Salbutes de Pavo en Escabeche

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy stockpot for poaching the turkey
• •Cast iron comal for charring chiles and toasting spices
• •Molcajete or spice grinder for the whole spices
• •Tortilla press lined with plastic from a freezer bag
• •Wide, deep skillet or cazuela for frying the salbutes
• •Frying thermometer
• •Wire rack set over a sheet pan

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the pickled red onion

   Place the sliced red onion in a heatproof bowl and pour boiling water over it. Count to thirty. Drain. This takes the raw bite off without cooking the crunch out. Return the onion to the bowl and add the sour orange juice, sliced habanero, oregano, and salt. Press the onion down so the liquid covers it. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour, preferably four. The color will turn from pale pink to a deep magenta. That is the sign it is ready.

   The habanero is non-negotiable for cebolla morada yucateca. Slice it thin and let it sit with the onion. If you want less heat, leave the rings whole and fish them out before serving. The perfume stays. The fire backs off.
2. 2

   Poach the turkey

   Place the turkey pieces in a heavy pot and cover with cold water by two inches. Add the halved onion, the halved head of garlic, bay leaves, and one tablespoon of salt. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Skim the foam that rises in the first fifteen minutes. Lower the heat and cook for forty-five minutes, until the meat pulls cleanly from the bone. Lift the turkey out and reserve two cups of the broth. Discard the aromatics. When cool enough to handle, shred the meat into rough pieces. Keep the skin on the shreds. The skin matters in escabeche oriental.

3. 3

   Toast and grind the spices

   On a dry comal over medium heat, toast the peppercorns, allspice, cloves, cinnamon stick, and cumin seeds until they smell sharp and warm, about two minutes. Tip them into a molcajete or spice grinder along with the six garlic cloves for the escabeche and the dried oregano. Grind to a coarse paste. This is the spice backbone of escabeche oriental from Valladolid. No me vengas con atajos. Pre-ground spices will give you a flat broth that tastes of nothing in particular.

4. 4

   Char the chiles and onions

   On the same comal, char the whole chiles xcatic until the skins blister and turn brown in patches, about four minutes, turning often. Set aside. In a wide pan, melt three tablespoons of lard over medium heat. Add the sliced white onions for the escabeche and cook for eight to ten minutes, until softened and lightly golden at the edges. The onions should be tender but still have body. They are the bulk of the escabeche, not a background note.

5. 5

   Build the escabeche broth

   Dissolve the recado rojo in the sour orange juice in a small bowl, working out the lumps with the back of a spoon. Pour it into the pan with the onions. Add the spice paste, the apple cider vinegar, the charred chiles xcatic, and the two cups of reserved turkey broth. Bring to a simmer and cook for ten minutes, until the liquid takes on the deep orange-red of the achiote and the kitchen smells of clove and cinnamon. Add the shredded turkey and the skin. Simmer five minutes more so the turkey takes on the broth. Taste for salt. The escabeche should be assertive: tart from the sour orange, warm from the cloves, sharp from the chiles. Pull from the heat and let it rest. The flavor settles as it cools.

6. 6

   Make the masa for the salbutes

   In a bowl, combine the masa harina and half teaspoon of salt. Add the warm water gradually, working it in with your hands until you have a smooth, soft dough. The masa should feel like fresh playdough: pliable, not sticky, not dry. If it cracks when you press it, add water a teaspoon at a time. If it sticks to your palm, add masa harina by the spoonful. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let it rest fifteen minutes. The salbute is not a panucho. There are no beans inside. The masa is meant to puff into a hollow pocket the moment it hits the fat.

   A salbute and a panucho are not the same thing. The panucho is split and stuffed with refried black beans. The salbute is plain masa that puffs in the lard. Yucatecans will correct you on this. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
7. 7

   Press the salbutes

   Divide the masa into eighteen balls, each about the size of a walnut. Cover with the damp cloth so they do not dry out. Cut two squares of plastic from a freezer bag. Place one ball at a time between the plastic in a tortilla press and press to about four inches across and a little thicker than a tortilla. Thicker than you think. A thin salbute will not puff. The slightly extra body is what creates the hollow interior.

8. 8

   Fry the salbutes

   Heat the two cups of lard in a wide, deep skillet to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Use a thermometer. Slide one salbute into the lard and watch it. Within seconds it should sink, then float, then begin to puff. Spoon hot lard over the top to encourage the puff. It will balloon. Fry for about one minute total, turning once, until pale gold and crisp at the edges. The interior will be hollow. Drain on a wire rack. Repeat with the rest, working in batches of two or three. La manteca es el sabor and lard is what gives the salbute its proper texture. Vegetable oil will fry it but will not flavor it.

   If a salbute does not puff, it means the masa was too thin, the lard was not hot enough, or the dough was too dry. Fix the next one. Eat the failed one with salsa. Nothing is wasted in this kitchen.
9. 9

   Build the salbutes at the table

   Set the warm salbutes on a platter. Top each one with a small handful of shredded lettuce, a generous spoonful of the pavo en escabeche with its onions and broth, a slice of tomato, a slice of avocado if you like, and a pile of the magenta pickled onion with a ring of habanero on top for those who want it. Serve immediately with lime wedges. The juices from the escabeche soak into the masa and that is exactly what should happen. Eat them with your hands. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Recado rojo is not the same as 'achiote paste in a yellow box at the supermarket' unless that box is from La Anita or El Yucateco. The Peninsula's recados are sold pressed into bricks in Yucatecan markets and they carry the spice profile the dish needs. If you cannot find a good brand, make your own with achiote seeds, garlic, allspice, oregano, and sour orange.
• •Naranja agria is the defining acid of Yucatecan cooking. It is sold in some Latin grocers in the diaspora. The substitution of orange juice plus lime is a compromise, not an upgrade. It gets you close. It does not get you there.
• •Chile xcatic is a yellow chile native to the Peninsula and used in escabeche oriental specifically. If your market does not carry it, chile güero or banana pepper will work. Do not substitute jalapeño. The flavor profile is wrong.
• •The turkey is the dish. Pavo, not chicken. Yucatán has been raising domestic turkey since pre-Columbian times and the slightly gamier flavor stands up to the clove and cinnamon in a way chicken cannot. If you have to use chicken, use bone-in thighs with skin and shred them the same way.

Advance Preparation

• •The pavo en escabeche can be made up to two days ahead and refrigerated. The flavor deepens overnight. Reheat gently before serving.
• •The pickled red onion can be made up to one week ahead. It only gets better. Keep it in a glass jar in the refrigerator.
• •The masa for the salbutes must be made the day of frying. Refrigerated masa loses its ability to puff.
• •Fry the salbutes within the hour you plan to eat them. A reheated salbut goes soft and the hollow collapses.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 270g)