Frijoles Charros del Bajío con Xoconostle

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •6-quart olla de barro or heavy Dutch oven for cooking the bayos
• •Wide 12-inch cazuela de barro from Dolores Hidalgo or plain Bajío clay
• •Cast iron comal for toasting chile ancho and roasting tomatoes
• •Blender for the chile ancho puree
• •Basalt molcajete or small mortar for grinding chilcuague

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the bayos

   Put the picked-over frijoles bayos in a large bowl and cover with water by three inches. Soak 8 hours or overnight, then drain. Bayos are beige-tan, creamy, and right for the Bajío. Pintos are not the same bean. Black beans are another kitchen entirely.

2. 2

   Cook the beans

   Put the drained beans in an olla de barro or heavy pot with 10 cups fresh water, the half onion, crushed garlic, and epazote. Bring to a steady boil for 10 minutes, then lower to a gentle simmer. Cook until the skins soften and the centers turn creamy, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Add the salt after the first hour. Keep the beans covered with liquid; the broth is part of the dish.

   Do not add the xoconostle here. Acid early keeps the bean skins firm. The señoras in Querétaro will correct you before I have to.
3. 3

   Prepare the xoconostle

   Trim the ends from the xoconostles, peel away the tough skin, halve them, and scoop out the seed pockets. Dice the flesh into small cubes. Taste one piece. It should be tart and clean, not sweet like tuna roja. That sourness is the Bajío speaking.

4. 4

   Toast the ancho

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chile ancho for about 20 seconds per side, just until the skin softens and smells fruity. Do not blacken it. Cover the toasted chiles with hot water for 15 minutes, then blend them with 1 cup of bean broth until smooth. Strain if the skins are stubborn.

5. 5

   Render the pork

   In a wide cazuela, melt the manteca de cerdo over medium heat. Add the tocino and cook until its fat renders and the edges turn browned and firm. Add the crumbled chorizo and fry until the fat turns red and the chorizo smells toasted, not raw. La manteca es el sabor. Vegetable oil has no business here.

   If the chorizo throws off too much grease, leave most of it in the pan. This is not a diet bean pot, but it should taste rich, not greasy.
6. 6

   Build the recaudo

   Add the chopped white onion to the cazuela and cook until translucent, scraping up the red fat from the bottom. Add the minced garlic, chopped serrano, and roasted tomatoes. Cook 8 to 10 minutes, until the tomatoes collapse and lose their raw smell. Stir in the ancho puree and fry it for 5 minutes, until it darkens slightly and the fat separates at the edges.

7. 7

   Join the pot

   Add the cooked bayos and 5 to 6 cups of their broth to the cazuela. Stir in the diced xoconostle and the ground chilcuague. Simmer 20 to 25 minutes, uncovered, until the xoconostle softens but still holds its shape and the broth tastes tart, porky, and rounded. Taste for salt at the end. The beans should be brothy enough to ladle.

   Chilcuague should make the tongue notice, not go numb. Use the measured amount. No me vengas con atajos, and no me vengas with a handful of root because you want to show off.
8. 8

   Serve from clay

   Let the beans rest 10 minutes so the fat settles into a red sheen on top. Serve family-style from the cazuela with chopped cilantro, diced raw white onion, and warm hand-pressed corn tortillas. No flour tortillas. Those belong to the north. No cheddar, no sour cream. This is Bajío food. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •At the mercado, ask for frijol bayo. Not pinto, not negro, not flor de mayo. The bayo bean cooks creamy while keeping its shape, and that is why Bajío cooks use it for brothy pots like this.
• •Xoconostle is not decoration. It is the Otomí acid in the pot. Tomatillo gives green sharpness, vinegar gives flat sourness, and neither one tastes like cactus fruit. If you cannot find xoconostle, make another version and be honest about the compromise.
• •Look for chilcuague with herb vendors who know Querétaro and the Sierra Gorda. It is powerful, floral, and numbing in small amounts. Do not replace it with ginger or Sichuan peppercorn. That would be another cuisine trying to wear this one's hat.
• •No beer in this pot. Beer belongs in many norteño versions of frijoles charros, and they have their reasons. This Bajío version uses bean broth, xoconostle, tocino, chorizo, and manteca. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
• •Fresh epazote matters. If you only have dried epazote, use 1 teaspoon and add it in the last 30 minutes of cooking the beans. Cilantro is not epazote, and parsley is not invited.
• •Do not confuse this with frijoles puercos hidrocálidos from Aguascalientes or the Sinaloan frijoles puercos people keep mixing into the same conversation. Those are mashed, refried, lard-rich beans. This stays brothy.

Advance Preparation

• •Soak the frijoles bayos the night before. That is not extra work, that is planning.
• •The beans can be cooked up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated in their broth. Keep at least 6 cups of broth for finishing the charro pot.
• •The finished beans taste deeper the next day. Reheat gently and loosen with a splash of bean broth or water if the pot thickens in the refrigerator.
• •Peel and dice the xoconostle up to 1 day ahead. Keep it covered in the refrigerator and add it only after the beans are tender.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 380g)