Toksel de Ibes

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy clay olla or 4-quart pot for cooking the beans
• •Cast iron comal or heavy iron skillet for toasting the pepitas
• •Volcanic stone molcajete or dry blender for grinding the pepitas
• •Wooden spoon
• •Wide ceramic serving bowl, ideally Yucatecan slipware

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the ibes

   Rinse the dried ibes under cold water and pick out any stones or shriveled beans. Cover with cold water by three inches and soak for at least 6 hours or overnight. Ibes have a thin, delicate skin compared to other beans. The soak is not optional. It rehydrates the skin so it does not split during cooking and leave you with broken beans floating in cloudy water.

   If you cannot find true ibes in a Yucatecan market or specialty store, small dried lima beans (haba lima) are the closest substitute. Not perfect. A compromise, not an upgrade.
2. 2

   Cook the beans slow

   Drain the ibes and transfer them to a heavy clay olla or pot. Cover with fresh cold water by two inches. Add the epazote, halved onion, and smashed garlic. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium-low heat. Skim any foam that rises in the first ten minutes. Cook uncovered at the lowest simmer for 60 to 90 minutes, until the beans are tender but still hold their shape. Add the salt only in the final 15 minutes. Salt added too early toughens the skin.

3. 3

   Toast the pepitas

   While the beans cook, heat a dry comal or heavy iron skillet over medium heat. Add the pepitas in a single layer. Toast them slowly, stirring almost constantly with a wooden spoon. They will pop and dance across the comal. The smell will turn from grassy to nutty to almost popcorn-like. This takes about 8 to 10 minutes. Pull them off the heat the moment they turn an even pale gold. Burned pepitas turn bitter and there is no fixing that later.

   The toast is the dish. In the milpa villages of Yucatán they toast pepitas on a comal set over wood coals, and the smoke is part of the flavor. If you have a wood fire, use it. If not, a hot dry comal will give you 80 percent of the way there.
4. 4

   Grind the pepitas

   Let the toasted pepitas cool for five minutes. Transfer them to a molcajete or a dry blender and grind to a coarse, almost sandy meal. You are not making a paste. You want texture, like coarse polenta. If you grind too far, the oil releases and you get pepita butter. Stop before that happens. In the villages they grind on a metate. The molcajete is the home version.

5. 5

   Drain and dress the beans

   When the ibes are tender, lift them out with a slotted spoon into a wide ceramic bowl. Reserve one cup of the cooking liquid. Discard the epazote, onion, and garlic. While the beans are still warm, fold in the ground pepitas a handful at a time. The pepitas drink the bean broth and turn the dish creamy without any dairy. Add a few tablespoons of the reserved bean broth if it looks dry. The texture should be loose and shaggy, not a paste.

6. 6

   Fold in the herbs and finish

   Add the chopped cebollina or scallion, the cilantro, the minced habanero if you want heat, and the lard if you are using it. Squeeze in the sour orange juice. Stir gently with a wooden spoon. Taste. Adjust salt. The dish should taste of toasted pepita first, then bean, then the bright lift of sour orange and the green snap of the herbs. Cada estado, su propia cocina, and this one is Mayan to its core.

7. 7

   Serve at the table

   Spoon the toksel into a wide clay plate or a banana-leaf-lined platter. Serve warm or at room temperature. Pass warm corn tortillas, chiltomate, and pickled red onion on the side. In Yucatán this is eaten with the fingers and a folded tortilla. So eat it that way. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.

Chef Tips

• •True ibes are a regional Yucatecan bean and they will not turn up at a standard supermarket. Look at Yucatecan specialty grocers, online importers, or Mexican markets that stock peninsular ingredients. If you have to substitute, small dried lima beans are closer than any other bean. Not perfect. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Cebollina is a Yucatecan chive that grows wild in the peninsula and has a sharper, more onion-forward flavor than the European chive. Scallions are the practical substitute. Do not use European chives. The flavor is too mild and the dish goes flat.
• •The pepitas are the dish. Buy them whole, raw, and unsalted from a vendor with high turnover. Old pepitas taste like cardboard and will ruin everything. If you can crack one with your teeth and it tastes sweet and grassy, it is fresh. If it tastes like dust, find another vendor.
• •For a fully vegan version, skip the lard and finish with a tablespoon of good olive oil or simply use more of the bean broth. The pepita oil released in the grinding already gives the dish richness. Toksel was vegan for several thousand years before anyone needed the word.
• •If you have access to a wood fire, toast the pepitas on a comal set over the coals. The smoke is the soul of toksel. A gas burner with a heavy comal will get you close. An electric coil will not. Adjust your expectations honestly.

Advance Preparation

• •The beans can be cooked one day ahead and refrigerated in their broth. Reheat gently before assembling.
• •The pepitas can be toasted up to three days ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature. Grind only at assembly time, because ground pepitas oxidize quickly and lose their bright nutty flavor within hours.
• •Toksel is best the day it is made. The herbs darken overnight and the dish loses its green snap. If you have leftovers, refresh with a fresh squeeze of sour orange and a handful of new chopped cebollina before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 260g)