Chef Lupita
Chilaquiles Yucatecos en Chiltomate
Yucatan's slow Sunday almuerzo: tortilla triangles fried in manteca and bathed in chiltomate, the peninsula's charred tomato salsa, crowned with crema, grated queso de bola, and a lace-edged fried egg.
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Huevos en Chiltomate
Created by
Yucatan's comedor breakfast of eggs poached directly in chiltomate, a charred tomato salsa perfumed with a whole habanero and finished with epazote. Served from the pan with refried black beans and warm corn tortillas in Merida.
Breakfast & Brunch
Mexican
Weeknight
Quick Meal
Comfort Food
15 min
Active Time
25 min cook•40 min total
Yield4 servings
This is Yucatecan. Not generic Mexican breakfast. Yucatecan, which means it does not look or taste like anything from central Mexico, and it should not.
Chiltomate is the foundation: charred tomato, white onion, garlic, and a whole habanero, scorched on a comal, blended rough, fried in manteca. The chile goes in whole. You do not chop it. You do not seed it. You drop it into the pot and let it perfume the salsa. In Merida the cooks will press it against the side of the pan with a spoon to release a little more heat if a brave eater asks. Otherwise it stays whole, the way it has always been done. The Yucatan peninsula was cut off from the rest of Mexico for centuries by geography and politics, and that isolation is why their cooks build with habanero, sour orange, achiote, and recado instead of the dried chiles you find in Puebla or Oaxaca. Cada estado, su propia cocina, and the peninsula is its own world.
The eggs are cracked directly into the simmering chiltomate and poached in the salsa itself. The whites set into the tomato. The yolks stay soft. You eat it in a comedor in Merida with a stack of hand-pressed corn tortillas and a mound of frijol colado on the side, the smooth pureed black beans of the region, and you tear the tortillas and scoop. There is no fork on the table unless the cook is being polite to a tourist.
I sat in a comedor on Calle 62 in Merida one morning in August, the kind of place where the doors are open to the street and the heat comes in before the coffee, and the senora who ran the kitchen made me this dish in a battered aluminum pan and set it down with a habanero floating in it. She said: 'No me vengas con atajos.' Do not bring me shortcuts. Char the tomato. Use the lard. Leave the chile whole. The recipe is in the discipline.
Chiltomate is one of the foundational salsas of pre-Hispanic Mayan cooking, predating the Spanish arrival by centuries; the word combines the Mayan and Nahuatl roots for chile and tomato, and the technique of charring vegetables on a comal of stone or clay is documented in archaeological sites across the peninsula. The Yucatan's culinary isolation from central Mexico, reinforced by the Caste War of the 19th century and the peninsula's poor road connections to the rest of the country until well into the 20th, allowed Mayan techniques and ingredients (habanero, achiote, sour orange, recados, epazote) to remain dominant in regional cooking long after central Mexico had absorbed heavier Spanish and French influences. Huevos en chiltomate as a breakfast preparation emerged from Yucatecan home and comedor kitchens as a practical way to stretch the morning's chiltomate, made fresh daily, into a full meal with the eggs from the family yard.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
ripe Roma tomatoes
Quantity
6 medium (about 1 1/2 pounds)
white onion (for the chiltomate)
Quantity
1/2 medium
white onion (for serving) (optional)
Quantity
1/4 medium
finely diced
garlic cloves
Quantity
3
unpeeled
chile habanero
Quantity
1 whole
stem on, left whole
manteca de cerdo (pork lard)
Quantity
2 tablespoons
kosher salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon, plus more to taste
dried Mexican oregano, preferably oregano yucateco
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
water or light chicken broth
Quantity
1 cup
large eggs
Quantity
8
fresh epazote leaves (optional)
Quantity
4 to 6
for finishing
hand-pressed corn tortillas (optional)
Quantity
for serving
warmed on a comal
refried black beans (optional)
Quantity
for serving
fresh cilantro (optional)
Quantity
for serving
chopped
lime wedges (optional)
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| ripe Roma tomatoes | 6 medium (about 1 1/2 pounds) |
| white onion (for the chiltomate) | 1/2 medium |
| white onion (for serving) (optional)finely diced | 1/4 medium |
| garlic clovesunpeeled | 3 |
| chile habanerostem on, left whole | 1 whole |
| manteca de cerdo (pork lard) | 2 tablespoons |
| kosher salt | 1 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| dried Mexican oregano, preferably oregano yucateco | 1/2 teaspoon |
| water or light chicken broth | 1 cup |
| large eggs | 8 |
| fresh epazote leaves (optional)for finishing | 4 to 6 |
| hand-pressed corn tortillas (optional)warmed on a comal | for serving |
| refried black beans (optional) | for serving |
| fresh cilantro (optional)chopped | for serving |
| lime wedges (optional) | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Cast iron comal or heavy 10-inch skillet for charring
- •Wide 12-inch skillet or shallow clay cazuela for the salsa and eggs
- •Blender for the rustic puree
- •Tight-fitting lid for the poaching step
Instructions
- 1
Char the tomatoes and aromatics
Heat a dry comal or heavy cast iron skillet over medium-high. Place the whole tomatoes, the half onion cut-side down, the unpeeled garlic cloves, and the whole habanero on the hot surface. Turn them as their skins blacken in patches. You are not cooking them through. You are scorching the outside so the smoke gets into the salsa. The tomatoes take about 10 minutes and should be soft and blistered, the garlic 5 to 6 minutes until the skin is dark and the clove is soft inside, the habanero 3 to 4 minutes until it shows black spots. Pull each one off as it is ready.
