Cecina Potosina con Frijoles y Huevo

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron comal or heavy skillet
• •Wire rack set over a tray for drying the beef
• •Clay cazuela or heavy skillet for the beans
• •Bean masher
• •Volcanic stone molcajete for salsa

Instructions

1. 1

   Slice the beef

   Ask the butcher for beef sliced as thin as milanesa, then pound it lightly between sheets of parchment until the pieces are almost translucent in spots. Cut across the grain, never with it. Long fibers make chewy cecina, and nobody at a potosino breakfast table is impressed by meat that fights back.

2. 2

   Salt the cecina

   Lay the beef in a single layer on a tray. Sprinkle both sides evenly with the coarse sea salt, black pepper, and crumbled Mexican oregano. Rub with the lime juice. The seasoning should be even, not heavy in patches. Salt is doing the preservation work here, so be precise.

3. 3

   Dry overnight

   Set a rack over a tray and lay the beef on the rack without overlapping. Refrigerate uncovered for 12 to 24 hours, turning once. The surface should darken, feel tacky, and lose its raw wet shine. In the Altiplano they use dry air and shade; in a modern kitchen, the refrigerator gives you controlled drying without inviting trouble.

   Do not dry raw meat outdoors unless you have proper screens, dry weather, and real control over insects and temperature. Tradition is not an excuse for careless food handling.
4. 4

   Fry the beans

   Melt 1 tablespoon of manteca de cerdo in a clay cazuela or heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the white onion and chile serrano and cook until the onion turns translucent. Add the frijoles bayos with their broth and the sprig of epazote. Mash with a bean masher until thick but not dry. Cook until the beans leave a soft trail when you drag the spoon through them. Pull out the epazote stem.

5. 5

   Heat the comal

   Heat a cast iron comal or heavy skillet over medium-high heat until a drop of water jumps and disappears. Brush the surface lightly with a little manteca. The cecina needs fast heat. Too low and it steams in its own moisture. Too long and it turns stiff.

6. 6

   Grill the cecina

   Lay the cecina on the hot comal in batches. Cook 45 to 60 seconds per side, just until the edges brown and curl and the meat smells salty and roasted. Do not crowd the comal. Stack the cooked pieces on a warm plate and keep them covered with a clean cloth. This is quick work, so stay there and pay attention.

7. 7

   Fry the eggs

   Add the remaining manteca to a small skillet over medium-high heat. Crack in the eggs, one or two at a time, and spoon the hot fat over the whites until the edges turn lacy and the yolks stay soft. Salt lightly. The yolk is part of the sauce for the beans, so do not cook it hard unless someone at your table insists.

8. 8

   Serve the almuerzo

   Spoon a generous mound of refried frijoles bayos onto each plate. Add a folded piece of cecina and set a huevo estrellado beside it, with the crisp edge touching the beans. Serve with warm corn tortillas, salsa de molcajete, and lime wedges. The plate is plain because the cooking is doing the talking. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Use frijoles bayos, not black beans. In San Luis Potosí and the Bajío, bayo beans are part of the table. They turn creamy when refried and hold up to the salt of the cecina.
• •The beef must be thin. If your butcher gives you thick steaks, you are not making cecina, you are making salted bistec. Ask again or pound it properly at home.
• •Manteca de cerdo matters in the beans and the eggs. Vegetable oil will cook them, yes, but it will not give the same rounded flavor. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •If your kitchen is humid, dry the cecina only in the refrigerator. The goal is a tacky cured surface, not fully dehydrated meat. It should still cook tender on the comal.
• •The salsa should be from the molcajete if you have one: roasted jitomate, chile serrano, garlic, and salt. A blender salsa works in a hurry, but the molcajete gives texture the comal-cooked meat deserves.

Advance Preparation

• •The cecina must be salted and dried 12 to 24 hours ahead. Once dried, keep it covered in the refrigerator and cook it within 2 days.
• •Frijoles bayos can be cooked up to 3 days ahead. Refry them the morning you serve the dish, with fresh manteca, onion, serrano, and epazote.
• •Salsa de molcajete can be made the night before, but it tastes brighter the same day. Roast the jitomate, chile serrano, and garlic on the comal, then grind with salt.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 410g)