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Ocotlán's Friday market torta, pork shoulder braised in a thick guajillo and garlic chileajo paste, piled onto a toasted media torta spread with black bean paste. A Posadas tradition from the Valles Centrales of Oaxaca.
This is from Oaxaca. Not from the city, not from the Isthmus, not from the coast. From the Valles Centrales, from Ocotlán de Morelos, from the Friday tianguis where the women set up their comales and cazuelas before dawn and the chileajo is already simmering by the time you arrive.
Chileajo is one of those dishes that tells you everything about Oaxacan market cooking in a single bite. The name says it plain: chile and ajo, garlic. That is the backbone. Chile guajillo for color and body, chile ancho for sweetness and depth, and enough garlic to make your hands smell for the rest of the day. Cumin, cloves, black pepper, oregano, a splash of vinegar. The paste is thick, almost dry, not a sauce you pour but a paste that clings. The pork cooks in it until the meat absorbs the chile and the fat renders into the paste and everything becomes one thing. There is no separating the meat from the chileajo once it is done. That is the point.
The torta is how you eat it at the market. A media torta, the bottom half of a telera roll, spread with frijoles negros refritos, piled with the chileajo pork, a slice of white onion, a strip of avocado. No lettuce. No mayonnaise. No nonsense. The bread soaks into the paste and the bean spread holds it together and you eat it standing up with a napkin that will not save your shirt.
My mother did not make chileajo. She was jalisciense and had her own chile pastes. But I have a page in my notebook from a senora named Dona Carmen at the Ocotlán market who told me, while stirring a cazuela the size of a bathtub, that chileajo is what you make when you want to feed fifty people and you have one pig and a sack of chiles. She said: 'El ajo es lo que lo hace.' The garlic is what makes it. She was right. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.
Chileajo belongs to the Zapotec culinary tradition of Oaxaca's Valles Centrales, where thick chile pastes predated the arrival of garlic with the Spanish in the 16th century. The pre-Columbian version likely used native alliums or chili-only pastes to preserve and flavor meat; the integration of garlic was so complete that the dish was renamed for it. Ocotlán de Morelos has operated as a regional market center since pre-Hispanic times, and its Friday tianguis, one of the largest rotating markets in the Valles Centrales, remains the primary venue for chileajo vendors who cook the dish in massive clay cazuelas for the weekly crowd. During the Posadas season in December, chileajo production intensifies as families order it by the kilo for holiday gatherings, making it one of Oaxaca's quintessential celebration foods alongside tamales de mole negro.
Quantity
2 1/2 pounds
cut into 2-inch pieces
Quantity
1 pound
cut into individual ribs
Quantity
1 medium
quartered
Quantity
4
Quantity
2
Quantity
1 tablespoon, plus more to taste
Quantity
10
stemmed and seeded
Quantity
4
stemmed and seeded
Quantity
12
peeled
Quantity
1 teaspoon
toasted
Quantity
4
Quantity
8
Quantity
1 teaspoon
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
Quantity
3 tablespoons
Quantity
3 tablespoons
Quantity
1 1/2 cups
drained, with 1/4 cup bean broth reserved
Quantity
1 tablespoon
Quantity
1 small sprig
toasted
Quantity
8
halved
Quantity
for serving
Quantity
for serving
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| boneless pork shouldercut into 2-inch pieces | 2 1/2 pounds |
| pork ribscut into individual ribs | 1 pound |
| white onion (for the broth)quartered | 1 medium |
| garlic cloves (for the broth) | 4 |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| kosher salt | 1 tablespoon, plus more to taste |
| dried chile guajillostemmed and seeded | 10 |
| dried chile anchostemmed and seeded | 4 |
| garlic cloves (for the chileajo paste)peeled | 12 |
| cumin seedstoasted | 1 teaspoon |
| whole cloves | 4 |
| whole black peppercorns | 8 |
| dried Mexican oregano | 1 teaspoon |
| dried thyme | 1/2 teaspoon |
| apple cider vinegar | 3 tablespoons |
| pork lard (manteca de cerdo) | 3 tablespoons |
| cooked black beansdrained, with 1/4 cup bean broth reserved | 1 1/2 cups |
| pork lard (for frying the beans) | 1 tablespoon |
| avocado leaf (hoja de aguacate) (optional)toasted | 1 small sprig |
| telera rolls or bolillo rollshalved | 8 |
| sliced white onion (optional) | for serving |
| sliced avocado (optional) | for serving |
| pickled jalapeños (jalapeños en escabeche) (optional) | for serving |
Place the pork shoulder pieces and ribs in a heavy stockpot. Cover with cold water by two inches. Add the quartered onion, four garlic cloves, bay leaves, and salt. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Skim the gray foam that rises in the first ten minutes. Reduce to a lazy bubble and cook, partially covered, for about one hour and fifteen minutes, until the shoulder meat is fork-tender and the ribs pull easily from the bone. Do not rush this. The connective tissue in the shoulder needs the time to break down. Remove the meat and set aside. Strain and reserve two cups of the broth. You will need it for the paste.
