Potaje de Lentejas Yucateco

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 6-quart pot or clay cazuela
• •Wide skillet for the sofrito
• •Small skillet for frying the plantains
• •Comal or open flame for charring the xkatik chile
• •Wooden spoon for stirring the lentils without breaking them

Instructions

1. 1

   Start the pork

   Place the pork ribs in a heavy pot with 8 cups of cold water, one bay leaf, half the chopped onion, and a teaspoon of salt. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Skim the gray foam in the first ten minutes. Cold water draws the flavor out of the bone slowly. A hard boil clouds the broth and toughens the meat. Cook 45 minutes, until the ribs are tender enough to bite but not falling apart.

   Yucatecan cooks use the rib bone for flavor and the connective tissue for body. Boneless pork shoulder gives you a thinner broth. If your butcher has costilla, take it.
2. 2

   Cook the lentils

   Rinse the lentils until the water runs clear. Add them directly to the simmering pork broth along with the remaining bay leaf and the sprig of epazote. Cook 25 to 30 minutes, until the lentils are tender but still hold their shape. Yucatecan lentils are not pureed. They keep their integrity in the broth.

3. 3

   Build the recado base

   While the lentils cook, heat the 2 tablespoons of manteca in a wide skillet over medium heat. Add the diced ham or tocino and render until the edges crisp. Add the longaniza coins and brown for two minutes per side. Lift the meats out and set aside. In the same fat, fry the remaining chopped onion and garlic until soft and translucent, about five minutes. Add the chopped tomato and cook until it breaks down into a rough sofrito, about six more minutes.

   La manteca es el sabor. Olive oil will work but it is not the right fat for this dish. The pork fat carries the achiote and ties the whole pot together.
4. 4

   Dissolve the recado rojo

   Spoon a ladle of the hot lentil broth into a small bowl and add the recado rojo. Mash with a spoon until the paste fully dissolves into a deep red liquid. The recado is not just spice paste. It is achiote seed ground with garlic, cumin, oregano, black pepper, allspice, clove, and naranja agria. Buy it from a Yucatecan brand or grind your own. The cheap red dye sold as 'achiote paste' in supermarkets is not the same thing.

   If you cannot find lima agria, the naranja agria juice does the work of acidifying the recado. Persian lime alone is too sharp. Yucatecan citrus is bitter-sour, not just sour.
5. 5

   Combine the pot

   Stir the sofrito and the dissolved recado into the lentil pot. The broth will turn the color of a Mérida sunset, somewhere between brick and tile. Return the browned longaniza and ham to the pot. Add the carrot, potato, and chayote. Lay the charred xkatik chile and the whole habanero on top. Do not break the habanero. You want its perfume, not its fire.

6. 6

   Simmer the potaje

   Bring the pot back to a low simmer. Add the hierbabuena and the naranja agria juice. Cover partially and cook 25 to 30 minutes, until the potato and chayote are tender and the broth has thickened from the lentils releasing their starch. Taste for salt. The recado is assertive, so the salt has to keep up. Fish out the habanero before serving. If it has burst, taste a spoonful before you add anything more. Yucatecan heat is not Sinaloan heat. It builds on the tongue and walks behind every other flavor.

7. 7

   Fry the plantains

   While the potaje finishes, heat the 1/2 cup of manteca in a small skillet over medium-high heat. The plantains must be black-skinned, the kind people buy thinking they are spoiled. Those are the right ones. Fry the slices in a single layer until the edges turn deep caramel and the centers go soft, about two minutes per side. Drain on paper towel. The sweetness against the savory recado is the heart of this dish. Without the plantain, you have lentil soup. With the plantain, you have potaje yucateco.

   Green or yellow plantains will not work. They have no sugar to caramelize and they taste like cardboard in the broth. Wait until the skin is black and soft to the touch.
8. 8

   Serve at the table

   Ladle the potaje into deep bowls, making sure each one gets a rib, a coin of longaniza, and a piece of every vegetable. Float two or three fried plantain slices on top of each bowl. Set the diced red onion, cilantro, sliced habanero, lima agria, and warm tortillas in small dishes around the table. Each person finishes their own bowl. That ritual is not garnish. It is the dish. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Buy your recado rojo from a Yucatecan brand or grind your own from whole achiote seed, cumin, oregano, allspice, clove, black pepper, garlic, and naranja agria. The red bricks sold as 'achiote paste' in supermarkets are mostly cornstarch and food coloring. They give you the color and none of the flavor.
• •Lima agria and naranja agria are not interchangeable with Persian lime or sweet orange. If you can find a Latin grocery that carries them, buy them. If you cannot, mix orange juice with lime juice in a 2:1 ratio. It is a compromise, not an upgrade, but it works.
• •The plantain is not optional and it is not a garnish. It is part of the dish. If your plantains are not black, wait. Yellow plantains will not caramelize and the whole sweet-savory balance falls apart.
• •Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado. The recado vendors in Mérida's Mercado Lucas de Galvez will tell you which family makes the best recado rojo, and they will be right.

Advance Preparation

• •The potaje is better on day two. Make it Tuesday night for Wednesday lunch and the recado will have settled into the lentils overnight.
• •The fried plantains should be made the day you serve. Fried ahead and refrigerated, they turn gummy and lose the crisp caramelized edge.
• •Keeps refrigerated for four days. Freeze without the plantains and the chayote, both of which suffer in the freezer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 560g)