Chef Lupita
Arroz Blanco Tabasqueno con Platano
Tabasco's everyday white rice, cooked loose and clean with onion and garlic, then crowned with sweet fried ripe plantain from the lowland kitchen.
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Chiapas Wild Mushrooms with Hoja Santa
Created by
Los Altos de Chiapas in a clay cazuela: rain-season mushrooms, hoja santa called momo, epazote, tomato, and chile simojovel cooked quickly in lard until the forest smell comes forward.
Side Dishes
Mexican
Special Occasion
Comfort Food
25 min
Active Time
18 min cook•43 min total
Yield4 to 6 servings
This comes from Los Altos de Chiapas, from the markets around San Cristobal de las Casas, San Juan Chamula, and Zinacantan, where the rains bring baskets of wild mushrooms down from the pine-oak forests. The women selling them know which ones are good today, which ones need a longer cook, and which ones you leave alone. Preguntale a las senoras del mercado. With mushrooms, pride is not enough. Knowledge keeps you alive.
Hoja santa is called momo in much of Chiapas, and that leaf is the identity of the dish. It smells of anise, pepper, and wet earth, but it does not behave like parsley or cilantro. You do not throw it in raw at the end like decoration. You tear it and let it soften in the hot lard and mushroom juices so it perfumes the whole cazuela. Epazote is sharper and more direct. Together they tell you this is southern Mexico, not a generic mushroom saute.
The fat is manteca de cerdo. Use it. The mushrooms are lean, the herbs are strong, and the lard carries the flavor across the pan. If you use a neutral oil, the dish will still be edible. It will not taste like the highland kitchens where I learned it. La manteca es el sabor, and this is a 32-state cuisine.
Serve these hongos with thick hand-pressed corn tortillas, not flour tortillas. Flour tortillas belong to the north. In Chiapas, the tortilla is corn, hot from the comal, ready to carry the mushrooms and their green, herbal juices. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
In the Chiapas highlands, Tzotzil and Tzeltal communities have long gathered edible wild mushrooms during the summer rainy season, especially in the pine and oak forests above San Cristobal de las Casas. Hoja santa, known locally as momo or mumo, is native to Mesoamerica and appears across southern Mexican cooking, from Chiapas tamales to Veracruz fish preparations, but its use with wild mushrooms is tied to the humid forest and milpa table of the Maya south. Chile simojovel, named for Simojovel in northern Chiapas, is one of the state's regional chiles and gives heat without turning the dish into the lazy idea that all Mexican food must be hot.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
mixed wild mushrooms or cultivated oyster mushrooms
Quantity
1 1/2 pounds
cleaned and torn into large pieces
manteca de cerdo (pork lard)
Quantity
3 tablespoons
white onion
Quantity
1 medium
thinly sliced
garlic cloves
Quantity
3
finely chopped
Roma tomatoes
Quantity
2 ripe
chopped
fresh chile simojovel
Quantity
2
stemmed and finely chopped
hoja santa leaves (momo)
Quantity
6 large leaves
center ribs removed and leaves torn
fresh epazote
Quantity
2 sprigs
leaves stripped and chopped
kosher salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon, plus more to taste
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
water or light chicken broth (optional)
Quantity
1/2 cup
only if the pan dries out
hand-pressed corn tortillas (optional)
Quantity
for serving
warmed
lime halves (optional)
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| mixed wild mushrooms or cultivated oyster mushroomscleaned and torn into large pieces | 1 1/2 pounds |
| manteca de cerdo (pork lard) | 3 tablespoons |
| white onionthinly sliced | 1 medium |
| garlic clovesfinely chopped | 3 |
| Roma tomatoeschopped | 2 ripe |
| fresh chile simojovelstemmed and finely chopped | 2 |
| hoja santa leaves (momo)center ribs removed and leaves torn | 6 large leaves |
| fresh epazoteleaves stripped and chopped | 2 sprigs |
| kosher salt | 1 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1/4 teaspoon |
| water or light chicken broth (optional)only if the pan dries out | 1/2 cup |
| hand-pressed corn tortillas (optional)warmed | for serving |
| lime halves (optional) | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Wide clay cazuela from Chiapas or a heavy 12-inch skillet
- •Comal for warming corn tortillas
- •Soft brush or clean kitchen cloth for cleaning mushrooms
- •Wooden spoon
Instructions
- 1
Clean the mushrooms
Brush the mushrooms clean with a dry cloth or soft brush. Trim tough stems. Tear large mushrooms by hand into pieces about the size of two fingers. Do not soak them in water. Mushrooms drink water quickly, and then they stew before they brown. If they came from a trusted forager, inspect them one by one. If you do not know the mushroom, you do not cook the mushroom. Asi se hace y punto.