Do not pierce the habanero and do not let it burst. You want the perfume of the chile in the salsa, not its full heat. The chile goes into the pot whole and stays whole. - 2
Blend the chiltomate base
Peel the garlic. Place the charred tomatoes (skins and all, the burnt patches are the flavor), the charred onion, and the peeled garlic in the blender with the salt and oregano. Do not add the habanero to the blender. Pulse to a coarse, rustic puree. Chiltomate is not a smooth restaurant salsa. It should still show flecks of skin and onion. Asi se hace y punto.
- 3
Fry the salsa in lard
Melt the manteca in a wide 12-inch skillet or a shallow cazuela over medium heat. When it shimmers, pour in the tomato puree all at once. It will sputter. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until the salsa darkens from bright red to a deeper brick color and the fat begins to pool at the edges. La manteca es el sabor. Skip this step and your chiltomate will taste raw and watery.
- 4
Simmer with the habanero
Pour in the water or broth and stir. Drop the whole charred habanero into the salsa, stem and all. Let it sit on the surface. Simmer gently for 6 to 8 minutes until the salsa thickens to the consistency of a loose marinara, just thick enough to cradle an egg. Taste for salt. If you want more habanero perfume, press the chile gently against the side of the pan with the back of a spoon. If you want a wall of heat, break the skin. Most Yucatecan cooks leave it whole.
The habanero is there for aroma first and heat second. A Yucatecan abuela can press her chile against the spoon and know exactly how much capsaicin she has released. Start gentle. You can always go further. - 5
Crack the eggs into the salsa
Lower the heat to medium-low. Make eight shallow wells in the salsa with the back of a spoon. Crack each egg into a small bowl first, then slide it carefully into a well. Doing it one at a time gives every egg a clean landing and keeps the yolks intact. The whites should sit in the salsa, not float on top. If a yolk breaks, that is breakfast. Keep going.
- 6
Poach until set
Cover the pan and cook for 4 to 6 minutes, until the whites are completely set and the yolks are still soft when you press them gently. The salsa should be barely bubbling around the edges. If you cook longer, you have hard yolks. In Merida the yolks run when you cut them and that is the whole point. Scatter the epazote leaves over the top in the last minute so the heat releases their oil without cooking them gray. Remove the whole habanero before serving. The cook chooses whether to throw it away or save it for the brave.
- 7
Serve from the pan
Carry the pan directly to the table. Two eggs per person, scooped onto the plate with a generous ladle of chiltomate over and around. Serve with a mound of refried black beans on the side, warm corn tortillas in a servilleta, raw white onion, cilantro, and lime. The tortilla is the spoon. Tear, scoop, eat. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.
Chef Tips
- •The habanero is non-negotiable. Not a serrano, not a jalapeno, not a 'milder substitute.' The habanero has a fruity, floral perfume that no other chile carries and that perfume is half of what makes chiltomate Yucatecan. If you cannot handle the heat, leave it whole and never break the skin. The salsa will still taste like the peninsula.
- •Roma tomatoes in season give you the deepest flavor. If your tomatoes are pale and watery, the chiltomate will be pale and watery. In Yucatan they use tomate guaje or tomate criollo from the market. Cook this in tomato season, not in January. The market tells you when to make a dish.
- •Oregano yucateco is a different plant than the Mediterranean oregano on most supermarket shelves. It is more citrusy and a little more pungent. Find it at a Mexican grocery if you can. Regular Mexican oregano is a fine compromise. Italian oregano is the wrong herb entirely.
- •Manteca de cerdo, not olive oil and not butter. The lard rounds the acidity of the tomato and carries the habanero perfume through the salsa. La manteca es el sabor.
Advance Preparation
- •The chiltomate base can be made up to three days ahead and refrigerated. Reheat with a splash of water or broth before cracking in the eggs. The flavor deepens overnight, which is why every comedor in Merida keeps a pot ready in the morning.
- •Do not poach the eggs ahead of time. The eggs are a last-minute step. Five minutes before you eat is when they go into the pan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 370g)
Calories
250 calories
Total Fat
16 g
Saturated Fat
6 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
9 g
Cholesterol
380 mg
Sodium
615 mg
Total Carbohydrates
10 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
14 g
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