Chef Lupita
Mone Zoque-Chol de Hoja Santa
Chiapas' Zoque-Chol leaf wrap, pork or charcoal-roasted pejelagarto folded with tomate, chile simojovel or amashito, plátano macho, and hoja santa, then slow-steamed until the leaf perfumes every bite.
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Tacos de Butifarra Chiapaneca
Created by
Chiapas Highlands butifarra, browned on a comal until the edges glisten, tucked into hand-pressed corn tortillas with raw onion, cilantro, lime, and a sharp chile manzano salsa.
Sandwiches & Wraps
Mexican
Weeknight
Quick Meal
Comfort Food
20 min
Active Time
15 min cook•35 min total
Yield4 servings, about 12 tacos
Chiapas, Los Altos, San Cristobal de las Casas. That is where this taco lives. Cold mountain air, market tables lined with smoked meats, cheeses, panes compuestos, and coils of butifarra made by families who learned the seasoning from mothers and grandmothers, not from a factory label.
Butifarra chiapaneca is pork sausage, compact and well-seasoned, usually eaten sliced as a botana or warmed on the comal. For tacos, you cut it thick enough to keep its bite, then brown it in its own fat until the cut sides take color. No me vengas con atajos. If you boil it or bury it under cheese, you've missed the point.
The salsa belongs to the highlands too. Chile manzano, tomatillo, onion, cilantro, lime. The chile manzano has heat, yes, but it also has a green-fruit sharpness that works against the pork fat. This is not food from a single Mexico. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
Butifarra arrived in Mexico through Spanish charcuteria traditions, but in Chiapas it became a regional embutido shaped by the markets of San Cristobal de las Casas and Comitan, where pork, vinegar, garlic, and warm spices were adapted to local taste. The Chiapas Highlands developed a distinct sausage culture because curing, drying, and market sale made practical sense in cooler mountain towns. Chile manzano, common in highland markets from Chiapas into the central-southern mountains, is prized for its thick flesh and bright heat, which is why it cuts through pork so cleanly.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
butifarra chiapaneca
Quantity
1 pound
sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
hand-pressed corn tortillas
Quantity
12
manteca de cerdo (optional)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
only if the sausage is lean
white onion
Quantity
1/2 medium
finely diced
fresh cilantro
Quantity
1/2 cup
chopped
limes
Quantity
2
cut into wedges
tomatillos
Quantity
6
husked and rinsed
fresh chile manzano
Quantity
2
stemmed
white onion wedge
Quantity
1 small
garlic clove
Quantity
1
unpeeled
kosher salt
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon, plus more to taste
fresh cilantro for the salsa
Quantity
2 tablespoons
chopped
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| butifarra chiapanecasliced into 1/4-inch rounds | 1 pound |
| hand-pressed corn tortillas | 12 |
| manteca de cerdo (optional)only if the sausage is lean | 1 tablespoon |
| white onionfinely diced | 1/2 medium |
| fresh cilantrochopped | 1/2 cup |
| limescut into wedges | 2 |
| tomatilloshusked and rinsed | 6 |
| fresh chile manzanostemmed | 2 |
| white onion wedge | 1 small |
| garlic cloveunpeeled | 1 |
| kosher salt | 1/2 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| fresh cilantro for the salsachopped | 2 tablespoons |
Equipment Needed
- •Cast iron comal or heavy skillet
- •Volcanic stone molcajete or blender
- •Tortilla press
- •Woven cotton servilleta for holding warm tortillas
Instructions
- 1
Char the salsa base
Heat a dry comal over medium-high. Put the tomatillos, chile manzano, onion wedge, and unpeeled garlic on the hot surface. Turn them until the tomatillos soften and blister, the onion chars at the edges, and the garlic skin darkens. The chile manzano should blister, not collapse into mush. You want brightness with a little smoke from the comal.
- 2
Grind the salsa
Peel the garlic. In a molcajete, grind the garlic and salt first, then work in the chile manzano, onion, and tomatillos until the salsa is rough and juicy. Stir in the chopped cilantro. A blender works if that is what you have, but pulse it. Do not make a green smoothie. A highland salsa should still show the hand that made it.
Chile manzano is hot and thick-fleshed. If your market only has chile peron, use it. If you use serrano, the salsa will be sharper and thinner. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade. - 3
Brown the butifarra
Lay the sliced butifarra on the hot comal in a single layer. If the sausage is lean, rub the comal with a little manteca de cerdo first. Cook 2 to 3 minutes per side, until the cut faces turn deep golden and the edges glisten with rendered pork fat. Do not crowd the comal. Crowding makes the sausage sweat instead of brown.
- 4
Warm the tortillas
Warm the corn tortillas on the same comal, about 30 seconds per side, until they puff in spots and pick up a few toasted marks. Keep them wrapped in a clean servilleta. Flour tortillas are a northern tradition. Here, in Chiapas, you use corn.
- 5
Build the tacos
Place 3 or 4 slices of browned butifarra in each warm tortilla. Spoon chile manzano salsa over the pork, then add diced white onion, chopped cilantro, and a squeeze of lime. Eat them while the tortilla is flexible and the sausage fat is still glossy. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.
Chef Tips
- •Buy butifarra from a Chiapas-style butcher or a vendor who can tell you where it was made. If they call it generic chorizo, keep walking. Butifarra chiapaneca is firmer, less greasy, and seasoned differently.
- •Do not add crema, cheddar, lettuce, or sour cream. That is another table, not this one.
- •The chile manzano salsa should be made the day you eat it. Tomatillo keeps its brightness when fresh. Yesterday's salsa tastes tired.
- •If the butifarra is already salty, season the salsa carefully. The taco needs balance: pork fat, acid, chile, corn. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.
Advance Preparation
- •The onion and cilantro can be chopped up to 4 hours ahead and refrigerated separately.
- •The salsa can be made up to 2 hours ahead, but it is best freshly ground while the tomatillos still taste bright.
- •Slice the butifarra before guests arrive, then brown it at the last minute. The texture is better straight from the comal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 270g)
Calories
560 calories
Total Fat
34 g
Saturated Fat
12 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
21 g
Cholesterol
85 mg
Sodium
1400 mg
Total Carbohydrates
45 g
Dietary Fiber
7 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
24 g
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