Chef Lupita
Caldo de Shuti Zoque de Chiapas
Chiapas' Zoque river broth of shuti, chile de Simojovel, chile amashito, momo, chipilin, and masa, a spring pot that tastes of mountain streams and the women who clean every shell by hand.
Culinary Explorer
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Puchero Tabasqueño de Res y Plátano Macho
Created by
Tabasco's lowland beef puchero, built with marrow bones, plátano macho, yuca, macal, chayote, calabaza, elote, herbs, and a spoon of arroz frito stirred into the bowl.
Soups & Stews
Mexican
Comfort Food
Make Ahead
Special Occasion
35 min
Active Time
3 hr cook•3 hr 35 min total
Yield8 servings
Tabasco, especially the Chontalpa and the river country around Nacajuca and Villahermosa, cooks from water, heat, root vegetables, and patience. This puchero is not a chile-forward soup. It belongs to the humid lowlands where plátano macho, yuca, macal, chayote, calabaza, elote, chaya, momo, and chile amashito all have a place on the table.
The broth comes first. Beef chambarete, short rib, and marrow bone simmer until the meat loosens and the bones give the caldo weight. Then the roots go in by order of toughness: yuca and macal before chayote and calabaza, plátano macho when it can soften without falling apart. A careless cook throws everything in at once and calls it practical. No. Timing is the recipe.
The arroz frito matters. In Tabasco homes, a spoonful of rice fried in manteca de cerdo can go into the bowl to give the broth body and hunger-satisfying weight. La manteca es el sabor. The chile amashito is not there to make the whole pot hot. It sits at the table, crushed with lime and salt, so each person decides. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
I learned versions like this from women who cooked while the air felt heavy enough to chew, with bunches of chaya on the table and jícaras of pozol nearby. The pot was not dressed up. It was generous, useful, and exact. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.
Puchero entered Mexico through Spanish colonial cooking, but in Tabasco it was reshaped by the ingredients of the Maya-Chontal lowlands: plantain, yuca, macal, chayote, calabaza, corn, and local herbs. Unlike the chile-heavy stews of central Mexico, southern caldo traditions often rely on aromatic leaves, masa or rice for body, and slow-simmered meat, river fish, or estuarine foods. Chile amashito, a small wild chile closely associated with Tabasco, is usually served as a table condiment rather than used to dominate the broth.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
beef chambarete
Quantity
2 pounds
cut into large pieces
bone-in beef short ribs
Quantity
1 pound
beef marrow bones
Quantity
1 pound
cold water
Quantity
14 cups, plus more as needed
white onion
Quantity
1 medium
halved
head of garlic
Quantity
1
halved crosswise
kosher salt
Quantity
2 teaspoons, plus more to taste
fresh epazote
Quantity
2 sprigs
fresh chaya leaves
Quantity
4
stems removed
fresh momo leaves or hierba santa leaves
Quantity
2
yuca
Quantity
1 pound
peeled, woody core removed, cut into 2-inch pieces
macal or malanga
Quantity
1 pound
peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
fresh corn
Quantity
2 ears
cut crosswise into thirds
chayotes
Quantity
2
peeled if tough, pitted, cut into wedges
calabaza de Castilla or Mexican squash
Quantity
1 pound
cut into large chunks
ripe but firm plátanos machos
Quantity
2
peeled and cut into thick diagonal pieces
cooked garbanzos
Quantity
1 cup
drained
manteca de cerdo
Quantity
2 tablespoons
long-grain white rice
Quantity
3/4 cup
small tomato
Quantity
1
finely chopped
white onion for the rice
Quantity
2 tablespoons
finely chopped
small garlic clove
Quantity
1
minced
kosher salt for the rice
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
fresh lime halves (optional)
Quantity
for serving
chile amashito crushed with salt (optional)
Quantity
for serving
warm hand-pressed corn tortillas (optional)
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| beef chambaretecut into large pieces | 2 pounds |
| bone-in beef short ribs | 1 pound |
| beef marrow bones | 1 pound |
| cold water | 14 cups, plus more as needed |
| white onionhalved | 1 medium |
| head of garlichalved crosswise | 1 |
| kosher salt | 2 teaspoons, plus more to taste |
| fresh epazote | 2 sprigs |
| fresh chaya leavesstems removed | 4 |
| fresh momo leaves or hierba santa leaves | 2 |
| yucapeeled, woody core removed, cut into 2-inch pieces | 1 pound |
| macal or malangapeeled and cut into 2-inch pieces | 1 pound |
| fresh corncut crosswise into thirds | 2 ears |
| chayotespeeled if tough, pitted, cut into wedges | 2 |
| calabaza de Castilla or Mexican squashcut into large chunks | 1 pound |
| ripe but firm plátanos machospeeled and cut into thick diagonal pieces | 2 |
| cooked garbanzosdrained | 1 cup |
| manteca de cerdo | 2 tablespoons |
| long-grain white rice | 3/4 cup |
| small tomatofinely chopped | 1 |
| white onion for the ricefinely chopped | 2 tablespoons |
| small garlic cloveminced | 1 |
| kosher salt for the rice | 1/4 teaspoon |
| fresh lime halves (optional) | for serving |
| chile amashito crushed with salt (optional) | for serving |
| warm hand-pressed corn tortillas (optional) | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 8-quart stockpot or deep clay cazuela
- •Small saucepan for arroz frito
- •Sharp knife for yuca, macal, and plantain
- •Ladle and wide serving bowls
Instructions
- 1
Start the broth
Put the chambarete, short ribs, and marrow bones in a heavy stockpot. Cover with the cold water by about two inches. Add the halved onion, garlic, and salt. Bring it up slowly over medium heat. Skim the gray foam that rises during the first 20 minutes. If you let that foam boil back into the pot, the broth turns cloudy and tired.
