Sopa de Tichinda de Chacahua

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide 6-quart glazed clay cazuela or heavy peltre pot
• •Stiff shellfish brush
• •Dry comal for chiles and vegetables
• •Blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer lined with manta de cielo or cheesecloth
• •Deep black-and-tan clay bowls from Pinotepa or Cuajinicuilapa

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean the tichindas

   Put the tichindas in a basin of cold water with the coarse sea salt for 20 minutes while you scrub each shell with a stiff brush. Change the water until it runs mostly clear. Pull away any root fibers or beards. Discard cracked shells and any open shell that does not close when tapped. This is not fussiness. Lagoon mud is real, and bad shellfish does not become safe because the broth tastes good.

2. 2

   Open the shells

   Place the cleaned tichindas in a wide pot with 3 cups of the water. Cover and cook over medium-high heat for 4 to 6 minutes, shaking the pot once, until the shells open. Lift the opened shells into a bowl. Discard any that stay closed. Strain the shellfish liquor through a damp cloth or fine strainer into a measuring cup. Add enough water to make 8 cups total liquid. Rinse the pot.

   Do not pry open a closed shell and talk yourself into using it. The shellfish tells you when it is safe enough for the pot.
3. 3

   Shape the chochoyotes

   Mix the masa with 1 tablespoon of the lard and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Knead until smooth and soft, adding a spoonful of warm water only if the masa cracks. Roll into 24 to 30 small balls. Press your thumb into the center of each one to make a deep dimple. Cover with a damp towel. The thumbprint is not decoration; it catches broth and helps the masa cook evenly.

4. 4

   Toast and roast

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the dried chile costeño and guajillo separately, 10 to 20 seconds per side, just until they smell deep and the skins flex. Do not blacken them. Put them in a bowl and cover with hot water for 15 minutes. On the same comal, roast the tomatillos, onion, garlic, and fresh chile costeño until the tomatillos slump and the onion has dark spots. Peel the garlic.

   Chile costeño burns fast. If it turns black, throw it out. Burned chile gives bitterness to the whole pot.
5. 5

   Blend the base

   Drain the soaked chiles. Blend them with the roasted tomatillos, onion, peeled garlic, fresh chile costeño, torn hoja santa, and 1 cup of the reserved tichinda liquor until smooth. The sauce should be green with a shadow of gold from the chiles. Do not add tomato. This is Chacahua's green broth, not a red seafood caldo.

6. 6

   Fry the sauce

   Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons lard in the clean pot over medium heat. Pour in the blended base. It will sputter. Stir for 8 to 10 minutes, until the green darkens, the raw tomatillo smell softens, and the fat shines around the edges. This is where a blended sauce becomes soup. Skip the frying and it tastes thin. No me vengas con atajos.

7. 7

   Simmer the roots

   Pour in the reserved tichinda liquor and water. Add the epazote sprigs and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a steady simmer. Add the yuca and cook for 10 minutes. Add the plátano macho and cook 12 to 15 minutes more, until the yuca gives when pierced and the plantain edges soften. The broth should taste briny, herbal, and lightly thick from the fried sauce.

8. 8

   Cook the chochoyotes

   Drop the chochoyotes into the simmering broth one at a time so they do not stick together. Cook 12 to 15 minutes, until they float and the masa changes from raw pale to set. The dimples will hold little pools of green broth. That is the point. Masa thickens honestly. Flour does not belong in this pot.

9. 9

   Return the tichindas

   Slide the opened tichindas, still in their shells, back into the pot with any juices collected in the bowl. Simmer gently for 2 to 3 minutes, just to warm them through and let their brine settle into the broth. Do not boil hard now. Shellfish tightens when you bully it. Taste for salt and remove the epazote stems.

10. 10

    Serve in clay

    Ladle the soup into deep black-and-tan clay bowls from Pinotepa or Cuajinicuilapa if you have them. Each bowl should get tichindas in shell, yuca, plátano macho, and chochoyotes. Serve lime halves and warm corn tortillas at the table. The bowl should look like the lagoon gave you dinner. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Tichindas are black-shell mangrove mussels from Laguna de Chacahua and Corralero. If you're not cooking with someone who knows those waters, do not forage shellfish from unmonitored lagoons. Red tide, sewage, and warm-water toxins are not things you fix with lime. Buy live shellfish from a trusted fishmonger and call it a compromise.
• •Chile costeño amarillo is the chile I want here. Outside Oaxaca it can be hard to find. Ask Oaxacan vendors, online Mexican spice sellers, or the señoras at the market before you settle for chile de arbol. If you cannot find fresh chile costeño verde, use serrano for the fresh heat, but keep the dried costeño. Lose both and the soup loses its coast.
• •No canned broth, no powdered chile mixes, no sour cream, no cheddar. This pot is built from shellfish liquor, toasted chiles, herbs, masa, and time. Así se hace y punto.
• •Do not flatten the Afro-Mexican map. Veracruz Sotavento, from Tlacotalpan to Los Tuxtlas, gives you mondongo jarocho, a port dish that carries the Atlantic slave-trade lineage, and chilpachole, which is thickened with masa, not flour. Costa Chica Guerrero, around Cuajinicuilapa, gives you chilate as a chicken stew, not the cacao, rice, and cinnamon drink also called chilate in Guerrero, and wet barbacoa plated as stew, not taquería barbacoa. This recipe is Chacahua, Costa Chica Oaxaca, and the tichinda leads.
• •Fresh masa from a tortillería makes better chochoyotes than dry masa harina. Masa harina works when it must, but let it hydrate fully before shaping. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.

Advance Preparation

• •The green base can be roasted, blended, and refrigerated one day ahead. Fry it in lard only when you are ready to build the soup.
• •Chochoyotes can be shaped up to 4 hours ahead. Keep them covered with a damp towel so the masa does not crack.
• •Yuca can be peeled and cut one day ahead. Keep it covered in cold water in the refrigerator.
• •Cook the tichindas the day you serve the soup. Live shellfish does not wait politely for your schedule.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 580g)