Chilaquiles Yucatecos en Chiltomate

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron comal or heavy 12-inch skillet for charring
• •Wide clay cazuela or 12-inch saute pan for the chiltomate
• •Heavy deep skillet for frying tortillas
• •High-powered blender
• •Box grater

Instructions

1. 1

   Char the chiltomate base

   Heat a dry comal or heavy cast iron skillet over medium-high until it is genuinely hot. Lay down the whole roma tomatoes, the onion halves cut side down, the unpeeled garlic cloves, and the whole habanero. Do not crowd the comal. Char them slowly, turning every few minutes, until the tomato skins blister and split and blacken in patches, the onion takes deep brown marks, the garlic skins turn papery and brittle, and the habanero softens with dark spots all over. This will take 12 to 15 minutes. Chiltomate gets its name and its character from the char. No me vengas con atajos. A pale boiled tomato salsa is not chiltomate.

   The habanero stays whole and uncut. You want its perfume in the sauce, not its full heat. A senora in Merida once corrected me for slicing it open. She was right.
2. 2

   Blend the chiltomate

   Peel the blistered skins off the tomatoes (the burned bits stay, that is the flavor) and squeeze the soft garlic out of its papery shells. Transfer the tomatoes, onion, garlic, and habanero to the blender along with half the epazote leaves and the salt. Pulse, do not puree. Chiltomate is rustic. It should have texture, small flecks of skin, visible pieces. Yucatan does not blend its salsas into baby food.

3. 3

   Fry the salsa

   In a wide, deep skillet or cazuela, melt the tablespoon of manteca over medium heat. When it shimmers, pour in the chiltomate. It will sputter. Step back. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until the salsa darkens from raw red to a deeper brick color and the fat starts to bead at the edges. La manteca es el sabor. Drop in the remaining epazote leaves whole. Taste for salt. Lower the heat to keep it warm.

4. 4

   Fry the tortilla triangles

   While the chiltomate cooks, heat the cup of manteca or oil in a separate heavy skillet to 350F. The tortillas must be day-old or older. Fresh tortillas absorb the fat and turn soggy. Fry the quarters in batches, turning once, until they are deep golden and rigid, about 90 seconds per batch. Lift them out with a slotted spoon onto a plate lined with paper. Salt them lightly while they are still hot.

   If your tortillas are fresh, lay them out on a sheet pan the night before and leave them uncovered on the counter. Or dry them in a 200F oven for 15 minutes. The dryness is what gives chilaquiles their structure.
5. 5

   Fry the eggs

   In a small skillet, fry the eggs one at a time in a little manteca over medium heat. Yucatecan style: the whites should have crisp brown lace at the edges, the yolks soft. Salt each one as it comes out of the pan. Hold them on a warm plate.

6. 6

   Bathe the chilaquiles

   Raise the heat under the chiltomate to medium. Tip the fried tortilla triangles directly into the salsa. Fold them gently with a wooden spoon, just enough to coat every piece. Thirty seconds, no more. This is the moment that separates chilaquiles from soggy nachos. You want each triangle dressed in salsa but still holding a bite at the center. Pull the cazuela off the heat the second they are coated.

7. 7

   Build the plate

   Spoon a generous mound of chilaquiles into wide shallow bowls or directly onto plates. Drizzle the crema across the top in a lazy spiral, do not stir it in. Scatter the grated queso de bola over the cream while the chilaquiles are still hot enough to soften the cheese at the edges. Place a fried egg on top of each portion. Finish with the pickled red onion, the diced raw white onion, cilantro leaves, and a lime half on the side. Serve immediately. Asi se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Queso de bola is the cheese. Edam, the red wax wheel from Holland that Yucatan adopted three hundred years ago. Do not substitute cheddar, do not substitute Monterey Jack, do not substitute queso fresco. The slight sharpness and the way it melts at the edges is what the dish wants. If you cannot find queso de bola, look for any aged Edam at a deli counter.
• •The chiltomate is the recipe. Make a double batch. It keeps in the refrigerator for five days and on day two it is better than on day one. Spoon it over fried eggs, over leftover roast pork, over a quesadilla, over anything.
• •Pickled red onion (cebolla morada en escabeche) is non-negotiable in Yucatan. Slice a red onion thin, cover with the juice of three sour oranges (or two oranges and one lime), add a pinch of salt and a few oregano leaves, let it sit thirty minutes. That is the condiment that ties the entire peninsula's cuisine together.
• •If you cannot find epazote, leave it out. Do not substitute cilantro for it in the chiltomate. Cilantro goes on top at the end. Epazote and cilantro are not the same herb and they do not do the same job. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.

Advance Preparation

• •The chiltomate can be made up to three days ahead. Cool, refrigerate, and reheat gently in a skillet with a teaspoon of manteca before using. The flavor deepens overnight.
• •Day-old tortillas are required. Plan ahead: buy or press tortillas the day before and leave them uncovered on a sheet pan on the counter overnight.
• •The pickled red onion needs at least 30 minutes but is better after 2 hours. Make it the morning of, or the night before, and keep it refrigerated.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 420g)