Cecina de Yecapixtla con Crema y Frijoles

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy cast iron comal or large flat skillet
• •Volcanic stone molcajete
• •Wide cast iron skillet for the beans
• •Wooden bean masher
• •Large wooden tabla or platter for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the beans from cold water

   Place the picked-over beans in a heavy pot. Cover with cold water by three inches. Add the halved onion, smashed garlic, and one sprig of epazote. Do not salt yet. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat and skim the foam that rises in the first ten minutes. Lower the heat until the surface barely moves. Cook partially covered for an hour and a half to two hours, until the beans are completely tender and the broth turns deep brown. Add the salt only in the last fifteen minutes. Salt added too early toughens the skin.

   Bayo beans are the bean of central Mexico. Pinto works as a compromise. Black beans are not a substitute here. They belong to Veracruz and Oaxaca, not to Morelos.
2. 2

   Refry the beans with lard

   Heat the lard in a wide cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add the finely diced onion and cook until translucent, about four minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook one minute more. Ladle in the cooked beans with a generous amount of their broth. Mash with a wooden bean masher or the back of a heavy spoon as they cook. Add the second sprig of epazote. Cook for twelve to fifteen minutes, stirring constantly, until the beans pull away from the sides of the pan and form a glossy, loose paste. La manteca es el sabor. If they get too thick, add a splash of the bean broth. Taste for salt.

3. 3

   Make the salsa molcajeteada

   Heat a dry comal over medium-high. Char the Roma tomatoes, serranos, the quarter onion, and the garlic clove directly on the surface. Turn them as they blacken in patches. The tomatoes are ready when the skin loosens and the flesh collapses. The chiles when they blister and turn olive-brown. About eight to ten minutes total. Transfer everything to a volcanic stone molcajete. Grind the garlic and salt first to a paste, then add the chiles, then the onion, then the tomatoes. Work in a circular motion. You want texture, not a smooth puree. Finish with the chopped cilantro and lime juice. Salt to taste.

4. 4

   Bring the cecina to room temperature

   Take the cecina out of its packaging twenty minutes before you grill it. Real Yecapixtla cecina is cut so thin you can read through it and is already seasoned with salt from the curing. It needs almost nothing from you. If the sheets are folded, unfold them gently. They tear easily. If they are stuck together, peel them apart with patience. No me vengas con atajos.

5. 5

   Grill the cecina on the comal

   Heat a cast iron comal or heavy skillet over medium-high until very hot. You want it hot enough that a drop of water dances and disappears. Lay the cecina sheets flat on the dry comal in a single layer. Do not crowd them. They cook in thirty to forty-five seconds per side. Maximum. The edges will darken, the surface will turn a deep mahogany, and the fat will glisten. As each sheet finishes, lift it off and stack on a warm plate. Repeat until all the cecina is grilled. Overcooked cecina turns to leather and there is no rescuing it. Watch the clock.

6. 6

   Warm the tortillas on the same comal

   Wipe the comal clean with a folded cloth. Warm the corn tortillas on it, about twenty seconds per side, flipping them twice. The good ones will puff in the middle. Stack them inside a folded cloth servilleta as you go. Warm tortillas are not optional. Cold tortillas are an insult to the cecina.

7. 7

   Plate at the table

   Spread the refried beans across one side of a large wooden tabla or platter. Tear the grilled cecina into rough pieces and lay it next to the beans. Spoon the crema de rancho generously over the beans and drizzle a little on the cecina. Scatter the crumbled queso fresco over the top. Set the salsa molcajeteada, sliced avocado, pickled jalapeños, and the basket of warm tortillas around the platter. Each diner builds their own taco at the table. That is how it is done in the Yecapixtla cecinerias. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •There is no substitute for real Yecapixtla cecina. If you cannot find it, do not make this dish with thick supermarket carne asada and call it the same thing. Find a Mexican carniceria that imports cecina from Morelos, or buy carne tasajeada from a Oaxacan vendor as a regional cousin. Both are honest. Pre-sliced salty 'cecina' from the grocery freezer is not.
• •Crema de rancho is not sour cream. It is thicker, less tangy, and richer. If you cannot find it, look for crema mexicana espesa from a Mexican brand. Cacique and Tropical both make acceptable versions. American sour cream will ruin the plate.
• •The cecina is already salted from the curing. Do not season it before you grill it and taste before you salt anything else on the plate. The beans, the salsa, and the cecina together carry plenty of salt.

Advance Preparation

• •The beans can be cooked one day ahead and refried just before serving. They keep refrigerated for four days and the flavor deepens overnight.
• •The salsa molcajeteada can be made up to four hours ahead and held at room temperature. Past that, the cilantro darkens and the lime loses its brightness.
• •The cecina must be grilled at the last moment. It takes less than a minute per sheet and cannot be reheated without turning to leather.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 660g)