Chef Lupita
Adobo Huasteco Veracruzano para Zacahuil
From the Huasteca Veracruzana, a chile ancho and chipotle seco paste fried in manteca, sharpened with vinegar, and built to stain the masa martajada and meat of zacahuil.
Culinary Explorer
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Tihuatlan Wild Chiltepin Salsa (Salsa de Chiltepin Frito)
Created by
Veracruz's Huasteca salsa from Tihuatlan, tiny wild chiltepines fried in manteca de cerdo with ripe jitomate and garlic, then ground in the molcajete until the table pays attention.
Sauces & Condiments
Mexican
Weeknight
BBQ
Make Ahead
10 min
Active Time
12 min cook•22 min total
Yieldabout 1 1/2 cups
Veracruz, the Huasteca Veracruzana around Tihuatlan, is where this salsa lives: north of Poza Rica, close to Tuxpan, in that hot strip where the monte gives small wild chiles to anyone willing to bend down and pick. This is not a city salsa. It belongs to the milpa edge, the backyard, the market stall with jitomates stacked in red pyramids and a woman measuring chiltepin by the handful because one handful is already serious.
The chile that defines it is chiltepin de monte, tiny, round, sharp, and fast. Not chile de arbol, not jalapeno, not whatever dry red chile you found at the supermarket. The chiltepin is fried briefly in manteca de cerdo after the jitomate and garlic have softened, then everything is ground hot in a molcajete. That order matters. Fry the chile too long and it turns bitter. Grind it cold and it loses its bite.
In Tihuatlan, the women who make this do not explain it as a performance. They cook, taste, add salt, and set the salsa in a small barro bowl next to bocoles, beans, grilled meat, or a plate of eggs. I wrote the instruction in my notebook exactly as one señora gave it to me: "el chile al final, Lupita." The chile at the end. Asi se hace y punto.
The word chiltepin comes from Nahuatl chilli and tecpintli, often translated as flea chile, a name for its small size and sudden bite. Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum, the wild form behind many domesticated chiles, grows through northern and Gulf Mexico and is spread by birds, which eat the fruit and drop the seeds along fences, milpas, and monte. In the Huasteca shared by Veracruz, Hidalgo, San Luis Potosi, Tamaulipas, Puebla, and Queretaro, fried chile salsas mark regional tables as clearly as zacahuil, bocoles, and cecina.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
fresh wild chile chiltepin de monte
Quantity
2 tablespoons
stems and leaves picked out, about 40 to 50 tiny chiles
jitomate guaje or Roma tomatoes
Quantity
5 ripe tomatoes, about 1 1/4 pounds
cored and quartered
garlic cloves
Quantity
4
peeled
manteca de cerdo
Quantity
3 tablespoons
coarse sea salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon, plus more to taste
warm water (optional)
Quantity
1 to 2 tablespoons
only if needed to loosen the salsa
bocoles huastecos, warm corn tortillas, beans, eggs, grilled meat, or cecina (optional)
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fresh wild chile chiltepin de montestems and leaves picked out, about 40 to 50 tiny chiles | 2 tablespoons |
| jitomate guaje or Roma tomatoescored and quartered | 5 ripe tomatoes, about 1 1/4 pounds |
| garlic clovespeeled | 4 |
| manteca de cerdo | 3 tablespoons |
| coarse sea salt | 1 teaspoon, plus more to taste |
| warm water (optional)only if needed to loosen the salsa | 1 to 2 tablespoons |
| bocoles huastecos, warm corn tortillas, beans, eggs, grilled meat, or cecina (optional) | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Volcanic stone molcajete and tejolote
- •Small clay cazuela or heavy skillet
- •Wooden spoon
- •Clean kitchen towel for drying fresh chiltepines
Instructions
- 1
Sort the chiltepines
Pick through the chiltepines and remove stems, leaves, and any soft chiles. If they came from the monte dusty, rinse them quickly and dry them completely on a towel. Completely means completely. Water in hot lard jumps back at you. If you are using dried chiltepin, do not rinse it, rub it clean with a dry cloth.
