Puxinu Chiapaneco

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy saucepan for piloncillo syrup
• •Large heatproof mixing bowl
• •Oiled wooden spoon
• •Baking sheet or wide enamel tray
• •Waxed paper for wrapping

Instructions

1. 1

   Sort the grain

   Spread the popped maiz palomero or sorghum on a tray and pick out every hard unpopped grain. Do not skip this. One stone-hard kernel in a mound of puxinu is enough to ruin someone's tooth. The grain should smell toasted and dry, never stale.

2. 2

   Prepare the tray

   Lightly oil a baking sheet or a wide enamel tray. Oil your hands lightly too, but keep the bottle nearby because you will shape the candy while it is still warm and sticky. At the market they work quickly, with practiced hands. You will do the same, just with more attention.

3. 3

   Cook the piloncillo

   Combine the piloncillo, honey, water, canela, and salt in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring until the piloncillo dissolves. Once it melts, stop stirring so the syrup does not turn grainy. Let it bubble until it darkens to glossy brown and thick drops fall slowly from the spoon.

4. 4

   Test the syrup

   Drop a little syrup into a cup of cold water. It should gather into a soft but firm ball that holds its shape between your fingers. If it dissolves, cook longer. If it cracks hard, you went too far. Add the lime juice at the end and remove the canela. The lime keeps the sweetness clean, not flat.

5. 5

   Coat the grain

   Pour the hot syrup over the popped grain in a large bowl. Fold with an oiled wooden spoon until every piece is lightly coated. Work from the bottom up. You are not making brittle. You want enough syrup to bind the grain into rough clusters while still letting the popped corn or sorghum show.

6. 6

   Shape the mounds

   While the mixture is warm, oil your hands and press small handfuls into rough mounds about the size of a lime. Do not pack them into perfect balls. Puxinu should look like it came from a Chiapas market basket, uneven, generous, and practical. Set each mound on the oiled tray to firm.

7. 7

   Cool and wrap

   Let the puxinu cool completely, about 30 minutes. Once firm, wrap each mound in waxed paper or store them in a covered tin. They keep well because that was the point: a feria sweet that travels, waits, and still tastes like toasted grain and piloncillo. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.

Chef Tips

• •If you can find sorghum already popped in a Mexican or Central American market, use it. If not, use plain popped maiz palomero criollo. Do not use buttered movie popcorn. That belongs nowhere near puxinu.
• •Piloncillo matters. Brown sugar makes a sweet syrup, yes, but it misses the mineral depth of cane cooked down into cones. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •The syrup decides the texture. Soft-ball stage gives you a mound that holds together but still yields under the teeth. Hard-crack syrup makes candy for punishment. No me vengas con atajos.

Advance Preparation

• •Puxinu can be made 3 days ahead and kept in a covered tin at room temperature.
• •Do not refrigerate it. The sugar will pull moisture from the air and the popped grain will lose its crisp bite.
• •The popped grain can be sorted one day ahead and held in a tightly sealed container.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 30g)