Ponzoquí Zoque de Yema

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large mixing bowl or stand mixer with dough hook
• •Comal or open flame for softening hoja de plátano
• •Baking sheets lined with parchment or banana leaf
• •Cotton servilleta for covering the dough
• •Pastry brush for egg wash

Instructions

1. 1

   Wake the yeast

   Stir the warm milk, warm water, yeast, and 1 tablespoon of the grated piloncillo in a small bowl. Let it stand for 10 minutes, until the surface looks creamy and alive. If nothing happens, your yeast is dead. Start again. Ceremonial bread does not forgive tired yeast.

2. 2

   Mix the dry base

   In a large bowl, whisk the bread flour, remaining piloncillo, salt, and crushed anís seed. Rub the anís between your fingers before adding it. You want the smell to open. In Tuxtla, that little perfume is part of the bread's memory.

3. 3

   Add the yolks

   Make a well in the flour. Add the yeast mixture, egg yolks, whole eggs, orange zest, vanilla, and aguardiente. Mix with your hand or a sturdy spoon until a rough, sticky dough forms. It will look too wet at first. Wait. The flour needs a few minutes to drink the yolks.

4. 4

   Work in the manteca

   Add the softened manteca de cerdo in small pieces and knead it into the dough. At first the dough will smear and resist you. Keep working. After 10 to 12 minutes by hand, or 7 to 8 minutes on low speed in a stand mixer, it should become elastic, glossy, and soft enough to stretch without tearing immediately. La manteca es el sabor, and here it is also the texture.

   Do not bury this dough in extra flour because it feels sticky. A yolk bread should be tender. Add only enough flour to keep it from welding itself to the table.
5. 5

   Let it rise

   Lightly oil a clean bowl. Set the dough inside, cover with a cotton servilleta, and let it rise in a warm place until doubled, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours. Enriched dough is slow. Watch the dough, not your impatience. When you press it gently, the indentation should fill back halfway.

6. 6

   Shape the loaves

   Turn the dough onto a lightly floured table. For two large ceremonial loaves, divide it in half and shape each piece into a round or oval. For small breads, divide into 12 pieces and roll them tight under your palm. Place them on a parchment-lined sheet pan or, better, on banana leaf pieces laid over the pan. The hoja de plátano is not for flavor alone. It tells the table this bread belongs to Chiapas.

7. 7

   Proof again

   Cover the shaped dough with the servilleta and let it rise until puffy, 45 to 75 minutes. It should not collapse when touched. If your kitchen is cold, it will take longer. Panaderas know this because they work with the weather, not against it.

8. 8

   Glaze and decorate

   Heat the oven to 350F. Brush the breads gently with egg wash. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and a little granulated sugar. Use a sharp knife to make shallow cuts across the top if making large loaves. Do not cut deeply. You are marking the bread, not opening it like bolillo.

9. 9

   Bake until golden

   Bake small breads for 20 to 24 minutes, large loaves for 28 to 34 minutes, until the tops are deep gold and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped. The crumb should smell of yolk, anís, piloncillo, and warm fat. If you have a thermometer, the center should read 190F to 195F.

10. 10

    Cool and serve

    Let the bread cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes before cutting. Tear small breads by hand at the table or slice large loaves thick. Serve with atole blanco, pozol de cacao, or café de olla. This is bread for sharing, not for hiding in a plastic bag before anyone sees it. Cada estado, su propia cocina.

Chef Tips

• •Ask for fresh manteca de cerdo from a butcher who sells pork that day. Supermarket shelf lard often tastes flat or stale. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Ponzoquí is not meant to be chile-hot. Not all Mexican food carries chile. Here the flavor is yolk, anís, piloncillo, sesame, and good fat. That is Chiapas speaking in bread.
• •If you can find hoja de plátano, line the baking sheet with it. Pass it over a flame or hot comal for a few seconds first so it softens and stops splitting.
• •The dough should be soft and a little tacky. If you make it stiff because you fear sticky hands, the finished bread will be dry. La cocina no es decoración, es trabajo.
• •For fiesta service, make the dough the night before and let the first rise happen slowly in the refrigerator. The flavor deepens and the morning work becomes shaping, proofing, and baking.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can be mixed and kneaded one day ahead. After the first 30 minutes of rising at room temperature, refrigerate it overnight in an oiled covered bowl. Bring it back to room temperature before shaping.
• •Baked ponzoquí keeps well for two days wrapped in a clean cotton cloth. Rewarm thick slices on a comal over low heat.
• •Do not freeze the shaped unbaked dough. The yolks and fat make the texture suffer. Freeze only fully baked loaves, wrapped tightly, for up to one month.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 95g)