Pasta de Achiote Chiapaneca

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Dry comal or heavy cast iron skillet
• •Electric spice grinder, metate, or volcanic stone molcajete
• •Blender
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Clean glass jar or small glazed clay bowl

Instructions

1. 1

   Sort the achiote

   Spread the achiote seeds on a tray and pick through them with your fingers. Remove any small stones, stems, or pale dead seeds. Good achiote stains your fingertips orange-red and smells earthy, peppery, and a little floral. If it smells like dust, the paste will taste like dust. Si no conoces el mercado, no conoces la cocina.

2. 2

   Toast the seed

   Heat a dry comal or heavy skillet over medium-low heat. Add the achiote seeds and stir constantly for 2 to 3 minutes, just until the seeds darken a shade and smell warm. Do not let them blacken. Achiote burns quietly and then punishes the whole batch with bitterness.

   Use medium-low heat. Achiote is harder than sesame or cumin, but that does not mean it wants a fierce fire.
3. 3

   Toast spices and chile

   Toast the chile simojovel for 5 to 10 seconds per side, just until it becomes fragrant. Remove it immediately. Add the pimienta gorda, black peppercorns, cloves, cumin seeds, and canela to the comal and toast for about 1 minute, shaking the pan. Turn off the heat and add the oregano and thyme for 15 seconds, using the leftover heat only. Dried herbs burn faster than chiles. Watch them.

4. 4

   Grind very fine

   Let everything cool for 5 minutes. Grind the achiote, chile, spices, oregano, and thyme in a spice grinder in short pulses until you have a fine red powder. If using a molcajete or metate, work in small handfuls and add only a few drops of vinegar when the seed starts to slide. Pass the powder through a fine sieve and grind the coarse bits again. This is where the señoras of Chiapa de Corzo make the difference: the paste should not feel gritty on the tongue.

5. 5

   Blend the paste

   Put the ground mixture in a blender with the garlic, sea salt, and 1/2 cup cane vinegar. Blend until thick, smooth, and brick-red, scraping the jar as needed. Add more vinegar 1 tablespoon at a time only if the blades refuse to move. You want a paste, not a sauce. It should mound on a spoon and stain everything it touches.

6. 6

   Rest and store

   Spoon the paste into a clean glass jar or a small glazed clay bowl. Press the surface flat and cover tightly. Let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before using, better overnight. The vinegar settles the raw garlic and the spices stop shouting at each other. This paste is not shelf-stable. Keep it cold and use it within 3 weeks, or freeze it in tablespoon portions for 3 months.

7. 7

   Use for cochito

   For cochito horneado, mix 3 tablespoons of this paste with 1/3 cup cane vinegar and 1 teaspoon salt for every 3 pounds of pork shoulder or ribs. Rub it into the meat and let it marinate overnight. Roast in a clay cazuela or heavy baking dish until the fat renders and the achiote darkens against the pork. La manteca es el sabor when the dish calls for it, but this storage paste itself is vinegar-ground. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Ask for chile simojovel by name. It is not chile pasilla, and it is not chile de arbol with a better story. If you cannot find it, make the paste without it and keep looking. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •This is not Yucatecan recado rojo. Yucatan's recado belongs to cochinita pibil and leans on sour orange when it becomes a marinade. This Chiapas paste leans on vinegar, pimienta gorda, oregano, garlic, and simojovel for cochito horneado.
• •Buy whole achiote seed from a spice vendor with turnover. Powdered achiote from a sleepy supermarket shelf often tastes flat. Preguntale a las señoras del mercado.
• •Momo, called hoja santa outside Chiapas and Tabasco, is not ground into this paste. Use momo fresh when a Chiapas or Tabasco recipe asks for it. Do not turn every regional leaf into the same seasoning.
• •Do not cover the paste with oil for storage. There is raw garlic here. Use vinegar on the surface if you need a seal, refrigerate it, and keep the jar clean.

Advance Preparation

• •The paste is better after one night in the refrigerator. The achiote softens, the vinegar rounds out, and the garlic loses its raw edge.
• •For batch cooking, freeze the paste in 1-tablespoon portions. Drop the frozen portions straight into marinades, beans, or a small pan of manteca when building an asado base.
• •Keep refrigerated for up to 3 weeks. If mold appears, throw it away. Do not scrape the top and pretend nothing happened.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 14g)