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Chiapas highland masa pockets from the Tojolabal kitchen, stuffed with refried black beans, cilantro, and chile serrano, then pressed flat and cooked on a dark comal until the shell turns firm.
Chinculguajes live in the highlands of Chiapas, especially around the Tojolabal communities near Comitan, Las Margaritas, and the cold mountain roads that lead toward Altamirano. This is not a northern flour tortilla snack. This is corn masa, beans, chile, and comal work. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
The filling is the point: black beans fried until thick, seasoned with white onion, chile serrano, and cilantro. Some cooks use chile simojovel when they have it, because Chiapas has its own chile language. If you only say "a little chile," you haven't understood the recipe yet. The beans must be dry enough to hold inside the masa. Wet beans will burst the shell and then you'll blame the masa. No. Blame the filling.
I learned this kind of food from women who cook with one hand on the comal and one eye on the children running through the patio. They don't make chinculguajes delicate. They make them useful: filling, portable, good the next day, better with a salsa in molcajete. La cocina no es decoración, es trabajo.
Use fresh nixtamal masa if you can get it. If not, use masa harina and warm water, but understand the compromise. The comal finishes the lesson. You cook them slowly enough for the masa to set and brown in spots, not so fast that the outside burns while the inside stays raw. Así se hace y punto.
Chinculguajes belong to the Tojolabal and highland Chiapas corn-and-bean cooking tradition, where stuffed masa foods function as portable meals for field work, market days, and household snacks. The technique reflects an older Mesoamerican logic: nixtamalized corn as the structure, beans as protein, and fresh chile and herbs as the seasoning, all cooked on a comal rather than baked or fried. In Chiapas, similar stuffed masa preparations vary from community to community, but the Tojolabal version is recognized for its firm griddled masa and thick bean filling rather than a loose saucy interior.
Quantity
3 cups fresh masa or 2 cups masa harina mixed with 1 1/2 cups warm water
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
Quantity
1 tablespoon
softened
Quantity
2 cups
drained, with 1/4 cup cooking liquid reserved
Quantity
2 tablespoons
Quantity
1/3 cup
finely chopped
Quantity
1
finely chopped
Quantity
1/2 cup
chopped
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon, plus more to taste
Quantity
1/4 cup
Quantity
for serving
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fresh nixtamal masa or masa harina dough | 3 cups fresh masa or 2 cups masa harina mixed with 1 1/2 cups warm water |
| fine sea salt for the masa | 1/2 teaspoon |
| manteca de cerdo for the masasoftened | 1 tablespoon |
| cooked black beansdrained, with 1/4 cup cooking liquid reserved | 2 cups |
| manteca de cerdo for frying the beans | 2 tablespoons |
| white onionfinely chopped | 1/3 cup |
| fresh chile serranofinely chopped | 1 |
| fresh cilantro leaves and tender stemschopped | 1/2 cup |
| fine sea salt | 1/2 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| crumbled queso fresco (optional) | 1/4 cup |
| salsa de chile simojovel or salsa de chile serrano (optional) | for serving |
| lime halves (optional) | for serving |
Put the fresh nixtamal masa in a bowl with the salt and softened manteca de cerdo. Knead for 2 to 3 minutes until the masa feels smooth, moist, and soft enough to press without cracking. If you are using masa harina dough, let it rest covered for 15 minutes before kneading in the lard. The masa should feel like a warm earlobe, not wet clay and not dry sand.
Heat 2 tablespoons manteca de cerdo in a skillet over medium heat. Add the white onion and cook until soft and sweet-smelling, about 3 minutes. Add the chile serrano and stir for 30 seconds. Add the black beans and salt, then mash with a wooden spoon or bean masher until thick. Use a spoonful or two of reserved bean liquid only if the beans are too stiff to mash. The final filling must hold its shape on a spoon.
Turn off the heat and stir the chopped cilantro into the hot beans. Taste for salt. The filling should be slightly assertive because the masa will soften the seasoning. Spread the beans on a plate and let them cool until they are warm, not hot. Hot filling makes the masa sweat and tear.
Divide the masa into 10 balls, each about the size of a small lime. Keep them covered with a damp towel. Press one ball between plastic sheets in a tortilla press or pat it by hand into a thick round, about 4 inches wide. Spoon 1 heaping tablespoon of bean filling into the center. Fold the masa around the filling and seal it completely, then pat it gently into a thick oval or round gordita. Do not overfill. A greedy hand makes a broken chinculguaj.
Heat a dry comal or heavy cast iron skillet over medium heat until a drop of water dances and disappears. Do not oil the comal. These are griddled, not fried. The surface needs steady heat so the masa sets before the filling pushes through.
Lay the chinculguajes on the hot comal with space between them. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes on the first side, until the surface dries, pale golden spots appear, and the shell releases cleanly. Flip and cook another 4 to 5 minutes. Turn once or twice more, pressing lightly with a folded towel, until the masa is firm at the edges and the chinculguajes sound slightly hollow when tapped.
Move the cooked chinculguajes to a basket lined with a woven servilleta and let them rest for 5 minutes. The trapped heat finishes the masa inside. Serve warm with salsa de chile simojovel if you have it, or a sharp salsa de chile serrano, plus a little queso fresco and lime. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.
1 serving (about 125g)
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