Bocoles con Huevo Huastecos

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron comal or thick steel comal
• •Small clay cazuela or heavy skillet for the beans
• •Volcanic stone molcajete or blender
• •Tortilla press lined with plastic, optional
• •Cotton servilleta or clean kitchen towel

Instructions

1. 1

   Work the masa

   Put the fresh masa in a bowl and break it up with your fingers. Add the softened manteca de cerdo and fine sea salt. Knead with the heel of your hand until the lard disappears into the masa and the dough feels smooth, soft, and slightly rich under your palm. If it cracks at the edges, add warm water one tablespoon at a time. If you had to use masa harina, hydrate it first and let it rest 20 minutes before adding the lard. That rest matters.

   Do not replace the lard with oil. Oil coats the masa. Lard becomes part of it. That is why a proper bocol splits cleanly and eats tender instead of dry.
2. 2

   Prepare the beans

   Melt 1 tablespoon manteca de cerdo in a small cazuela or skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped white onion and cook until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the black beans, bean broth, epazote, and salt. Mash only half the beans with the back of a spoon, then simmer 6 to 8 minutes until thick but still spoonable. Remove the epazote sprig. The beans should taste of corn's old companion: black bean, herb, salt, and fat.

3. 3

   Make serrano salsa

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Roast the tomatillos, chile serrano, and unpeeled garlic, turning until the tomatillos soften and get dark freckles, the serranos blister, and the garlic smells sweet. Peel the garlic. Grind everything in a molcajete with the cilantro and salt, or pulse in a blender with 1 tablespoon water only if it needs help moving. Do not make it watery. This salsa is for spooning inside a bocol, not drowning it.

4. 4

   Shape the bocoles

   Divide the masa into 8 equal balls. Pat each one by hand into a thick round, about 3 1/2 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick. Keep the edges neat but do not chase perfection. A bocol should look hand-pressed. If you use a tortilla press, press lightly between plastic just to start the shape, then finish with your hands. Thin bocoles are not bocoles. Así se hace y punto.

5. 5

   Cook on the comal

   Set the comal over medium-low heat. Cook the bocoles in batches, 5 to 6 minutes per side, turning only when the surface releases easily and shows toasted brown spots. They should feel firm at the edges and no longer smell like raw masa. If the outside browns too fast, lower the heat. The center needs time. This is the step that tells me whether you are cooking or just rushing.

6. 6

   Scramble the eggs

   Beat the eggs with 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt. Melt 1 tablespoon manteca de cerdo in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add the eggs and stir slowly until they form soft curds that are just set and still glossy. Pull them off the heat before they dry out. The bocol is sturdy, but the filling should stay tender.

7. 7

   Split and fill

   While the bocoles are still warm, open each one from the side with a small knife, making a pocket without cutting all the way through. Spread in a spoonful of black beans, add scrambled egg, then spoon in the salsa de chile serrano. Add queso fresco if using. Serve immediately on a clay plate with more salsa at the table and black coffee in a jarro. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •The best bocol starts with fresh masa from a molino or tortillería. Masa harina works when there is no molino near you, but it is a compromise, not an upgrade. Rest it after hydrating or it will crack on the comal.
• •Use black beans with their broth. Drained canned beans will behave like paste unless you give them liquid and epazote. If canned beans are what you have, add a splash of water and cook them hard with onion, lard, and fresh epazote so they taste like something.
• •The Huasteca crosses state lines, so you will see bocoles in San Luis Potosí, Hidalgo, Tamaulipas, and Veracruz. This one is Veracruz: black beans, egg, serrano salsa, and coffee. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
• •If the tomatillos at the market are pale, hard, and sour in a bad way, make a smaller salsa with roasted chile serrano, garlic, cilantro, and salt. Cook what the market is selling today.

Advance Preparation

• •The black beans can be cooked up to 3 days ahead and reheated with a splash of bean broth before filling.
• •The salsa de chile serrano can be made 1 day ahead, though it tastes brighter the day it is ground.
• •The bocoles can be shaped, cooked, cooled, and refrigerated 1 day ahead. Reheat them on a dry comal until flexible, then split and fill. Do not split them cold.
• •Scramble the eggs just before serving. Reheated eggs turn tight and dry, and no señora in Tantoyuca would forgive that.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 320g)