Encacahuatado Afromestizo Jarocho

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron comal or heavy skillet
• •12-inch clay cazuela or heavy wide pot
• •High-powered blender
• •Wooden spoon
• •Fine-mesh strainer, optional for a smoother special-occasion sauce

Instructions

1. 1

   Toast the peanuts

   Heat a dry comal or heavy skillet over medium. Add the peanuts and toast them, shaking the pan often, until they are golden in spots and smell deep and nutty, 6 to 8 minutes. Do not walk away. Burned peanuts make a bitter sauce and no blender will save you.

2. 2

   Toast chiles and seeds

   Toast the chile ancho for about 20 to 30 seconds per side, just until the skin softens and the color darkens. Toast the chipotle seco briefly, about 15 seconds per side. Then toast the sesame seeds until they turn pale gold and start to jump in the pan. Each ingredient gets its own time. No me vengas con atajos.

   Chile ancho gives raisin depth and color. Chipotle seco gives smoke. If you use canned chipotle in adobo, the sauce will taste sweeter and more commercial. It is a compromise, not an upgrade.
3. 3

   Soften the chiles

   Put the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with hot water, not boiling water. Soak for 15 minutes, then drain. Hot water softens the flesh. Boiling water pulls bitterness from the skin. This is the difference between a sauce that tastes like chile and a sauce that tastes tired.

4. 4

   Char the vegetables

   On the same comal, char the onion slices, unpeeled garlic, and tomatoes until the onion has dark edges, the garlic softens inside its skin, and the tomatoes blister and slump. Peel the garlic. Veracruz cooks build flavor before anything touches the blender. Start at the comal, not at the machine.

5. 5

   Brown plantain and tortilla

   Melt 1 tablespoon of the manteca in the cazuela over medium heat. Fry the plantain coins until amber on both sides, then remove them. Fry the torn tortilla pieces in the same fat until crisp and lightly browned. The plantain rounds the chile. The tortilla gives the sauce body without making it pasty.

6. 6

   Blend the paste

   In a blender, combine the toasted peanuts, chiles, sesame seeds, charred onion, peeled garlic, tomatoes, fried plantain, fried tortilla, cloves, cinnamon, Mexican oregano, salt, and 2 cups of warm stock. Blend until completely smooth, stopping to scrape down the jar. This should be a thick, pourable paste, not chunky salsa. Add a little more stock only if the blender refuses to move.

7. 7

   Fry the sauce

   Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons manteca in a wide clay cazuela or heavy pot over medium heat. Pour in the blended paste carefully. It will sputter because it is alive with water and fat. Stir constantly for 8 to 10 minutes, until the color darkens from orange-brown to brick-copper and the fat begins to shine at the edges. La manteca es el sabor.

8. 8

   Simmer until glossy

   Stir in the remaining stock and the epazote sprig. Lower the heat and simmer gently for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring often so the peanut solids do not catch on the bottom. The sauce is ready when it coats a spoon heavily, falls in slow ribbons, and leaves a glossy peanut oil sheen on the surface. Taste for salt. Add the piloncillo only if the tomatoes are sharp.

9. 9

   Rest and use

   Pull out the epazote sprig and let the sauce rest for 15 minutes before serving or storing. Encacahuatado thickens as it sits, so loosen it with warm stock when reheating. Spoon it over cooked chicken, turkey, pork, roasted plantain, or beans. But learn the sauce first. The plate comes later. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Buy raw peanuts from a market stall with fast turnover. If they smell dusty or rancid, leave them there. You can have perfect technique and bad cacahuates and you will get a bad encacahuatado.
• •This is not a hot sauce. Chile ancho brings body and dried fruit depth. Chipotle seco brings smoke and a controlled heat. Not all Mexican food is built to burn your mouth. That idea is lazy.
• •A clay cazuela gives the sauce a gentler heat than a thin metal pot. If you use stainless steel, keep the flame lower and stir more often because peanut solids scorch quickly.
• •If you cannot find chipotle seco, use 1 canned chipotle in adobo only after wiping off excess adobo. Know what you are doing: the sauce will be sweeter and less clean. A substitution is a compromise.
• •For a stricter jarocho table, serve this sauce in barro from the Sotavento with warm corn tortillas, fried plantain, black beans, or poached chicken. Do not bring cheddar, sour cream, or flour tortillas into this conversation. Flour tortillas belong to the north.

Advance Preparation

• •The sauce can be made 3 days ahead and refrigerated. The peanut, chile, and sesame flavors settle overnight and the sauce becomes deeper.
• •To reheat, warm it slowly in a cazuela with splashes of stock, stirring often. Do not boil hard or the peanut solids can separate and stick.
• •The sauce freezes for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and re-blend briefly if the texture looks grainy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 125g)