Chileatole de Pollo Veracruzano

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •6-quart clay cazuela or heavy Dutch oven
• •Cast iron comal for toasting chiles and roasting tomatoes
• •High-powered blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Wooden spoon for stirring the masa

Instructions

1. 1

   Cut the corn

   Stand each ear of corn upright in a wide bowl and cut the kernels from the cob. Do not throw the cobs away. The cobs go into the broth and give sweetness that loose kernels cannot give by themselves. This is market cooking. You use the whole ingredient.

2. 2

   Make the broth

   Put the chicken, water, halved onion, 3 garlic cloves, salt, and reserved corn cobs in a heavy pot. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Skim the foam during the first 10 minutes, then lower the heat and cook for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is tender and the broth tastes like corn and bone, not plain water. Remove the chicken to a plate. Strain the broth and discard the onion, garlic, and cobs.

3. 3

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chile ancho for about 20 seconds per side, just until the skin softens and smells sweet. Toast the chipotle meco for less time, because smoked chiles turn bitter fast. Put the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with hot water for 15 minutes. Hot, not boiling. Boiling water roughs up the chile skin and gives you bitterness.

   Do not use canned chipotles en adobo here. Vinegar and sugar will push the broth in the wrong direction. Use dried chipotle meco. If your chile vendor does not know meco from morita, pregúntale a las señoras del mercado.
4. 4

   Roast and blend

   On the same comal, roast the jitomate de bola halves and the remaining 2 garlic cloves until the tomato skins blister and the garlic gets golden spots. Drain the softened chiles. Blend the chiles, roasted tomatoes, roasted garlic, and 1 cup of the chicken broth until completely smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Ancho skins are stubborn. Straining is how you get a clean, silky chile base.

5. 5

   Fry the chile

   Melt the manteca de cerdo in a wide clay cazuela or heavy Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the strained chile puree. It will sputter, so stir with a wooden spoon and keep your face out of the pot. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the color deepens to brick red and the fat begins to mark the edges. La manteca es el sabor. Raw chile puree poured straight into broth tastes unfinished.

6. 6

   Add broth and corn

   Pour the strained chicken broth into the fried chile base and stir well, scraping the bottom of the cazuela. Add the fresh corn kernels. Simmer for 10 minutes, until the kernels are tender but still pop under your teeth. Shred the chicken into generous pieces while the corn cooks. Do not shred it into threads. This is a main dish, not hospital food.

7. 7

   Thin the masa

   Crumble the fresh masa into a bowl and whisk in 1 cup of cool broth from the pot until smooth and pourable. If you dump fresh masa directly into boiling liquid, you get lumps. Stirring the masa loose first is the whole trick. This is the difference between chileatole and a pot of chicken broth with corn floating around.

8. 8

   Thicken the chileatole

   Lower the heat to medium-low. Pour the masa mixture into the cazuela in a thin stream while stirring constantly. Keep stirring for 3 minutes so the masa does not sink and scorch. Simmer for 8 to 10 minutes more, until the broth turns glossy and coats the spoon. It should be thicker than caldo but looser than tamal masa. If it stands up like porridge, add a little broth or water.

9. 9

   Finish with herbs

   Return the shredded chicken to the pot. Add the epazote sprigs and the hoja santa. Simmer gently for 5 minutes, just long enough for the herbs to perfume the chileatole. Taste for salt. Pull out the epazote stems before serving. The acuyo can stay in the pot if your table knows what it is. In Veracruz, they know.

10. 10

    Serve in clay

    Ladle the chileatole into deep clay bowls while the surface still has a red sheen from the fried chile. Serve with lime halves and warm hand-pressed corn tortillas. No cheese. No crema. The masa, chicken, corn, chile ancho, chipotle meco, epazote, and acuyo already did the work. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Use fresh nixtamalized masa from a tortilleria if you can. Masa harina works when it must, but it is a compromise. For this recipe, replace the fresh masa with 3/4 cup masa harina mixed with 1 cup cool broth, then let it rest 10 minutes before adding it to the pot.
• •If the fresh corn at the market is dry and tired, do not pretend. Use good frozen corn kernels and save this dish for fresh corn season next time. Mexican grandmothers cook what the mercado is selling today, not what a calendar tells them to want.
• •Chile ancho gives sweetness and body. Chipotle meco gives smoke and a little heat. Do not use canned chipotle en adobo unless you want the whole pot to taste like vinegar. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •The chileatole thickens as it sits because masa keeps drinking liquid. Reheat it gently with a splash of broth or water and stir from the bottom. A hard boil after the masa goes in can scorch the pot.
• •Serve black beans on the side if you want a fuller Veracruz table. Black beans, not pinto. The north has its own traditions. This is Veracruz.

Advance Preparation

• •The chicken broth can be made one day ahead. Refrigerate the broth and shredded chicken separately, then skim only the excess solid fat before using. Leave some fat. Flavor lives there.
• •The chile puree can be toasted, blended, strained, and refrigerated one day ahead. Fry it in manteca de cerdo when you assemble the pot.
• •Add the masa only on the day you serve. Finished chileatole keeps for 3 days in the refrigerator, but it will thicken. Loosen it with broth or water during reheating.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 575g)