Mushroom Atápakua (Kutsikua Terekua Atápakua)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Dry comal for toasting chiles and roasting vegetables
• •12-inch clay cazuela from Capula or Tzintzuntzan, or a heavy Dutch oven
• •High-powered blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Wooden spoon for stirring the masa-thickened stew

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean the mushrooms

   Brush the terekua mushrooms clean with a dry towel or soft brush. Trim only the tough ends and tear the mushrooms into large uneven pieces. Do not soak them. Mushrooms drink water like gossip, and then they refuse to brown in the cazuela.

2. 2

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chile guajillo for about 20 to 30 seconds per side, just until the skin darkens slightly and smells sweet. Toast the chile ancho the same way, watching carefully because it is thicker and can scorch in spots. They should be fragrant, not black. Burned chile turns the whole atápakua bitter.

3. 3

   Soak the chiles

   Put the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with hot water. Hot, not boiling. Let them soften for 20 minutes. Boiling water roughens the skins and pulls bitterness out. Hot water softens the flesh so the chile blends clean.

4. 4

   Roast the vegetables

   On the same comal, roast the tomatoes, onion, and unpeeled garlic until the tomato skins blister, the onion chars at the edges, and the garlic softens inside its skin. Peel the garlic. This is the base that carries the guajillo. If you put everything raw into the blender, the stew will taste unfinished.

5. 5

   Blend the sauce

   Drain the softened chiles and place them in a blender with the roasted tomatoes, onion, peeled garlic, and 2 cups of broth. Blend until completely smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing hard on the solids. Atápakua should be rustic in spirit, not full of chile skins.

6. 6

   Brown the mushrooms

   Heat the manteca de cerdo in a wide clay cazuela or heavy pot over medium-high heat. For strict Cuaresma, use neutral oil, but know what you are giving up. La manteca es el sabor. Add the mushrooms and salt lightly. Cook until they release their liquid, the liquid cooks off, and the edges begin to brown, about 10 to 12 minutes.

7. 7

   Fry the chile base

   Pour the strained chile sauce into the cazuela with the mushrooms. It will hiss. Stir and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until the color deepens from bright red to brick red and the fat shows in small glossy spots on the surface. This frying is where the sauce stops tasting like separate ingredients and starts tasting like atápakua.

8. 8

   Add broth and herbs

   Add the remaining 4 cups of broth and the epazote. If you have true nurite from the Meseta and know it by sight, add the small sprig now. If you don't, leave it out. Substitute nothing for nurite. Simmer gently for 10 minutes so the mushrooms give their flavor back to the broth.

9. 9

   Thicken with masa

   Whisk the fresh masa with 1 cup of warm liquid from the pot until smooth. Pour it back into the cazuela in a thin stream while stirring constantly. Keep stirring as the broth thickens into a sauce-stew, glossy enough to coat a spoon but loose enough to ladle. This is the point of atápakua. The masa de maíz is not decoration. It is the structure.

10. 10

    Season and serve

    Simmer 8 to 10 minutes more, stirring often so the masa does not catch on the bottom. Taste for salt. Remove the epazote and nurite sprigs. Serve in deep bowls or straight from the cazuela with warm hand-pressed corn tortillas. No flour tortillas here. This is Michoacán, not the northern border.

Chef Tips

• •Buy mushrooms from a vendor who can tell you where they were gathered. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado. If they cannot name the mushroom or the place, do not buy it for this dish.
• •Terekua is the regional mushroom. Outside Michoacán, use a mix of oyster mushrooms, porcini, chanterelles, and cremini. That is a compromise, not the same dish, but it respects the texture better than white button mushrooms alone.
• •Use fresh nixtamal masa if you can get it from a tortillería. Masa harina works, but fresh masa gives the atápakua a rounder corn flavor and a better body.
• •Nurite is not mint, not oregano, not epazote. It is its own herb from the Meseta P'urhépecha. If you do not have it, do not fake it.
• •The stew should be thick but not stiff. If it sits and tightens, loosen it with hot broth a little at a time. Masa keeps drinking liquid after the fire is off.

Advance Preparation

• •The chile base can be toasted, soaked, blended, strained, and refrigerated one day ahead.
• •The mushrooms can be cleaned and torn several hours ahead. Keep them uncovered or loosely covered in the refrigerator so they do not sweat.
• •Finished atápakua keeps for three days refrigerated. Reheat gently and loosen with hot broth because the masa will thicken as it rests.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 395g)