Chanfaina Chiapacorceña

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 8-quart stockpot
• •Wide clay cazuela from Amatenango del Valle or heavy Dutch oven
• •Cast iron comal
• •Molcajete or spice grinder
• •Blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer for the broth

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean the offal

   Rub the tripe with the coarse salt and the cut sides of the limes until the slickness starts to leave the surface. Rinse well under cold water. Rinse the heart and bofe, if using, and keep the liver separate. This is not a polite ingredient. Clean it properly or the whole pot will tell on you.

   If the panza still smells harsh after rinsing, rub it again with salt and lime. Do not hide bad cleaning under more spice. Start at the sink, not the stove.
2. 2

   Simmer the tough cuts

   Put the tripe, heart, and bofe in a heavy stockpot with the water, halved onion, halved head of garlic, bay leaves, and kosher salt. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, skimming the gray foam during the first 20 minutes. Lower the heat and cook for about 2 1/2 hours, until the tripe is tender and the heart can be pierced easily with a knife.

   Do not boil it hard. A violent boil toughens offal and makes the broth cloudy. Lazy bubbles are what you want.
3. 3

   Add the liver

   Add the liver to the pot during the last 20 to 25 minutes of cooking. It should cook through and firm up without turning chalky. Lift all the meats onto a tray and let them cool enough to handle. Strain the broth and reserve at least 6 cups. Cut the tripe, heart, bofe, and liver into small 1/2-inch pieces.

4. 4

   Toast the thickener

   Toast the bolillo crumbs, canela, cloves, peppercorns, thyme, and oregano on a dry comal for 2 to 3 minutes, moving them constantly. The bread should smell nutty and the spices should wake up, not burn. Grind everything in a molcajete or spice grinder until fine. This pan molido is the body of the stew. Cornstarch has no business here.

5. 5

   Blend the sauce

   Roast the jitomates and garlic cloves on the comal until the skins blister and dark spots appear. Blend the roasted jitomates, roasted garlic, ground bread and spice mixture, and 2 cups of the reserved broth until smooth. Do not strain it. The bread belongs in the cazuela because it gives the caldo that dark, thick pull on the spoon.

6. 6

   Fry the base

   Melt the manteca de cerdo in a wide clay cazuela or heavy Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook until the edges turn golden. Pour in the blended tomato and bread sauce. It will sputter. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring often, until the sauce darkens and the lard begins to show at the edges. La manteca es el sabor.

   Bread catches on the bottom of the pot. Scrape with a wooden spoon and keep the heat at medium. Burned bread will make the whole stew bitter.
7. 7

   Simmer with vísceras

   Add the chopped offal to the cazuela and stir until every piece is coated in the sauce. Add 4 cups of the reserved broth and bring it back to a gentle simmer. Cook uncovered for 40 to 45 minutes, stirring from the bottom every few minutes. Add more broth if it tightens too much. Chanfaina should be thick, but still eaten with a spoon.

8. 8

   Rest and serve

   Taste for salt, then let the chanfaina rest off the heat for 15 minutes so the pan molido settles into the broth. Serve from the cazuela with warm corn tortillas and chile amashito crushed with salt and lime at the table. A good spoonful carries panza, heart, liver, and dark tomato-spice broth. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Buy the offal from a serious carnicería or tripería, not a supermarket tray wrapped three days ago. Ask when it was cleaned. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado. If the vendor cannot answer, go somewhere else.
• •This Chiapa de Corzo stew is not chile-forward. Do not add guajillo or ancho because you think every Mexican stew needs a red chile base. The chile amashito is for the table. The cazuela belongs to jitomate, canela, clavo, pan molido, and vísceras.
• •Do not add chipilín, momo, hierba santa, or chaya just because the dish is from Chiapas. Those herbs matter in other Chiapaneco and southern dishes. Chanfaina chiapacorceña is built on offal, bread, lard, and warm spices.
• •In Mexico, ask for bofe de res. In the United States it is not legally sold for human food. Use extra beef heart or beef spleen if your market carries it legally. That is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Use manteca de cerdo. Vegetable oil will fry the tomato, yes, but it will not carry the bread and spices the same way. No me vengas con atajos.

Advance Preparation

• •The offal can be simmered, chopped, and refrigerated with its strained broth 1 day ahead. Keep the meat covered with a little broth so it does not dry out.
• •The finished chanfaina is even better the next day. Reheat gently and add reserved broth or water because the pan molido keeps thickening as it sits.
• •The toasted pan molido and spice mixture can be prepared 3 days ahead and kept airtight. Smell it before using. If it smells flat, toast a fresh batch.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 360g)