Bocoles Huastecos con Cecina Enchilada

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron comal or heavy 12-inch skillet
• •Wide mixing bowl for kneading the masa
• •Plastic wrap or a tortilla press lined with plastic for shaping
• •Sharp serrated knife for splitting the bocoles
• •Hand-woven cotton servilleta and a basket for holding the bocoles warm

Instructions

1. 1

   Build the bocol masa

   Place the masa in a wide bowl. Add the mashed frijoles negros, the manteca de cerdo, and 1 teaspoon of the salt. Knead with your hands for three or four minutes, the way the women in Huejutla do it, until the dough is uniform, the color of wet earth, and the bean and lard are completely worked through. If the masa feels stiff or cracks at the edges, add a tablespoon of the reserved bean broth. The dough should be soft but not sticky, holding the print of your finger without collapsing.

   Masa fresca from a tortilleria is the right starting point. If you have to use masa harina, hydrate it ten minutes before kneading in the beans and lard. Dry masa will crack on the comal and the bocol will fall apart when you split it.
2. 2

   Shape the bocoles

   Divide the masa into 12 equal balls, about the size of a small lime. Roll each one smooth between your palms, then flatten into a thick disc about three inches across and almost half an inch thick. Bocoles are not tortillas. They are thick. The interior has to stay tender after the outside crisps on the comal.

3. 3

   Make the chile rub for the cecina

   If your cecina did not come already enchilada from the carniceria, build the rub now. Toast the guajillo, ancho, and morita on a dry comal over medium heat, about 20 seconds per side, until they puff and smell awake. Soak in hot, not boiling, water for 15 minutes. Drain and blend with the garlic, white onion, oregano, cumin, vinegar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt until you have a thick paste. Rub it into the cecina on both sides and let it sit while you cook the bocoles. If your butcher already sold you cecina enchilada, skip this step. Hidalgo butchers know what they are doing.

4. 4

   Toast the bocoles on the comal

   Heat a cast iron comal or heavy skillet over medium for several minutes. Rub it with a thin film of manteca. Lay the bocoles on the comal, leaving space between them. Cook for four to five minutes per side. The outside should turn deep golden with dark freckles where the lard caught the heat, and the surface will firm up while the inside stays soft. Press lightly with a spatula to check: a bocol that is ready feels firm at the edge and gives a little at the center. La cocina no es decoracion, es trabajo. Move them to a basket lined with a servilleta as they come off the comal.

   Do not crowd the comal. A crowded comal steams the masa and you lose the toasted crust that defines a bocol. Work in two batches if you must.
5. 5

   Sear the cecina enchilada

   Raise the heat on the comal to medium-high. Add a small spoonful of manteca and lay the cecina down flat. It is thin, almost paper, so it cooks fast. Forty-five seconds to a minute per side, until the edges curl, the chile rub darkens, and the meat is just cooked through. Pull it off and let it rest one minute on a board, then slice or tear into rough strips. Cecina that sits on the comal too long turns to leather. No me vengas con atajos: watch the meat, do not walk away.

6. 6

   Split, stuff, and serve

   Take one warm bocol at a time. Slice it open along the edge like a pita, leaving a hinge on one side. The inside should be soft and steamy, the color of the masa darkened by the frijoles. Stuff with a few strips of cecina enchilada, a generous pinch of queso fresco crumbled in, a spoonful of crema, a little chopped white onion, and a scatter of cilantro. Pass the salsa verde and the lime at the table. Eat with your hands, standing if that is how it lands in your kitchen. This is morning street food. It does not wait for forks.

Chef Tips

• •Buy masa fresca from a tortilleria if you have one within driving distance. The difference between fresh masa and reconstituted masa harina is the difference between a bocol that tastes like corn and one that tastes like a cracker. If only masa harina is available, Maseca is fine, but hydrate it fully and knead the lard in by hand. No shortcuts on the kneading.
• •Cecina enchilada from a Mexican carniceria is the right answer if you can get it. Hidalgo and Morelos butchers in Mexican neighborhoods of US cities sell it ready to cook. If you cannot find it, the rub in the recipe is the one I learned from a senora in Huejutla. It works. Do not substitute beef jerky. That is not the same thing and it never will be.
• •The frijoles in the masa should be cooked with onion, garlic, and a few leaves of epazote if you have them. If you are starting from canned beans, drain them, rinse them, and mash them with a little of their liquid. The bean is structural here, not just flavor. Use frijoles negros, not pintos. The Huasteca cooks with black beans.

Advance Preparation

• •The masa can be mixed with the beans and lard up to four hours ahead and held covered at room temperature. Past that, refrigerate it, but bring it back to room temperature before shaping or the bocoles will crack on the comal.
• •The chile rub for the cecina can be made two days ahead and refrigerated. The rubbed cecina itself is best cooked the day it is rubbed, but it will hold overnight in the refrigerator with the paste already on it.
• •Cooked bocoles can be reheated on a dry comal for a minute per side the next morning. They are not as good as fresh, but they are still good. Do not microwave them. The masa turns to glue.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 265g)