Chile Tamulado Yucateco

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron comal or heavy dry skillet
• •Tongs for turning the chiles
• •Volcanic stone molcajete with tejolote
• •Small talavera or Yucatecan slipware dish for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Heat the comal dry

   Set a cast iron comal or heavy skillet over medium heat. No oil, no fat, nothing. The chile goes onto a dry, hot surface. This is how a comal is used in Yucatan, and it is the only way to get the right char on the habanero without burning the flesh through to bitterness.

   Open a window before you start. Charring habanero releases capsaicin into the air and the kitchen will tell you about it. Anyone with sensitive lungs should stay clear until the chiles come off the heat.
2. 2

   Char the habaneros whole

   Place the habaneros on the comal, stems and all. Let them sit for two minutes without touching them, then turn with tongs. Continue turning every minute or two until the skin is blistered black in patches and the flesh has gone soft and orange under the char, about six to eight minutes total. You want char, not ash. The chile should still hold its shape, just collapsed slightly, with juice beginning to weep from the cracks in the skin.

3. 3

   Rest and stem

   Move the chiles to a plate and let them cool for two minutes, just enough to handle. Pull off the stems. Do not peel the chiles. The char is the flavor. Do not seed them either. This is chile tamulado, not a mild salsa. The heat is the point. Wear gloves if your hands are sensitive, or wash them three times with soap and never touch your eyes the rest of the day. I am not joking.

4. 4

   Tamulado in the molcajete

   Put the salt and the garlic, if you are using it, in the bottom of a clean molcajete. Grind into a rough paste, ten to twelve turns of the tejolote. Add the charred habaneros one at a time and mash them down with the stone, pressing and turning until the chiles break apart and start releasing their juice. Do not pulverize. Tamulado means mashed, crushed, broken open, not pureed. The texture should be coarse, with visible flecks of black char and pale chile flesh. A blender turns this into something else. No me vengas con atajos.

5. 5

   Loosen with naranja agria

   Pour in the naranja agria juice, one tablespoon at a time, working it into the mashed chile with the tejolote. The paste will loosen into a rough, brick-orange slurry, thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, loose enough to spoon onto a bite of cochinita. Taste it on the back of a wooden spoon, just a touch. Adjust salt. If the heat hits you flat, add a few drops more juice to brighten it. The acid is what carries the heat forward on the tongue.

   If you cannot find naranja agria, use one tablespoon each of fresh lime juice, fresh orange juice, and fresh grapefruit juice with a few drops of white vinegar. You will get close. What you lose is the perfumed, slightly bitter edge that sour orange brings, and that edge is exactly what makes Yucatecan food taste Yucatecan. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
6. 6

   Serve in a small dish at the table

   Transfer to a small talavera or slipware dish. Set it on the table next to the cochinita pibil, the panuchos, the salbutes, the pavo en relleno negro, whatever it is that called for the chile in the first place. This condiment is served alongside, never poured over. The diner takes a small spoonful, sets it on the edge of the bite, and decides how much heat they want. That decision belongs to them. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Buy habaneros that are firm, glossy, and bright orange. A wrinkled habanero has lost its perfume and the dish will taste flat. The market vendors in Mérida will sort them in front of you. At your local market, sort them yourself.
• •Naranja agria is the right citrus. Some Latin grocers carry it as bitter orange, sour orange, or naranja agria, sometimes bottled. Fresh is better. If you have access to a tree, even better. Bottled is acceptable. Lime alone is not.
• •The garlic clove is optional and households disagree. Some señoras add it. Some do not. I include one because I learned it that way in Mérida. If you want the chile to stand alone, leave it out.
• •Chile tamulado is served at room temperature, not warm. Make it just before the meal. It holds for a day in the refrigerator but the bright top notes fade. Day-old tamulado is still useful, just less alive.

Advance Preparation

• •Chile tamulado is best made within an hour of serving, when the char is freshest and the citrus still bright.
• •It will hold, covered, in the refrigerator for one day. After that, the perfume of the naranja agria fades and the heat takes on a flatter edge. Do not freeze it. Freezing destroys the texture and you might as well have used a blender.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 15g)