Chiles Xcatic en Escabeche

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron comal or heavy skillet for charring garlic and toasting spices
• •Wide heavy cazuela or 12-inch cast iron skillet for blistering chiles
• •Tongs
• •Glass quart jar or talavera serving bowl with lid

Instructions

1. 1

   Char the garlic on the comal

   Heat a dry comal or heavy cast iron skillet over medium-high until it smells warm and dry. Lay the unpeeled garlic cloves directly on the surface. Let them blacken in spots, turning every minute or so, for about 8 to 10 minutes. The skin should darken and the cloves should soften inside. This char is the foundation of every recado in the Yucatán. Raw garlic will give you a pickle that tastes flat. Charred garlic gives it the smoky depth that says peninsula.

   When the cloves are cool enough to handle, slip them out of the skins. Discard the papery shells. Reserve the charred cloves whole.
2. 2

   Toast the spices

   On the same comal, lower the heat to medium. Toast the allspice berries and the oregano yucateco separately for about 30 to 45 seconds each, just until they smell awake. The allspice is the soul of Yucatecan pickling. Pimienta gorda is not nutmeg, not clove, not black pepper. It is its own thing and the Maya have been cooking with it since before the Spanish arrived. Set the toasted spices aside with the peppercorns, cloves, bay, and cinnamon.

3. 3

   Blister the xcatic chiles in lard

   Melt the lard in a wide, heavy skillet or cazuela over medium-high heat. When the lard shimmers, lay the whole xcatic chiles in a single layer. Let them blister, turning with tongs every minute or two, for about 6 to 8 minutes total. The pale-yellow skin should char in patches and the flesh should soften slightly. You are not cooking them through. You are blistering the skin so the vinegar can get inside. La manteca es el sabor. Do this in vegetable oil and you have lost the dish.

   Xcatic is mild compared to habanero but it carries real heat. Open a window. The lard will throw chile vapor into the air and your eyes will know it.
4. 4

   Soften the onions

   Lift the blistered chiles out of the lard with tongs and set them aside on a plate. Add the red onion rings to the same hot lard. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring once or twice, just until they soften at the edges but still hold their shape and most of their color. They should not brown. You want them tender, not sweet.

5. 5

   Build the escabeche

   Pour the apple cider vinegar, the naranja agria, and the water into the skillet with the onions. Add the charred garlic cloves, the toasted allspice and oregano, the peppercorns, cloves, bay leaves, cinnamon, salt, and piloncillo. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Let it bubble for 4 to 5 minutes so the spices release into the brine. Taste. It should be sharp, salty, and softly perfumed by the allspice. If it tastes thin, add another pinch of salt. The brine carries everything, so it needs to be assertive.

6. 6

   Return the chiles and steep

   Slide the blistered chiles back into the simmering escabeche. Press them gently under the surface with a spoon. Cook for 2 minutes more, no longer. Pull the pan off the heat. Cover and let everything steep in the warm brine for at least 30 minutes before serving. The chiles will drink in the vinegar and the spices as they cool. The flavor settles, the heat opens up, the kitchen starts to smell like a Mérida market on a Sunday morning.

7. 7

   Serve warm or store

   Transfer everything, chiles, onions, garlic, brine, whole spices, to a clean glass jar or a talavera bowl. Serve warm beside pavo en escabeche, cochinita pibil, or panuchos. The traditional way is warm, not cold. The chile is meant to sit next to the meat, and the diner tears off a piece with their fingers between bites. If storing, seal and refrigerate. The pickle keeps for two weeks and the flavor only deepens. Bring back to room temperature or warm gently before serving. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •If you cannot find chile xcatic, the closest substitute is the Hungarian wax chile, similar in size, shape, and heat level. Banana peppers are too sweet and too soft. They will turn to mush in the brine. A compromise is not an upgrade.
• •Use real apple cider vinegar, not distilled white. White vinegar is too sharp and one-dimensional. Apple cider has the rounded acidity the dish needs to carry the spices.
• •Yucatecan oregano is different from Mediterranean oregano. It is more floral, with notes of anise. If you can only find Mexican oregano, use it. Italian oregano belongs in pasta sauce, not in escabeche.
• •Serve this warm. I know everyone in the United States thinks pickles come out of the refrigerator cold. In the Yucatán they come to the table warm, sitting next to the pavo, and that is when the chiles taste like themselves.

Advance Preparation

• •Chiles xcatic en escabeche can be made up to 2 weeks ahead and refrigerated in a sealed glass jar. The flavor deepens with time and the chiles take on more of the brine each day.
• •Bring back to room temperature or warm gently in the brine before serving. Cold escabeche dulls the spice and tightens the chile skin.
• •The brine itself, strained, makes an excellent dressing for sliced raw onion or a marinade for grilled chicken.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 145g)