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Chiapas's highland tamal kneads fresh chipilín into lard-rich masa, wraps it in hoja de plátano, and serves it with tomato salsa sharpened by chile de Simojovel.
Chiapas, the Meseta Comiteca Tojolabal around Comitán, is where this tamal lives. Fresh masa, chipilín leaves, manteca de cerdo, queso doble crema de Chiapas, and hoja de plátano. That is the map. That is the recipe.
Chipilín is not a generic Mexican green. It is a highland Chiapas herb, tender and earthy, with the taste of green beans, cool soil, and the milpa after rain. In the mercado of Comitán, a woman once slapped my hand when I reached for the thick stems. Leaves and tender tips only, she told me. She was right. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado.
The banana leaf is not decoration. It gives the masa a humid, waxy green aroma and keeps the tamal tender while it cooks. Corn husks belong to many great tamales, but not this one. Cada estado, su propia cocina. For posadas, these packets can be made ahead, stacked in the tamalera, and carried to a table full of people without fuss. That is why the women of Chiapas perfected them: because good food also has to work.
My mother was from Jalisco, so chipilín was not her daily herb. In her notebook, beside a recipe copied from a Chiapaneca neighbor, she wrote: more leaf than you think. She was right about that too. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.
The Mexico-Guatemala border was formalized by the 1882 Herrera-Mariscal Treaty, but chipilín tamales are older than that line, part of a Maya southern cooking zone shared by Chiapas and Guatemala. Chipilín (Crotalaria longirostrata) is a native Mesoamerican legume whose tender leaves are cooked into masa, beans, and broths; the banana leaf wrap marks the humid south and changes the tamal's moisture and aroma. In Comitán and the Chiapanecan highlands, tamales de chipilín became practical posadas food because they can be assembled ahead, carried wrapped, and reheated without losing their shape.
Quantity
2 pounds
coarse grind if possible
Quantity
1 cup
at room temperature
Quantity
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups
Quantity
1 teaspoon
Quantity
1 tablespoon, plus more to taste
Quantity
3 packed cups
washed and dried
Quantity
8 ounces
cut into 18 small pieces
Quantity
2 large
rinsed, softened over flame, and cut into 18 squares about 10 inches wide
Quantity
as needed
for lining the steamer
Quantity
1 pound
Quantity
1/4 medium
Quantity
2
unpeeled
Quantity
3
stemmed
Quantity
1 tablespoon
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon, plus more to taste
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fresh nixtamalized masa para tamalcoarse grind if possible | 2 pounds |
| pork lard (manteca de cerdo)at room temperature | 1 cup |
| warm chicken broth or pork broth | 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups |
| baking powder | 1 teaspoon |
| fine sea salt | 1 tablespoon, plus more to taste |
| fresh chipilín leaves and tender tipswashed and dried | 3 packed cups |
| queso doble crema de Chiapascut into 18 small pieces | 8 ounces |
| banana leavesrinsed, softened over flame, and cut into 18 squares about 10 inches wide | 2 large |
| banana leaf scrapsfor lining the steamer | as needed |
| ripe Roma tomatoes or jitomate saladet | 1 pound |
| white onion | 1/4 medium |
| garlic clovesunpeeled | 2 |
| dried chile de Simojovelstemmed | 3 |
| pork lard (manteca de cerdo), for salsa | 1 tablespoon |
| fine sea salt, for salsa | 1/2 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
Rinse the hoja de plátano and wipe it dry. Pass each leaf over a gas flame or hot comal until it turns glossy, deep green, and flexible. Cut into 18 squares about 10 inches wide and save the scraps for the steamer. Do not use corn husks here. A corn husk gives you another tamal, not a Chiapas tamal de chipilín.
Pick the chipilín leaves and tender tips from the stems. The thick stems stay out. Rinse well and dry completely in a clean towel. Chipilín is not generic green. It has its own field smell, like tender beans and cool soil. If you bruise it into a wet pile, the masa will taste muddy.
In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the manteca de cerdo with the salt until it looks lighter and soft. Add the fresh masa and baking powder. Beat while adding the warm broth little by little. The masa should be spreadable but not loose, like thick clay that holds the mark of your fingers. Drop a small piece into a glass of water. If it floats, the masa has enough air. If it sinks, keep beating. No me vengas con atajos.
Fold the chipilín into the masa with your hands until the leaves are evenly scattered through it. Do not chop the leaves into paste. You want green flecks through every bite, not green dough. Taste a tiny bit of the raw masa for salt. It should taste slightly more seasoned than you think, because steaming will soften the salt.
Lay one banana leaf square glossy side up. Spoon about 1/3 cup masa into the center and spread it into a thick oval. Put one piece of queso doble crema de Chiapas in the middle. Fold the sides of the leaf over the masa, then fold the top and bottom into a tight packet. The leaf should hold the masa close without squeezing it flat.
Set a rack inside a tamalera or deep steamer and add water below the rack. Line the rack with banana leaf scraps. Arrange the tamales seam side down, snug but not crushed. Cover with more banana leaf scraps, then the lid. Steam over medium heat for 70 to 80 minutes, checking the water level once or twice. The tamales are done when the masa pulls cleanly from the leaf and the chipilín has settled into the masa instead of sitting raw on top.
While the tamales cook, roast the tomatoes, onion, and unpeeled garlic on a dry comal until the tomato skins blister and the garlic softens. Toast the chile de Simojovel for a few seconds per side, just until fragrant. Do not blacken it. This chile is small and serious, and burned chile turns bitter faster than you can apologize.
Peel the garlic. Blend the roasted tomatoes, onion, garlic, toasted chile de Simojovel, and salt until mostly smooth. Melt 1 tablespoon manteca de cerdo in a small cazuela or skillet and fry the salsa for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring often, until it thickens and darkens slightly. The salsa belongs on the tamal, not inside the masa. The tamal itself is about chipilín.
Turn off the heat and let the tamales rest in the covered pot for 10 minutes. Open the banana leaves at the table and spoon the tomato and chile de Simojovel salsa over the green-flecked masa. Serve warm, still in the leaf, on barro de Amatenango del Valle if you have it. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.
1 serving (about 120g)
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