Pejelagarto en Chirmol Tabasqueño

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Dry comal or heavy cast iron skillet
• •Wide clay cazuela or heavy 5-quart pot
• •High-powered blender
• •Wooden spoon
• •Tongs for turning fish pieces

Instructions

1. 1

   Season the fish

   Rub the pejelagarto pieces with 1 teaspoon salt and the lime juice. Let them rest while you build the chirmol. Pejelagarto has firm flesh and a strong river character. The salt and lime clean the flavor without hiding the fish. If you are using another fish, choose something firm, not delicate fillets that fall apart in the cazuela.

2. 2

   Char the vegetables

   Heat a dry comal over medium-high heat. Roast the tomatoes, onion halves, and garlic until the skins blacken in spots and the tomatoes soften, about 12 to 15 minutes. Peel the garlic. Do not scrape away every charred bit from the tomatoes. That roasted bitterness is part of the chirmol's backbone.

3. 3

   Burn the tortilla

   Place one tortilla directly on the comal and let it burn until blackened and brittle, turning once. Toast the second tortilla until dry and golden. The burned tortilla gives color and a controlled bitterness. The toasted tortilla gives body without making the sauce taste like ashes. There is a difference. Pay attention.

4. 4

   Toast seeds and chiles

   Toast the pumpkin seeds on the dry comal, stirring often, until they puff slightly and smell nutty, 3 to 4 minutes. Toast the chile ancho and chile guajillo for about 20 seconds per side, just until fragrant. Soak the dried chiles in hot water for 15 minutes, then drain. Burned chile turns bitter in the wrong way, and no, the burned tortilla does not give you permission to be careless.

5. 5

   Blend the chirmol

   In a blender, combine the roasted tomatoes, peeled garlic, onion flesh, burned tortilla, toasted tortilla, pumpkin seeds, soaked ancho and guajillo, chile amashito, 1 cup fish stock, oregano, and 1 teaspoon salt. Blend until very smooth. This sauce should be thick, dark, and speckled from the pepita. If your blender struggles, add a little more stock. Just enough. You are making chirmol, not soup.

6. 6

   Fry the sauce

   Melt the manteca de cerdo in a wide clay cazuela or heavy pot over medium heat. Pour in the blended chirmol carefully. It will sputter. Cook, stirring often, for 8 to 10 minutes, until the sauce darkens, thickens, and the fat begins to shine at the edges. La manteca es el sabor. This frying step wakes up the chile and pepita. Skip it and the sauce tastes raw.

7. 7

   Simmer the fish

   Stir in the remaining 2 cups fish stock and bring the chirmol to a low simmer. Add the hoja de momo and epazote. Nestle the pejelagarto pieces into the sauce in one layer. Cover and cook gently for 18 to 22 minutes, turning once, until the flesh is firm and pulls from the bone. Keep the heat low. A hard boil breaks the fish and muddies the sauce.

8. 8

   Rest and serve

   Turn off the heat and let the cazuela rest for 10 minutes. Taste the sauce for salt. Remove the epazote stem and leave the hoja de momo in the pot for fragrance. Serve family-style with warm corn tortillas and lime halves. The sauce should cling to the fish, not run around the plate. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Pejelagarto is difficult to find outside Tabasco and Gulf-state Mexican markets. Ask fishmongers who serve Central American or southern Mexican communities. If you cannot find it, use firm fish steaks like gar, grouper, snapper, or catfish. That is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Chile amashito is the Tabasco chile for this dish. It is small, sharp, and local. Habanero can stand in when necessary, but it has a fruitier heat and changes the sauce. Know what you are giving up.
• •Hoja de momo is also called hoja santa or acuyo. In Tabasco it is not perfume for decoration, it is a working herb. It gives the sauce that anise, pepper, wet-earth aroma that belongs to the region.
• •Use corn tortillas with real nixtamal flavor. A stale supermarket tortilla burned black will only taste stale and burned. Si no conoces el mercado, no conoces la cocina.

Advance Preparation

• •The chirmol base can be made up to two days ahead through the frying step. Refrigerate it, then reheat gently with stock before adding the fish.
• •Do not cook the fish ahead if you want clean pieces. Pejelagarto can handle reheating better than delicate fish, but the best texture comes from simmering it the day you serve it.
• •Toast the pumpkin seeds and tortillas a day ahead if you are cooking for a gathering. Store them dry at room temperature.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 440g)