Outside Chiapas, use oyster mushrooms, cremini, shiitake, or a mix from a reliable market. That is a compromise, not an upgrade. The wild highland mushroom flavor is deeper and more mineral. - 2
Heat the cazuela
Set a wide clay cazuela or heavy skillet over medium heat for two minutes. Add the manteca de cerdo and let it melt until it shines across the bottom. The pan should be hot enough that onion sizzles when it touches the fat, but not so hot that the lard smokes. Clay holds heat gently. That matters for mushrooms.
- 3
Soften the aromatics
Add the sliced white onion and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring often, until the edges turn translucent and sweet. Add the garlic and chile simojovel. Cook for 1 minute more. The garlic should smell warm, not sharp. The chile should perfume the fat without burning. This dish is not about punishing heat. It is about the forest, the leaf, and the pan.
- 4
Cook the tomato
Add the chopped Roma tomatoes and the salt. Cook for 4 minutes, crushing the tomato lightly with the back of a spoon, until it collapses into the onion and the lard turns orange at the edges. You are not making a wet sauce. You are building a base that will cling to the mushrooms.
- 5
Add the mushrooms
Raise the heat to medium-high and add the mushrooms in a wide layer. Let them sit for 2 minutes before stirring so they meet the hot fat properly. Then cook, stirring every minute or so, for 6 to 8 minutes. They will release liquid first, then the liquid will reduce and the mushrooms will darken at the edges. That is the moment you want. If the pan dries before the mushrooms soften, add a splash of water or light chicken broth, not a flood.
- 6
Fold in the herbs
Lower the heat to medium. Add the torn hoja santa and chopped epazote. Fold them through the mushrooms for 2 minutes, just until the hoja santa softens and turns darker green. Do not cook it to death. Momo should perfume the cazuela, not disappear into mud.
- 7
Taste and serve
Taste for salt and add black pepper. The finished mushrooms should be juicy, glossy from the lard, and strongly scented with hoja santa and epazote. Spoon them into a warm clay cazuela and take them to the table with hot hand-pressed corn tortillas and lime halves. Eat them while the tortilla is still soft from the comal. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.
Chef Tips
- •Buy mushrooms from someone who knows mushrooms. In Los Altos de Chiapas, the vendor will often tell you how to cook each variety because she gathered them herself or bought them from the family that did. If the seller cannot identify them, do not be brave. Be alive.
- •Hoja santa is not optional here. It is the momo in hongos con momo. Look for it at Mexican, Central American, or Southeast Asian markets where it may be labeled hoja santa, acuyo, root beer leaf, or Piper auritum.
- •Chile simojovel is the right Chiapas chile. If you cannot find it, use fresh chile serrano. You will get clean heat, but not the same regional signature. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
- •Do not drown the mushrooms in tomato. Many bad versions turn this into a tomato stew. The tomato should bind the onion, chile, and lard, then step back.
- •Serve this as a side dish with black beans, grilled tasajo, tamales de chipilin, or simply with tortillas. A good cazuela of mushrooms does not need cheddar, sour cream, or any of that noise.
Advance Preparation
- •Clean and tear the mushrooms up to 6 hours ahead. Keep them loosely covered in the refrigerator with a dry towel, not sealed in plastic where they sweat.
- •Slice the onion, chop the garlic, and tear the hoja santa up to 2 hours ahead. Keep the herbs wrapped in a barely damp towel.
- •Cook the dish just before serving. Reheated mushrooms lose their spring and the hoja santa turns dull. This is a quick cazuela, not a make-ahead casserole.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 200g)
Calories
215 calories
Total Fat
12 g
Saturated Fat
5 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
7 g
Cholesterol
10 mg
Sodium
420 mg
Total Carbohydrates
25 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
4 g
Protein
6 g
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