Chef Lupita
Atole Agrio Chiapaneco
Los Altos de Chiapas turns two-night fermented white corn into a tart-sweet atole, cooked with canela and piloncillo, then poured hot into jícaras for desayuno.
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Cecina Chiapaneca con Huevo y Frijol
Created by
Chiapas breakfast from the Maya south: thin pork cecina salted and air-dried, seared quickly on a hot comal, served with chipilín-scrambled eggs, refried black beans, tortillas, and chile simojovel chirmol.
Breakfast & Brunch
Mexican
Weeknight
Comfort Food
Make Ahead
45 min
Active Time
2 hr 45 min cook•15 hr 30 min total
Yield4 servings
Chiapas, the Maya south, owns this breakfast in the markets around Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapa de Corzo, San Cristóbal, and Comitán. Thin pork sheets are salted, perfumed with garlic and naranja agria, left to orear in moving air, then seared hard on a comal before they ever reach the plate. Beside them go frijol negro, huevo revuelto with chipilín, and a cooked chirmol of chile simojovel. This is not food from a single Mexico. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
The women who taught me this did not treat cecina like a garnish. They stretched the pork thin so the salt could travel fast and the surface could dry without turning tough. That is the technique. You are not making jerky. You are making cecina oreada, meat with a dry surface, a firm edge, and enough tenderness left to eat at breakfast with tortillas.
Chirmol matters here. It is a cooked salsa, not raw pico de gallo with a regional name. The tomatoes hit the comal, the chile simojovel wakes up in seconds, and the molcajete finishes what the heat started. The beans take manteca de cerdo because beans fried in water are punishment, not breakfast. La manteca es el sabor.
My mother was from Jalisco, so her notebook did not carry this recipe. I learned it in Chiapas from market cooks who watched my hands before they trusted my questions. They served it on dark clay with tortillas wrapped in a servilleta and no decorative nonsense. La cocina no es decoración, es trabajo.
Chiapas cecina grew from salting and orear techniques used before refrigeration, with thin cuts drying in the moving air of the Central Depression and Los Altos; pork became part of the region's everyday cooking after Spanish pigs were introduced in the 16th century. It differs from Morelos's cecina de Yecapixtla, which is usually beef, very wide, and sold in large sheets, while the Chiapas breakfast version is often pork, cut thinner, and served with black beans and eggs. Chile simojovel takes its name from Simojovel in northern Chiapas, and its use in chirmol ties this plate to the state's local chile economy rather than to a generic national salsa.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
boneless pork loin or pork leg
Quantity
1 1/2 pounds
very cold, sliced into 1/8-inch sheets
fine sea salt or crushed sal de grano
Quantity
2 tablespoons, divided, plus more to taste
garlic cloves
Quantity
3
crushed to a paste
naranja agria juice
Quantity
3 tablespoons, divided
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
dried frijol negro
Quantity
1 1/2 cups
rinsed and picked over
water
Quantity
7 cups, plus more as needed
white onion
Quantity
1/2 medium
for the beans
garlic cloves
Quantity
2
peeled, for the beans
fresh epazote
Quantity
1 sprig
hoja de momo, also called hoja santa (optional)
Quantity
1 small leaf
bruised
manteca de cerdo
Quantity
4 tablespoons
divided
white onion
Quantity
1/4 medium
finely chopped, for refrying the beans
ripe plum tomatoes
Quantity
4
dried chile simojovel
Quantity
3
stemmed
white onion
Quantity
1/4 medium
thickly sliced, for the chirmol
garlic clove
Quantity
1
unpeeled, for the chirmol
cilantro criollo
Quantity
2 tablespoons
chopped
large eggs
Quantity
8
white onion
Quantity
2 tablespoons
finely chopped, for the eggs
fresh chipilín leaves
Quantity
1/3 cup
tough stems removed and chopped
hand-pressed nixtamal corn tortillas
Quantity
12
warmed
queso doble crema de Chiapas (optional)
Quantity
1/2 cup
crumbled, for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| boneless pork loin or pork legvery cold, sliced into 1/8-inch sheets | 1 1/2 pounds |
| fine sea salt or crushed sal de grano | 2 tablespoons, divided, plus more to taste |
| garlic clovescrushed to a paste | 3 |
| naranja agria juice | 3 tablespoons, divided |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1/2 teaspoon |
| dried frijol negrorinsed and picked over | 1 1/2 cups |
| water | 7 cups, plus more as needed |
| white onionfor the beans | 1/2 medium |
| garlic clovespeeled, for the beans | 2 |
| fresh epazote | 1 sprig |
| hoja de momo, also called hoja santa (optional)bruised | 1 small leaf |
| manteca de cerdodivided | 4 tablespoons |
| white onionfinely chopped, for refrying the beans | 1/4 medium |
| ripe plum tomatoes | 4 |
| dried chile simojovelstemmed | 3 |
| white onionthickly sliced, for the chirmol | 1/4 medium |
| garlic cloveunpeeled, for the chirmol | 1 |
| cilantro criollochopped | 2 tablespoons |
| large eggs | 8 |
| white onionfinely chopped, for the eggs | 2 tablespoons |
| fresh chipilín leavestough stems removed and chopped | 1/3 cup |
| hand-pressed nixtamal corn tortillaswarmed | 12 |
| queso doble crema de Chiapas (optional)crumbled, for serving | 1/2 cup |
Equipment Needed
- •Cast iron comal or heavy steel comal
- •Wire rack set over a rimmed sheet pan
- •Clay olla or heavy 4-quart pot for beans
- •Volcanic stone molcajete
- •Amatenango del Valle clay plate or Chamula-glazed serving plate
Instructions
- 1
Slice the pork
Chill the pork until firm, about 25 minutes in the freezer, then slice it into wide sheets about 1/8 inch thick. Pound any thick spots between two pieces of parchment until the meat is even. Thin matters here. The salt needs to travel quickly, and the comal needs to cook the pork before it dries into leather.
