Charales Fritos Enteros con Lima

Michoacan, the Lake Patzcuaro basin, is where this dish lives. Not in a generic fried-fish basket. On the shore of the Japunda, in the markets of Patzcuaro, Erongaricuaro, and Tzintzuntzan, where small charales from the cold lake water are sold by women who know exactly how long those fish have been out of the net.

The charal is the ingredient that defines the plate: Chirostoma jordani et al., the small fish of the central Mexican lakes, eaten whole because the bones are fine and the flavor is in the whole body. You dry it well, dust it with masa nixtamalizada, pass it through a light capeado, and fry it in manteca de cerdo until the tails turn crisp. La manteca es el sabor. Use shortening and you have chosen blandness with confidence. I cannot help that.

This is P'urhepecha lake cooking, part of the same world that gives Michoacan its corunda, uchepo, jahuacata, tsikanarhikata, kurucha, minguiche, and kamata. The tamal family alone tells you the lesson: corunda is triangular, charicorunda carries chile in the masa, jahuacata layers masa and bean for Candelaria, chapata is sweet with piloncillo and bean, nacatamal appears for Day of the Dead in Angahuan, and toquera belongs to maiz nuevo. Each has its own masa, wrapper, and occasion. Charales have their own rule too: whole, dry, fast, crisp, with lima and chile seco.

I learned this dish from cocineras tradicionales between Uruapan, Patzcuaro, and the Meseta, women who cook over lena because the fire teaches patience and timing. If you have lena, use it. If not, use a comal de barro and a heavy cazuela. The principle does not change. The fish must taste like the lake, the corn, the fat, and the citrus. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.