Tsïkanarhikatas P'urhépechas con Charal y Chile Perón

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Comal de barro darkened by leña, or a cast iron comal
• •Volcanic stone molcajete for chile perón salsa
• •Tamalera or vaporera with a tight lid
• •Wide clay cazuela from Capula or Patamban for frying the filling
• •Cotton servilleta for keeping the fresh maize leaves pliable

Instructions

1. 1

   Soften the leaves

   Work with hoja de maíz fresca de la planta, the green leaf from the maize plant, not dried corn husk. Rinse the leaves and pass them over a warm comal de barro or cast iron comal for 10 to 15 seconds per side, just until they bend without cracking. Keep them under a damp servilleta while you work. Tear the narrowest leaves into strips for tying.

2. 2

   Toast the charales

   Pick through the dried charales and remove any grit. If they are very salty, rinse them quickly and pat them dry. Set a comal over medium heat and toast the charales for 2 to 3 minutes, moving them with your fingers or a wooden spoon, until they smell clean, nutty, and lake-sweet. Do not blacken them. Charal is small, and small fish punishes laziness fast.

   Good charal smells like salt, clean water, and dried fish. If it smells rancid or like old oil, do not cook with it. Si no conoces el mercado, no conoces la cocina.
3. 3

   Make the salsa

   Roast the tomatillos, chile perón, garlic, and onion on the comal until the tomatillos turn olive green with browned spots, the chile skins blister, and the garlic softens inside its paper. Peel the garlic. In a molcajete, grind the salt and garlic first, then the chile perón, then the onion, then the tomatillos. Leave the salsa with body. A blender works only if you pulse it. This is not a thin green soup.

   Chile perón, called chile manzano in some markets, has black seeds. That is how you know it. If the vendor gives you serrano, she is selling you another chile.
4. 4

   Fry the filling

   Melt 2 tablespoons manteca de cerdo in a small clay cazuela over medium heat. Add about half the chile perón salsa and fry it for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring, until the color deepens and the fat shines at the edge. Add the toasted charales and chopped epazote. Cook 2 minutes more, just enough to coat the fish. Keep the charales whole. This is filling, not paste. Reserve the remaining salsa for serving.

5. 5

   Beat the masa

   In a wide bowl, beat the room-temperature manteca de cerdo with the salt until it looks creamy and lighter. Add the masa nixtamalizada in handfuls, working it with your fingers or a wooden spoon. Add warm water a little at a time until the masa is soft, spreadable, and leaves a light sheen of fat on your hands. Drop a small ball into cold water. If it floats, the masa has enough air. If it sinks, beat longer. No me vengas con atajos. La manteca es el sabor.

6. 6

   Wrap the tamales

   Lay one softened maize leaf flat, or overlap two small leaves if they are narrow. Spread 2 heaping tablespoons masa in the center, leaving a clear border. Spoon 1 teaspoon charal filling down the middle. Fold the long sides over the filling, roll into a tight narrow packet, and tie the ends or the center with leaf strips. A corunda is triangular. This is not a corunda. Each tamal in Michoacán has its own architecture, and this one belongs to the Meseta.

7. 7

   Cook over steady heat

   Line a tamalera or vaporera with extra fresh maize leaves. Add water below the rack and arrange the tsïkanarhikatas seam side down, leaving a little room between them. Cover with more leaves and a clean kitchen cloth, then close the pot. Cook over steady medium heat for 45 to 55 minutes, adding hot water if the pot runs low. Over leña is best when you can control it. In a city kitchen, keep the flame steady and do the work correctly.

8. 8

   Rest and serve

   Turn off the heat and let the tamales rest in the closed pot for 10 minutes. Open one. The masa should pull cleanly from the leaf and the charal filling should sit intact inside. Serve on a green-glazed Michoacán clay plate with the reserved chile perón salsa, crema de rancho, and lime halves. Say the name at the table: tsïkanarhikata. The name is part of the dish. Cada estado, su propia cocina.

Chef Tips

• •Ask for hoja de maíz fresca de la planta at a mercado or from someone who sells fresh maize. Dried totomoxtle will wrap a tamal, yes, but it will not give this green aroma. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Buy masa nixtamalizada from a molino that grinds for tamal. Tortilla masa is usually too fine and too wet. If you only have masa harina, you can feed people, but do not pretend the flavor is the same.
• •Chile perón is thick, fruity, and hot, with black seeds. Use gloves if your hands are sensitive. Do not replace it with jalapeño and call it the same dish. It is not.
• •Charal should be small and whole. Do not crush it into the masa. The point is to taste the lake, the chile, and the maize leaf in separate moments.
• •Manteca de cerdo is not optional here. Shortening gives you a pale, empty tamal. La manteca es el sabor. Así se hace y punto.

Advance Preparation

• •The chile perón salsa can be made up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated. Fry the charales into the salsa the day you assemble the tamales so the fish keeps its texture.
• •The fresh maize leaves can be rinsed, softened, wrapped in a damp towel, and refrigerated 1 day ahead.
• •The tsïkanarhikatas can be cooked 1 day ahead. Reheat them in a tamalera for 15 to 20 minutes, still wrapped, until the masa softens again.
• •Do not beat the masa more than a few hours ahead. Manteca stiffens in the refrigerator and the masa loses the air you worked into it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 110g)