While the pork simmers, heat a dry comal or cast iron skillet over medium. Toast the guajillo and ancho chiles separately, pressing them flat with a spatula, about 20 to 30 seconds per side. The guajillo is thinner and toasts faster. The ancho is fleshier and needs a few more seconds. You want the skin to puff, the color to deepen, and the kitchen to fill with that dry, roasted chile smell that tells you the oils are moving. Do not let them blacken. Burned guajillo turns a paste bitter and there is no recovering from it.
Place the toasted chiles in a heatproof bowl and cover with hot tap water. Not boiling. Hot. Let them soften for 20 minutes. Drain and discard the soaking water. Transfer the softened chiles to a blender with the 12 peeled garlic cloves, toasted cumin seeds, cloves, peppercorns, oregano, thyme, vinegar, and one cup of the reserved pork broth. Blend until you have a thick, smooth paste. This is not a thin sauce. It should coat the back of a spoon and hold there. If the blender struggles, add broth a tablespoon at a time, just enough to keep it moving. Strain through a medium-mesh sieve, pressing hard on the solids. The paste should be velvety, not gritty.
In a wide, heavy cazuela or Dutch oven, melt the three tablespoons of lard over medium heat. When the lard shimmers, pour in the strained chile paste. It will sputter and spit. Stand your ground. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon for eight to ten minutes. The paste will darken from bright red to a deep brick-brown, the fat will start to separate around the edges, and the smell will shift from raw chile to something roasted, deep, and concentrated. La manteca es el sabor. This frying step is the difference between a chileajo that tastes flat and one that tastes like it came from the market in Ocotlán.
Add the cooked pork pieces and ribs to the fried paste. Pour in the remaining cup of reserved broth. Stir gently to coat every piece. The paste should cling thickly to the meat, not pool around it like a soup. If it looks too thick, add broth two tablespoons at a time. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 25 to 30 minutes. The paste will tighten further around the meat and the fat will glaze every surface. By the end, you should be able to shred the pork with the back of the spoon and the chileajo should coat it like a second skin. Taste for salt now. It needs to be assertive because the bread will absorb some of the seasoning.
In a small skillet, melt the tablespoon of lard over medium heat. Add the drained black beans and the toasted avocado leaf if using. Mash with the back of a wooden spoon or a bean masher, adding the reserved bean broth a splash at a time until you have a thick, spreadable paste. Not soupy. Not dry. Think of the consistency of thick peanut butter. Season with salt. Remove the avocado leaf. This bean paste is the foundation of the torta. It holds the bread together and keeps the chileajo from soaking straight through.
Split the telera or bolillo rolls in half. If you are making media tortas the way they do in Ocotlán, you use only the bottom half, the flat side that can hold a generous pile without toppling. Toast the cut side on a dry comal or in a hot skillet until it is golden and slightly crisp. You want structure. The bread has to stand up to the wet paste and the weight of the pork.
Spread a thick layer of the black bean paste across each toasted roll. Pile the chileajo pork generously on top, spooning some of the paste from the cazuela over the meat. Do not be shy. This is not a delicate sandwich. Top with a thin slice of white onion, a strip of avocado, and a pickled jalapeno or two if you want the acid and crunch. Press the top half of the roll down gently. Some of the chileajo will push out the sides. That is how you know you built it right. Asi se hace y punto.
1 serving (about 350g)
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