- 2
Fry the tomatoes
Melt the manteca de cerdo in a small clay cazuela or heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic cloves and the quartered jitomates, cut side down. Let them sizzle until the garlic turns golden in spots and the tomatoes slump, wrinkle, and leave red juices in the fat, 8 to 10 minutes. This is not just heating tomato. You are concentrating it in pork fat. La manteca es el sabor.
Keep the heat at a steady medium. If the tomato scorches before it softens, lower the heat. Burned tomato makes a harsh salsa and the chiltepin will not forgive it. - 3
Add the chiltepin
Lower the heat to medium-low and push the tomatoes to one side of the pan. Add the chiltepines to the fat and fry them briefly, 20 to 30 seconds for fresh chiles or 10 to 15 seconds for dried. They should darken slightly and smell sharp. Do not walk away. Chiltepin is tiny and burns fast. Burn it and the salsa turns bitter. No me vengas con atajos.
If one batch of chiltepines goes black, throw it out and start that part again. There is no polite way to hide burned chile in a salsa this direct. - 4
Grind in molcajete
Transfer the salt and fried garlic to a volcanic stone molcajete. Grind them into a paste first. Add the fried chiltepines with a spoonful of the red lard from the pan and crush until you see broken skins and seeds. Add the fried tomatoes piece by piece, grinding after each addition so the salsa stays coarse, not smooth. Scrape in the tomato juices and remaining lard from the pan. That fat carries the chile through the whole salsa.
A blender is a compromise here. If you have no molcajete, pulse only a few times. Do not make a red puree. The rough texture is part of the Tihuatlan table. - 5
Adjust the salsa
Taste for salt while the salsa is still warm. If it is too thick to spoon, add 1 tablespoon warm water and grind once more. The finished salsa should be red-orange, glossy at the edges from the manteca, and rough enough that you can see tomato skin and tiny chile seeds. Let it rest 10 minutes before serving so the chile settles into the tomato.
- 6
Serve the table
Spoon the salsa into a small glazed barro bowl and set it on the table with bocoles huastecos, warm corn tortillas, beans, eggs, grilled meat, or cecina. Use it with respect. Chiltepin does not shout for long, it strikes fast and disappears clean. That is why the women in Tihuatlan keep making it this way. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
Chef Tips
- •At the markets in Tihuatlan or Poza Rica, ask for chiltepin de monte. The chiles should be tiny round beads, red, orange, or green depending on ripeness. If the vendor hands you long dried chile de arbol and says it is the same, it is not the same. Preguntale a las senoras del mercado.
- •Fresh chiltepin gives a greener, sharper bite. Dried chiltepin gives deeper heat and less fresh fruitiness. If you cannot get fresh, use 1 tablespoon dried chiltepin. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
- •Manteca de cerdo gives the salsa body and carries the chile oils. Vegetable oil makes a thinner salsa. You can do it, but do not pretend nothing changed.
- •Do not make this smooth. A molcajete salsa should show its work: tomato skin, crushed seed, garlic paste, and red lard caught in the rough stone.
- •Chiltepin heat is quick and clean, but it is not gentle. Wash your hands after sorting the chiles and do not touch your eyes. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.
Advance Preparation
- •The salsa can be made one day ahead and refrigerated. Bring it to room temperature before serving and stir well because the manteca firms when cold.
- •It keeps for 4 days in a covered jar in the refrigerator. The heat settles deeper into the tomato after the first night.
- •Fresh chiltepines can be sorted, dried, and held in a paper towel inside a container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days before frying.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 30g)
Calories
45 calories
Total Fat
3 g
Saturated Fat
1 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
2 g
Cholesterol
4 mg
Sodium
200 mg
Total Carbohydrates
2 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
0 g
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