Ask a butcher to slice the pork on a meat slicer if you can. Tell them cecina, thin sheets, not stew meat. If they hand you cubes, they did not listen. - 2
Season the cecina
Mix 1 tablespoon of the salt with the garlic paste, 2 tablespoons of the naranja agria juice, and the black pepper. Rub this mixture lightly over both sides of the pork sheets. Lay the pieces flat on a wire rack set over a sheet pan. Do not stack them. Stacked meat sweats, and sweat is the enemy of cecina.
- 3
Dry the meat
Refrigerate the pork uncovered for 12 hours, or up to 18 hours, until the surface feels tacky and the edges look slightly darker and firmer. In Chiapa de Corzo a screened patio and moving morning air do this work. In a modern kitchen, the refrigerator gives you clean, controlled air. This is cecina oreada, not shelf-stable jerky.
Do not leave raw pork drying on a warm counter. If your kitchen is hot or humid, use the refrigerator. Tradition has intelligence behind it, not recklessness. - 4
Cook the beans
Put the frijol negro, water, half onion, 2 garlic cloves, epazote, and hoja de momo in a clay olla or heavy pot. Bring to a boil, then lower to a steady simmer. Cook until the beans are creamy inside, 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours 30 minutes, adding hot water if the level drops below the beans. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons salt only after the beans have softened. Salt early and old beans stay stubborn. Ask the women at the market, they will tell you the same.
- 5
Make the chirmol
Heat a dry comal over medium. Roast the tomatoes, the thick onion slices, and the unpeeled garlic until blistered and dark in spots. Toast the chile simojovel separately for only a few seconds per side, just until fragrant. Peel the garlic. Grind the chile and salt in a molcajete, then work in the garlic, onion, and tomatoes until you have a rough cooked salsa. Stir in the cilantro and the remaining 1 tablespoon naranja agria juice. Chirmol is a cooked salsa, not raw pico de gallo with a regional name. Así se hace y punto.
Chile simojovel is small and quick to burn. If it turns black, throw it out. Burned chile makes bitter chirmol, and there is no fixing it with more tomato. - 6
Refry the beans
Remove the cooked onion, garlic, epazote, and hoja de momo from the beans. Melt 2 tablespoons manteca de cerdo in a skillet or shallow cazuela. Add the finely chopped onion and cook until translucent. Add 3 cups cooked beans with about 3/4 cup of their broth. Mash some beans against the side of the pan and leave some whole. Cook until glossy and thick enough to hold a spoon mark. Beans fried without manteca have no body. La manteca es el sabor.
- 7
Grill the cecina
Heat the comal over medium-high until a drop of water skitters across the surface. Rub it with 1 tablespoon manteca de cerdo. Lay down the cecina in a single layer and cook 1 to 2 minutes per side, until the edges curl, the surface browns in patches, and there is no translucent pink at the thickest fold. Do not crowd the comal. Cecina needs direct heat, not a pile of meat steaming in its own juice.
- 8
Scramble the eggs
Beat the eggs with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Melt the last 1 tablespoon manteca in a skillet over medium-low heat. Cook the 2 tablespoons chopped onion until soft, then add the chipilín and stir just until it darkens and smells green. Add the eggs and move them slowly with a wooden spoon. Pull them off while the curds are still soft. Overcooked eggs are dry before they reach the table.
- 9
Serve the plate
Warm the tortillas on the comal until puffed in spots and soft at the center. Plate the cecina with the chipilín eggs and a generous spoon of frijol negro. Spoon chirmol beside the meat, not over everything like you are hiding mistakes. Add queso doble crema de Chiapas over the beans if using. Serve on clay, with tortillas wrapped in a servilleta. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.
Chef Tips
- •If you find real cecina chiapaneca from a trusted Mexican butcher, buy it and start at the comal step. Ask whether it is pork and whether it has already been salted. Morelos-style beef cecina is good food, but it is not this breakfast.
- •Chile simojovel is worth looking for in Chiapas stalls, Mexican specialty markets, or online chile vendors. If you cannot find it, use chile de árbol for sharp heat and one small chile morita for depth. That is a compromise, not an upgrade.
- •Chipilín has a green, mineral flavor that spinach cannot imitate. If you cannot find chipilín, leave the eggs plain with onion. Do not put spinach in the skillet and call it Chiapas.
- •Hoja de momo perfumes the beans with a soft anise note. If your market does not have it, use epazote alone. Do not replace it with basil. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado.
- •This cecina is not shelf-stable. After drying it in the refrigerator, cook it within 24 hours or freeze it flat between parchment sheets for up to one month.
- •A pressure cooker works for the beans. Cook the frijol negro with the onion, garlic, epazote, hoja de momo, and water for 35 to 40 minutes under pressure, then salt after opening. I will give you a shortcut when the shortcut respects the dish.
Advance Preparation
- •Salt and dry the cecina the night before. That is the point of the dish. Breakfast should only require the comal, the eggs, and the beans.
- •The frijol negro can be cooked up to 3 days ahead. Refrigerate it in its broth and refry only what you need.
- •The chirmol can be made 1 day ahead, but it tastes cleaner the same morning. Let it come to room temperature before serving.
- •Do not scramble the eggs ahead. Eggs wait for nobody, and chipilín turns dull if it sits too long.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 600g)
Calories
1020 calories
Total Fat
39 g
Saturated Fat
14 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
25 g
Cholesterol
515 mg
Sodium
3830 mg
Total Carbohydrates
93 g
Dietary Fiber
19 g
Sugars
7 g
Protein
73 g
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