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Culinary Explorer
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Tuxtla Beef and Plantain Stew (Chispola)
Created by
Central Chiapas in one deep bowl: beef shank simmered until tender with chayote, corn, cabbage, and ripe plantain in Tuxtla's clear chile-tomato broth.
Main Dishes
Mexican
Comfort Food
Weeknight
Make Ahead
35 min
Active Time
2 hr 45 min cook•3 hr 20 min total
Yield6 to 8 servings
Chispola belongs to Chiapas, to Tuxtla Gutiérrez and the central valley where beef broth, plantain, chayote, cabbage, and corn meet in the same pot without asking permission from anyone. This is not mole. This is not a thick guisado. It is a clear home stew with a red-gold broth, the kind that appears on a Sunday table and tastes even better on Monday.
The defining thing here is the balance between beef shank and plantain. The chambarete gives the broth bone, collagen, and patience. The plátano macho gives sweetness, but only if you add it late enough that it holds its shape. Throw everything in at once and you'll get muddy broth and broken vegetables. No me vengas con atajos. The order matters.
In Tuxtla, the women who make this well know how to keep the broth clean. They toast chile ancho and chile guajillo lightly, blend them with roasted jitomate, then strain the sauce so the chile gives color and depth without turning the pot heavy. Epazote goes in near the end because Chiapas uses herbs with a firm hand. My mother did not cook this dish, she was jalisciense, but in my notebooks from Tuxtla I have the same instruction written three times from three different señoras: do not boil the plantain to death. They were right.
Serve it in barro, with lime, warm corn tortillas, and a spoon big enough to catch meat, broth, and cabbage in one move. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
Chispola is part of the broad Chiapanecan tradition of clear meat broths enriched with local vegetables, a practical form shaped by the cattle economy of the central valley and the tropical produce of southern Mexico. The use of plantain reflects Chiapas's long connection to humid lowland agriculture and trade routes that tied the state to Guatemala and the broader Mesoamerican tropics. Unlike northern beef stews built around flour tortillas and wheat culture, chispola sits firmly in corn country, served with warm corn tortillas and vegetables from the mercado.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
bone-in beef shank (chambarete)
Quantity
3 pounds
cut into 2-inch pieces
cold water
Quantity
10 cups, plus more as needed
white onion
Quantity
1 medium
halved
garlic cloves
Quantity
5
3 smashed and 2 left whole
bay leaves
Quantity
2
kosher salt
Quantity
1 tablespoon, plus more to taste
dried chile ancho
Quantity
2
stemmed and seeded
dried chile guajillo
Quantity
3
stemmed and seeded
Roma tomatoes (jitomates)
Quantity
2 medium
pork lard (manteca de cerdo)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
fresh corn
Quantity
2 ears
cut into 3-inch rounds
chayotes
Quantity
2
peeled, pitted, and cut into thick wedges
carrots
Quantity
2
peeled and cut into thick rounds
green cabbage
Quantity
1 small
cut into 6 wedges through the core
ripe plantain (plátano macho)
Quantity
1 large
peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
fresh epazote
Quantity
2 sprigs
dried Mexican oregano
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
rubbed between your palms
lime halves (optional)
Quantity
for serving
warm hand-pressed corn tortillas (optional)
Quantity
for serving
chile de Simojovel or crushed chile de arbol (optional)
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| bone-in beef shank (chambarete)cut into 2-inch pieces | 3 pounds |
| cold water | 10 cups, plus more as needed |
| white onionhalved | 1 medium |
| garlic cloves3 smashed and 2 left whole | 5 |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| kosher salt | 1 tablespoon, plus more to taste |
| dried chile anchostemmed and seeded | 2 |
| dried chile guajillostemmed and seeded | 3 |
| Roma tomatoes (jitomates) | 2 medium |
| pork lard (manteca de cerdo) | 1 tablespoon |
| fresh corncut into 3-inch rounds | 2 ears |
| chayotespeeled, pitted, and cut into thick wedges | 2 |
| carrotspeeled and cut into thick rounds | 2 |
| green cabbagecut into 6 wedges through the core | 1 small |
| ripe plantain (plátano macho)peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces | 1 large |
| fresh epazote | 2 sprigs |
| dried Mexican oreganorubbed between your palms | 1/2 teaspoon |
| lime halves (optional) | for serving |
| warm hand-pressed corn tortillas (optional) | for serving |
| chile de Simojovel or crushed chile de arbol (optional) | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 8-quart stockpot or deep clay olla
- •Cast iron comal for toasting chiles and roasting tomatoes
- •High-powered blender
- •Fine-mesh strainer
- •Ladle and deep barro bowls for serving
Instructions
- 1
Start the broth
Put the beef shank in a heavy stockpot with the cold water, halved onion, 3 smashed garlic cloves, bay leaves, and salt. Bring it slowly to a simmer over medium heat. Skim the gray foam during the first 15 minutes. Do not let it roar. A hard boil gives you cloudy broth and tough meat, and chispola needs a clean broth.