- 2
Simmer the beef
Lower the heat until the broth moves with slow, steady bubbles. Cover partially and cook for 1 hour and 45 minutes, adding hot water only if the bones start to show above the liquid. The meat should begin to loosen but not collapse. A puchero is generous, but it is not careless.
- 3
Add the firm roots
Add the yuca, macal, and corn. Simmer for 25 minutes. Yuca and macal need time to soften and give the broth their starchy body. Do not add the squash yet. Calabaza is not a rock. Treat it like what it is.
- 4
Add tender vegetables
Add the chayote, calabaza, plátano macho, and garbanzos. Simmer 20 to 25 minutes more, until the plantain is tender, the chayote is cooked through, and the squash holds its shape at the edges. If the plantain breaks a little, fine. If it dissolves into the pot, you waited too long.
- 5
Scent with leaves
Tear the chaya and momo leaves into large pieces and add them with the epazote. Simmer 8 minutes. The broth should smell green and deep, not sharp. This is the Maya south speaking through herbs, not through a red chile paste. Not every Mexican soup is trying to be pozole rojo.
Chaya must be cooked before eating. Eight minutes in the simmering broth is enough for tender leaves, but do not use it raw as a garnish. - 6
Fry the rice
While the pot rests, melt the manteca de cerdo in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the rice and stir until the grains turn opaque and smell toasted, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the chopped tomato, onion, garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook 3 minutes more, until the tomato gives up its juice and stains the rice lightly.
- 7
Cook the arroz
Ladle 1 1/2 cups of hot broth from the puchero into the rice. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it stand 10 minutes without lifting the lid. The rice should be separate but soft enough to sink into the caldo. This is arroz frito for body, not a side dish pretending to be separate.
- 8
Season and serve
Taste the broth and correct the salt. Remove the spent onion, garlic, epazote stems, and any tough leaf stems you see. Serve each bowl with beef, marrow bone if your guests know what is good, yuca, macal, corn, chayote, calabaza, plantain, and garbanzos. Add a spoon of arroz frito to each bowl. Put lime halves, crushed chile amashito with salt, and warm corn tortillas on the table. Así se hace y punto.
Chef Tips
- •Ask for chambarete and marrow bones. If the butcher only offers boneless stew meat, go somewhere else. The bones are what make the broth taste like puchero instead of boiled beef.
- •Macal is common in Tabasco and Chiapas markets. Outside Mexico, look for malanga or taro at Latin American, Caribbean, or Asian markets. It is a compromise, not an upgrade, but it respects the starchy role of the ingredient.
- •Use ripe but firm plátano macho. Green plantain stays chalky here. Overripe black plantain collapses and sweetens the whole pot too much.
- •Chile amashito belongs at the table. Crush it with salt and a squeeze of lime. Do not replace it with jalapeño and pretend nothing happened. You will get heat, but not the Tabasco flavor.
- •If you find fresh chaya, buy it. If not, use extra momo or hierba santa and accept what is missing. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado before you trust a supermarket label.
Advance Preparation
- •The beef broth can be made one day ahead. Refrigerate it with the meat and bones, then skim only the excess hardened fat before reheating. Leave some fat. Flavor lives there.
- •Cut yuca and macal the day you cook. They oxidize and dry out if you treat them like potatoes.
- •The arroz frito is best made the day of serving, but it can sit covered off the heat for 30 minutes before the meal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 850g)
Calories
745 calories
Total Fat
21 g
Saturated Fat
8 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
13 g
Cholesterol
90 mg
Sodium
900 mg
Total Carbohydrates
113 g
Dietary Fiber
12 g
Sugars
14 g
Protein
32 g
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