Ensalada Rusa Yucateca

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Two medium saucepans (one for beets, one for potato and carrot)
• •Sharp paring knife for uniform cubes
• •Large mixing bowl
• •Rubber spatula for gentle folding
• •Box grater or microplane for the queso de bola

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the beets separately

   Place the whole scrubbed beets in a saucepan and cover with cold water by two inches. Add a generous pinch of salt. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook for 35 to 45 minutes, until a knife slides into the center with no resistance. Cooking the betabel whole and separate is not optional. If you peel and cube them raw and boil them with the potatoes, every vegetable in the pot turns magenta and you have made a different salad. The pink in a rusa yucateca is earned at the end, not by accident.

   Cook the beets with the skin on. The skin slips off under cold water in seconds once they are tender. Peeling raw beets is a waste of time and stains everything you own.
2. 2

   Boil the potato and carrot

   While the beets cook, place the cubed potato and carrot in a separate large pot. Cover with cold water by two inches and add the tablespoon of salt. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, until a fork passes through the potato cleanly but the cube still holds its shape. Test one. If it falls apart on the fork, you have gone too far. Drain immediately into a colander and spread the vegetables on a sheet pan to stop the cooking and let the steam escape. Wet potato makes a sad rusa.

3. 3

   Blanch the peas

   If using fresh chícharos, blanch them in salted boiling water for 2 minutes, then shock in ice water. If using frozen petite peas, a quick rinse under cold water is enough. They are already cooked. Drain well. The peas keep their bright green color and their bite, which is the whole point of including them. Mushy peas in a rusa are a sign the cook stopped paying attention.

4. 4

   Peel and cube the beets

   Once the beets are tender, drain them and rinse under cold running water. The skins will slip off with a paper towel or your fingers. Wear gloves if you do not want pink fingers for the rest of the afternoon. Cut the peeled beets into the same 1/2-inch cubes as the potato and carrot. Uniform cubes are not vanity. They are how a forkful gets every ingredient in one bite, the way a Mérida cook would serve it.

5. 5

   Make the dressing

   In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the mayonesa, crema, naranja agria juice, salt, and black pepper until smooth. The naranja agria does the work of vinegar here. It carries that bitter-floral edge that defines Yucatecan cooking, the same juice that wakes up cochinita pibil. If you cannot find naranja agria, the blend of lime and sweet orange gets you close. Bottled white vinegar does not belong in this salad. No me vengas con atajos.

   Mayonesa con limón is the Mexican standard for this dish. American mayonnaise will work, but add an extra teaspoon of lime juice to the dressing to compensate for what it is missing.
6. 6

   Fold the salad

   Add the cooled potato, carrot, peas, and the finely diced white onion to the bowl with the dressing. Fold gently with a rubber spatula until every cube is coated. Now, and only now, add the cubed beets. Fold them in with just a few strokes. You want streaks of pink running through a salad that is still mostly white and yellow and green, not a uniform fuchsia paste. The pink should look like it bled in slowly, the way it does on a Mérida table. Stir the grated queso de bola in last.

7. 7

   Chill and serve

   Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, preferably 4. The salad needs the cold to set up and for the flavors to marry. Serve straight from a Ticul-red clay bowl or a glass jar, with extra grated queso de bola on top and the pickled red onion and habanero on the side. This is the cold side that sits next to cochinita pibil, lechón al horno, or relleno negro at every Yucatecan family meal. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Cook the betabel separately. This is the rule that separates a Yucatecan rusa from a pink mush. If you ignore this and dump everything in one pot, the salad turns uniform fuchsia and you have made something else.
• •Naranja agria does the work of vinegar in Yucatecan cooking. If you cannot find it at a Latin market, the blend of lime and sweet orange is the correct substitute. Bottled vinegar is not. The flavor profile of the peninsula is built on sour orange and you cannot fake it with anything from a supermarket shelf.
• •Queso de bola is Dutch Edam, sold in a red wax-coated ball at any Yucatecan market. Look for the brand La Vaca Que Rie's actual Edam wheel, or any imported Dutch Edam at a cheese counter. Do not substitute Monterey Jack or mozzarella. The peninsula has been importing this cheese for over a century and it is part of the cuisine.
• •Make this salad the day before you serve it. The flavors deepen overnight and the textures set. A rusa eaten the moment it is made is a rusa that has not yet become itself.

Advance Preparation

• •The rusa is better made one day ahead. Cook all the vegetables and dress the salad the night before, cover tightly, and refrigerate. The flavors marry and the pink deepens slightly without taking over.
• •The beets can be cooked up to three days ahead and refrigerated whole in their skins. Peel and cube the day you build the salad.
• •The dressing can be whisked together two days ahead and held in a jar in the refrigerator. Shake or whisk again before using.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 285g)