- 2
Simmer the beef
Lower the heat until the broth bubbles gently. Cover the pot halfway and cook for 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours, until the meat is tender but still attached to the bone. Add hot water if the liquid drops below the meat. The marrow and collagen need time. This is where the body of the stew is built.
- 3
Toast the chiles
While the beef cooks, heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chile ancho and chile guajillo for about 20 to 30 seconds per side, just until they soften, darken slightly, and smell sweet. Do not blacken them. Soak the toasted chiles in hot water for 15 minutes, then drain them.
The ancho brings soft raisin depth. The guajillo brings clean red color. They are not decorations. Bad chiles make bad broth. - 4
Roast and blend
Roast the tomatoes and the remaining 2 whole garlic cloves on the same comal until the tomato skins blister and the garlic softens. Blend the drained chiles with the roasted tomatoes, roasted garlic, and 1 cup of beef broth until completely smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Press hard on the solids, then discard the skins and seeds left behind.
- 5
Fry the recaudo
Melt the manteca de cerdo in a small cazuela or skillet over medium heat. Pour in the strained chile-tomato sauce. It will sputter. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring often, until the sauce darkens to brick red and the fat shines at the edges. La manteca es el sabor. Frying the sauce keeps the broth from tasting raw.
- 6
Season the pot
Remove and discard the cooked onion, bay leaves, and smashed garlic from the beef broth. Stir the fried chile-tomato sauce into the pot. Add the corn rounds and simmer for 15 minutes. Taste the broth now. It should be savory, lightly red, and clear enough that you can still see the meat under the surface.
- 7
Add firm vegetables
Add the chayote and carrots. Simmer for 12 to 15 minutes, until they are just tender when pierced with a knife. Keep the bubbles gentle. These vegetables should hold their edges. Chispola is generous, not careless.
- 8
Finish with plantain
Add the cabbage wedges, plantain pieces, epazote, and Mexican oregano. Simmer 10 to 12 minutes more, until the cabbage softens and the plantain is tender but not falling apart. This is the step people ruin. Plantain is not potato. Treat it with respect.
- 9
Serve in barro
Taste for salt one last time. Ladle each bowl with one piece of beef shank, corn, chayote, cabbage, carrot, and plantain. Serve with lime halves, warm corn tortillas, and chile de Simojovel or crushed chile de arbol at the table for the person who wants heat. The stew itself is not supposed to punish anyone. Saber cocinar es saber vivir.
Chef Tips
- •Ask for chambarete with bone. If the butcher gives you lean stew meat, refuse it. You need bone, marrow, and connective tissue for the broth to taste like Tuxtla's home kitchens.
- •Use a ripe plantain with yellow skin and black spots, not a black-soft plantain and not a hard green one. Too ripe and it dissolves. Too green and it tastes starchy without sweetness.
- •Chile de Simojovel is Chiapas's own small, smoky chile. If you can find it, put it on the table, not in the whole pot. Let each person decide. If you cannot find it, crushed chile de arbol is a compromise, not the same thing.
- •Do not add zucchini early. Some versions use calabacita, but it collapses fast. If you want it, add thick half-moons during the last 6 minutes only.
- •Chispola is better after a rest, but the vegetables are best the day they are cooked. For make-ahead cooking, prepare the beef broth and chile-tomato base first, then add the vegetables on serving day.
Advance Preparation
- •The beef broth can be made 2 days ahead. Chill it, lift off any hardened fat you do not want, and reheat gently before adding the chile-tomato sauce and vegetables.
- •The chile-tomato sauce can be toasted, blended, strained, and fried 1 day ahead. Keep it refrigerated and stir it into the hot broth when you finish the stew.
- •Leftover chispola keeps 3 days in the refrigerator. Reheat gently so the plantain and cabbage do not break apart.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 720g)
Calories
530 calories
Total Fat
18 g
Saturated Fat
6 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
12 g
Cholesterol
95 mg
Sodium
1130 mg
Total Carbohydrates
57 g
Dietary Fiber
10 g
Sugars
14 g
Protein
36 g
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