosher salt | 1 1/2 teaspoons, plus more to taste |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1/2 teaspoon |
| manteca de cerdo (pork lard) | 3 tablespoons |
| dried chile anchostemmed and seeded | 5 |
| ripe Roma tomatoes | 3 |
| white onion | 1/2 medium |
| garlic clovesunpeeled | 4 |
| small bolillo or thick slice day-old white bread | 1 |
| apple cider vinegar | 1/3 cup |
| pork broth or water | 1 cup, plus more as needed |
| dried thyme | 1/2 teaspoon |
| dried Mexican oregano | 1/2 teaspoon |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| small cinnamon stick | 1, about 2 inches |
| whole cloves | 3 |
| whole allspice berries | 4 |
| whole black peppercorns | 6 |
| piloncillo or dark brown sugar | 1 tablespoon |
| pitted green olivesrinsed | 1/2 cup |
| raisins | 1/3 cup |
| warm corn tortillas (optional) | for serving |
| white rice (optional) | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Dry comal or heavy skillet for toasting chiles
- •High-powered blender
- •Fine-mesh strainer
- •Wide clay cazuela or heavy Dutch oven
- •Wooden spoon for frying the adobo
Instructions
- 1
Season the pork
Pat the pork loin dry and season it with the salt and black pepper. Let it sit while you prepare the adobo. Pork loin is lean, so browning matters. You need color on the meat before the sauce ever touches it.
- 2
Toast the ancho
Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chile ancho one at a time, about 20 to 30 seconds per side, pressing lightly with tongs until the skin softens and smells deep, sweet, and raisiny. Do not blacken them. Burned ancho turns the whole cazuela bitter, and no amount of vinegar will save it.
Good chile ancho should be flexible and smell like dried fruit and tobacco. If it cracks like old paper, pregúntale a las señoras del mercado and buy from a better chile vendor. - 3
Soak the chiles
Put the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover them with hot water. Hot, not boiling. Let them soak for 20 minutes until the flesh softens. Drain them and save 1/2 cup of the soaking liquid only if it tastes clean. If it tastes harsh, use pork broth instead.
- 4
Roast the vegetables
On the same comal, roast the tomatoes, onion, and unpeeled garlic until the tomato skins blister, the onion has browned edges, and the garlic is soft inside its skin. Peel the garlic. Toast the bolillo or bread on the comal until dry and golden. The bread thickens the adobo the way Comiteca home cooks do it, not with flour.
- 5
Blend the adobo
Blend the soaked chile ancho, roasted tomatoes, onion, peeled garlic, toasted bread, vinegar, broth, thyme, Mexican oregano, cloves, allspice, peppercorns, and piloncillo until completely smooth. Take your time. The sauce should look thick and brick red, with no chile skin floating around. Strain it if your blender leaves texture.
- 6
Brown the pork
Melt the manteca de cerdo in a wide clay cazuela or heavy Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the pork in batches so the pieces sear instead of sweating. You want golden edges on at least two sides. La manteca es el sabor. Vegetable oil will cook the pork, yes, but it will not give this dish the same body.
- 7
Fry the adobo
Lower the heat to medium. Pour the blended adobo into the hot lard left in the cazuela. It will sputter, so stir with discipline. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, scraping the bottom, until the sauce darkens, thickens, and the fat begins to shine at the edges. This is where the chile stops tasting raw. No me vengas con atajos.
- 8
Braise until tender
Return the browned pork and any juices to the cazuela. Add the bay leaves and cinnamon stick. Stir, cover partly, and simmer gently for 45 to 55 minutes, until the pork is tender and the sauce clings to each cube. If the adobo tightens too much, add a splash of broth. This is an asado, not a soup.
- 9
Finish the cazuela
Stir in the olives and raisins during the last 10 minutes. Taste for salt and vinegar. The final sauce should be thick, red-brown, lightly sweet, and gently sharp, with the chile ancho in front and the spices behind it. Pull out the bay leaves and cinnamon stick before serving.
- 10
Serve Comiteco
Serve the asado from the cazuela with white rice and warm corn tortillas. Not flour tortillas. Those belong to the north. Comitán sits in Chiapas, and this table knows corn. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
Chef Tips
- •Use chile ancho that is soft and dark, not brittle. The chile is the spine of the dish. Bad chile gives bad asado. Start at the market, not the stove.
- •Pork loin is traditional in many Comiteca versions because it slices cleanly and makes a proper party dish, but do not overcook it into cotton. Brown it well, then braise gently.
- •The sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon. If it runs like broth, keep simmering uncovered. If it sticks like paste, loosen it with a little pork broth.
- •A clay cazuela gives a softer, steadier heat and looks right on the table. If you use cast iron or enameled Dutch oven, it will work, but watch the bottom because the bread-thickened adobo catches quickly.
Advance Preparation
- •The adobo can be blended one day ahead and refrigerated. Fry it in lard on the cooking day so the chile flavor wakes up properly.
- •The finished asado improves after a night in the refrigerator. Reheat gently in a cazuela with a splash of pork broth so the sauce loosens without thinning too much.
- •If serving for a dinner party, brown the pork and finish the braise earlier in the day, then hold it covered. The sauce settles and tastes deeper after a few hours.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 390g)
Calories
670 calories
Total Fat
24 g
Saturated Fat
7 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
16 g
Cholesterol
130 mg
Sodium
1050 mg
Total Carbohydrates
66 g
Dietary Fiber
7 g
Sugars
12 g
Protein
48 g
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