Chef Lupita
Arroz Jarocho con Plátanos Fritos
Veracruz's Gulf-side white rice, toasted with garlic and onion, cooked until each grain stands apart, then crowned with ripe plátano macho fried in lard.
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Calabaza Guisada Veracruzana
Created by
Veracruz's tropical lowland calabaza guisada, squash stewed in manteca de cerdo with jitomate, onion, garlic, and epazote, served beside black beans and warm corn tortillas.
Side Dishes
Mexican
Weeknight
Comfort Food
Budget Friendly
15 min
Active Time
25 min cook•40 min total
Yield4 to 6 servings
Veracruz, from the market kitchens of Xalapa down through the humid Sotavento, keeps this squash in the everyday pot. This is not the olive-and-caper Veracruz of the port's fish dishes. This is the milpa side: calabacita guisada with jitomate, white onion, garlic, chile jalapeño, and epazote, eaten with frijoles negros and corn tortillas.
At the Mercado Hidalgo in the puerto and in homes around Tlacotalpan, I watched women make it in clay cazuelas, never drowning the squash and never pretending it needed cheese to be interesting. They fry the tomato base in manteca de cerdo until the lard shines around the edges, then add only enough black bean broth to help the calabaza soften. That restraint is the technique.
The epazote matters. It ties the squash to the beans on the table and gives the dish that green, sharp smell you recognize before the spoon reaches the plate. Do not reach for pinto beans here. The black bean rules in Veracruz. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
Squash is among Mesoamerica's oldest domesticated crops, with archaeological evidence in Mexico dating back more than 8,000 years, and it entered the Gulf milpa with maize, beans, chile, and native herbs such as epazote. The Veracruz method of guisar calabaza in manteca de cerdo with jitomate, onion, and garlic reflects the post-conquest kitchen: Indigenous squash, chile, and epazote meeting Spanish pork fat and alliums. Chile jalapeño takes its name from Jalapa, now commonly spelled Xalapa, and the smoke-dried form became chile chipotle.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
calabacita criolla or Mexican gray squash
Quantity
2 pounds
trimmed and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
manteca de cerdo
Quantity
2 tablespoons
white onion
Quantity
1 medium
finely chopped
garlic cloves
Quantity
3
finely chopped
fresh chile jalapeño
Quantity
1
stemmed and finely chopped
ripe jitomate saladet or Roma tomatoes
Quantity
1 pound
cored and finely chopped
kosher salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon, plus more to taste
black bean cooking broth or water
Quantity
1/2 cup
fresh epazote
Quantity
2 large sprigs
leaves torn and tender stems chopped
warm hand-pressed corn tortillas (optional)
Quantity
for serving
frijoles negros de olla or refritos (optional)
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| calabacita criolla or Mexican gray squashtrimmed and cut into 3/4-inch pieces | 2 pounds |
| manteca de cerdo | 2 tablespoons |
| white onionfinely chopped | 1 medium |
| garlic clovesfinely chopped | 3 |
| fresh chile jalapeñostemmed and finely chopped | 1 |
| ripe jitomate saladet or Roma tomatoescored and finely chopped | 1 pound |
| kosher salt | 1 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| black bean cooking broth or water | 1/2 cup |
| fresh epazoteleaves torn and tender stems chopped | 2 large sprigs |
| warm hand-pressed corn tortillas (optional) | for serving |
| frijoles negros de olla or refritos (optional) | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •12-inch clay cazuela de barro from Naolinco or a wide heavy skillet
- •Cuchara de palo
- •Sharp knife or box grater for the jitomate
- •Comal for warming corn tortillas
Instructions
- 1
Cut the squash
Trim the calabacita and cut it into 3/4-inch pieces. If the seeds are small and pale, leave them. If the squash is overgrown and the center is spongy, scrape that part out. You want pieces that soften but still hold their shape. Veracruz cooks this as a guiso, not as baby food.
- 2
Fry the base
Set a wide clay cazuela or heavy skillet over medium heat and melt the manteca de cerdo. Add the white onion and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the onion turns glossy and soft at the edges. Add the garlic and chile jalapeño and cook for 1 minute more. The smell should be sharp, green, and savory, not browned.
The chile jalapeño gives fragrance before it gives heat. This dish is not supposed to punish anyone. Not all Mexican food is hot, and Veracruz knows that perfectly well. - 3
Cook the jitomate
Add the chopped jitomate and the salt. Cook uncovered for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until the tomatoes collapse, the juices reduce, and small orange pools of manteca appear around the edges. This is where the guiso gets its body. If you add the squash while the tomato still tastes raw, the whole cazuela will taste unfinished.
- 4
Stew the squash
Fold in the squash pieces until every piece is coated in the tomato base. Pour in the black bean broth, cover, and lower the heat to medium-low. Cook for 8 to 12 minutes, stirring once or twice, until a knife slides into the squash with a little resistance. Do not drown it. Squash releases its own liquid, and a Veracruz guiso should have a small sauce, not a soup.
If you cooked frijoles negros de olla, use their broth. Water works, but it brings nothing with it. The bean broth reminds the dish where it belongs. - 5
Add the epazote
Uncover the cazuela and stir in the torn epazote leaves and chopped tender stems. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, just until the herb darkens and the sauce clings to the squash. Taste for salt. Epazote goes near the end because you want its green bite, not a dull boiled flavor. Así se hace y punto.
- 6
Serve Veracruz style
Let the guiso rest off the heat for 5 minutes, then serve it from the cazuela with warm corn tortillas and frijoles negros de olla or refritos. Flour tortillas belong to the north. Here the tortilla is corn, the bean is black, and the squash tastes like the Gulf kitchen that made it. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.
Chef Tips
- •Buy tender calabacita that feels heavy for its size, with taut skin and small seeds. If all you can find is zucchini, use the smallest ones and understand the compromise. A substitution is not an upgrade.
- •Epazote is not decoration. It is the herb that connects the squash to the black beans on the table. If fresh epazote is impossible to find, use 1 teaspoon dried epazote and add it with the black bean broth.
- •Use manteca de cerdo. Neutral oil will cook the vegetables, yes, but it will not give the jitomate that rounded Veracruz flavor. La manteca es el sabor.
- •If the jitomates are pale and hard, use good canned whole tomatoes and chop them yourself. The market in Veracruz would use ripe fruit. Your supermarket may not be that generous.
- •This is a side dish with discipline. No cream, no cheddar, no avocado garnish. The cazuela needs squash, tomato, jalapeño, epazote, lard, black beans, and tortillas. No me vengas con atajos.
Advance Preparation
- •The jitomate base can be cooked one day ahead. Refrigerate it, then rewarm it in the cazuela before adding the squash.
- •The finished guiso keeps for 3 days in the refrigerator, though the squash softens as it sits. Reheat gently with a splash of black bean broth.
- •Cut the squash up to 6 hours ahead and refrigerate it covered. Do not salt it early or it will throw off too much liquid.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 370g)
Calories
345 calories
Total Fat
10 g
Saturated Fat
3 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
6 g
Cholesterol
5 mg
Sodium
550 mg
Total Carbohydrates
58 g
Dietary Fiber
12 g
Sugars
9 g
Protein
11 g
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