P'urhépecha Beef Churipo (Churhípu)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy 8-quart clay cazuela from Capula or Tzintzuntzan, or a heavy stockpot
• •Cast iron comal for toasting chiles
• •High-powered blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Steamer for warming corundas

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the garbanzo

   The night before cooking, cover the dried garbanzo beans with plenty of cool water. They need room to swell. The next day, drain them before they go into the pot. Old garbanzo takes longer, and no amount of scolding will make it tender faster.

2. 2

   Build the beef broth

   Place the beef shank, ribs, marrow bones, 14 cups cold water, half the onion, 4 garlic cloves, and salt in a heavy 8-quart pot or clay cazuela. Bring it slowly to a simmer over medium heat. Skim the gray foam that rises in the first 20 minutes. A hard boil beats up the broth and makes the meat tough before it has given you anything useful.

3. 3

   Cook the garbanzo

   Add the drained garbanzo beans after the foam slows down. Keep the pot at a steady low simmer for 2 hours to 2 hours 15 minutes, until the garbanzo is creamy at the center and the beef is beginning to loosen from the bone. Add hot water if the bones start showing above the surface.

   If the beef becomes tender before the garbanzo, lift the meat into a bowl, cover it, and keep cooking the garbanzo. The bean decides its own time.
4. 4

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chile guajillo in batches, about 15 to 20 seconds per side, just until the skins darken a shade and smell sweet. Toast the chile ancho the same way, a little longer because it is thicker. Do not blacken them. Burned chile turns the whole pot bitter. On the same comal, brown the reserved onion half and the remaining 2 garlic cloves in spots.

   Good guajillos should be flexible and deep red. If they crack like old paper and smell dusty, pregúntale a las señoras del mercado and buy from a better chile vendor.
5. 5

   Blend the chile

   Cover the toasted chiles with hot water and let them soften for 20 minutes. Drain them. Blend the softened chiles with the browned onion, browned garlic, and 2 cups of hot beef broth until completely smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing hard on the skins. You want a clean red puree, not flakes of chile skin floating in a ceremonial broth.

6. 6

   Color the broth

   Stir the strained chile puree into the simmering beef broth. Some red caldos want the chile fried in manteca. Churipo does not. This is a beef broth, and the beef fat carries the chile. Simmer for 20 minutes, until the broth turns brick red and a light orange sheen gathers at the edge of the pot. Taste for salt now.

7. 7

   Add firm vegetables

   Add the carrots, chayotes, and potatoes. Simmer gently for 15 to 18 minutes. The pieces should stay whole but yield when pierced with a knife. Cut them large because this is not a chopped vegetable soup. The vegetables should look like they were placed there by someone paying attention.

8. 8

   Finish with col

   Add the cabbage wedges, calabacitas if using, and the sprigs of hierbabuena. Simmer 8 to 10 minutes more, just until the cabbage bends and the calabacita is tender. Do not cook the cabbage until it disappears. Churipo has generosity, not confusion.

9. 9

   Warm the corundas

   While the vegetables finish, warm the corundas in a steamer for 10 to 12 minutes, still wrapped in their leaves. If you bought them from a Michoacán vendor, keep them wrapped until they reach the table. Churipo is always served with corundas, never alone. No me vengas con atajos.

10. 10

    Serve in clay

    Ladle each bowl with beef, garbanzo, cabbage, chayote, potato, and enough red broth to cover the bottom of the spoon. Scatter a few fresh hierbabuena leaves over the top. Set two warm corundas beside every bowl, preferably in green-glazed clay from Michoacán or a deep barro bowl. Tear the corunda and dip it into the broth. Así se hace y punto. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.

Chef Tips

• •Ask the butcher for chambarete con hueso and costilla de res. Lean stew cubes make a weak broth. You need bone, collagen, and a little beef fat for churipo to taste like churipo.
• •The red color comes from chile guajillo, not tomato and not powdered chile. The ancho is there for body. If you cannot find chile ancho, use only guajillo and accept a lighter broth. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Churipo is not a contest of heat. Guajillo is warm, red, and fruity. If the family wants more bite, put salsa on the table. Do not punish the whole pot.
• •Do not put flour tortillas next to this bowl. Flour tortillas have their northern place; churipo sits with corundas from Michoacán. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
• •Some Meseta cooks add peeled xoconostle for a tart edge. This version, the one I learned near Tzintzuntzan, does not. Inside one state, every town still has its hand.
• •Canned garbanzo works only when time has already defeated you. Rinse it well and add it during the last 20 minutes. It will not give the broth the same body as soaked dried garbanzo.

Advance Preparation

• •Soak the garbanzo beans the night before. That is planning, not extra work.
• •The beef broth can be made one day ahead through the garbanzo step. Refrigerate it, then lift off excess hardened fat, but leave a spoonful to carry the chile flavor.
• •The chile puree can be toasted, blended, strained, and refrigerated one day ahead. Stir it well before adding it to the broth.
• •Corundas can be made one or two days ahead and reheated in a steamer. Keep them wrapped so the masa stays tender.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 730g)