Zoque Ceremonial Tamal (Jacuane)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large tamalera or deep steamer
• •Cast iron comal for toasting pepitas, shrimp, and leaves
• •Molcajete, spice grinder, or blender for grinding pepitas and dried shrimp
• •Wide clay platter for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the leaves

   Rinse the hoja santa leaves and dry them well. Choose the largest, whole leaves for wrapping and save torn ones for patching. If the leaves feel stiff, pass each one quickly over a warm comal for a few seconds per side, just until flexible and fragrant. Do not scorch them. The leaf should smell green and peppery, not burned.

2. 2

   Toast the pepitas

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the pumpkin seeds, stirring constantly, until they puff slightly, turn spotty gold, and smell nutty. This takes 4 to 6 minutes. Tip them onto a plate so they stop cooking. Grind them in a molino, spice grinder, or blender until sandy and fine. Pepita gives the tamal body and richness. Leave it coarse and the filling feels gritty.

3. 3

   Toast the shrimp

   Put the dried shrimp on the same dry comal for 1 to 2 minutes, turning them once, until their smell deepens and the surface looks dry and slightly darker. Grind half of the shrimp to a rough powder and chop the rest. This seasons the whole tamal and still leaves little bites of shrimp. That is better than one salty clump in the center.

4. 4

   Cook the beans

   Melt 2 tablespoons manteca de cerdo in a skillet over medium heat. Add the white onion and cook until soft, not browned. Add the cooked black beans, epazote, and 1/4 cup of the bean cooking liquid. Mash until thick and spreadable. Taste before adding salt because the shrimp will bring salt later. The beans should hold their shape on a spoon. Wet beans make a heavy tamal.

5. 5

   Season the masa

   Beat the softened manteca de cerdo with the salt until creamy. Work it into the fresh masa with your hand, adding warm bean liquid or warm water a little at a time. The masa should be soft enough to spread but firm enough to stay where you put it. Press a little between your fingers. If the edges crack, add liquid. If it slumps like batter, you went too far.

6. 6

   Build each tamal

   Lay 2 or 3 hoja santa leaves on the work surface, overlapping them so there are no open gaps. Spread about 1/3 cup masa into a rectangle in the center. Add a thin layer of mashed black beans, then a spoonful of ground pepita, then chopped and ground dried shrimp. Add a few crumbs of toasted chile simojovel if you are using it. This tamal is savory and herbal, not a chile contest.

7. 7

   Fold and tie

   Fold the hoja santa over the filling from both sides, then fold the ends under to make a firm rectangular packet. If a leaf tears, patch it with another leaf. For a stronger ceremonial-style packet, wrap the hoja santa packet inside a softened banana leaf square and tie it with twine or banana leaf strips. The packet should feel snug, not strangled. Masa expands when it cooks.

8. 8

   Steam the tamales

   Set up a deep steamer with water below the rack. Line the rack with extra hoja santa or banana leaf scraps. Stand or stack the tamales with space for the heat to move around them. Cover with more leaves, then the lid. Steam over steady medium heat for 1 hour 30 minutes, adding hot water to the pot if needed. Do not let the pot run dry. A dry steamer ruins work you cannot get back.

9. 9

   Rest and serve

   Turn off the heat and let the tamales rest in the covered steamer for 15 minutes. Open one. The masa should pull away from the leaf cleanly and hold its layers. Serve warm in the leaf on a clay platter, with a spoonful of chile simojovel salsa only if your household serves it that way. The leaf is not decoration. It is the perfume of the dish. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Hoja santa is not optional here. In Chiapas it is often called momo. Look for it in Mexican or Central American markets, especially where vendors sell fresh quelites. If you cannot find it, wait. A substitution is a compromise, and for jacuane it changes the dish too much.
• •Use dried shrimp that smells clean and sweet, like the sea, not like old bait. The small whole dried shrimp sold in Mexican markets are right for this. If they are very salty, rinse quickly and dry them before toasting.
• •This tamal does not need cheese, crema, sour cream, lettuce, or yellow anything. That is not Chiapas. This is a 32-state cuisine, and the Zoque kitchen deserves to be heard in its own voice.
• •If you use chile, use a small amount of chile simojovel from Chiapas when you can find it. Chile de arbol is the practical substitute. The chile supports the shrimp and pepita. It does not take over.

Advance Preparation

• •The black beans can be cooked two days ahead and refrigerated in their cooking liquid. Warm them before mashing so they take the manteca properly.
• •The pepitas and dried shrimp can be toasted and ground one day ahead. Keep them covered at room temperature, away from moisture.
• •The assembled tamales can rest in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours before steaming. Add 10 to 15 minutes to the steaming time if they go into the pot cold.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 190g)