Chorizo de Comitán con Frijol Refrito

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron comal for toasting chiles and warming tortilla coleta
• •High-powered blender for the chile adobo
• •Chilled mixing bowl for seasoning the pork
• •Wide clay cazuela or heavy skillet for frying chorizo and beans
• •Wooden bean masher or potato masher

Instructions

1. 1

   Toast the chiles

   Keep the ground pork and fat in the refrigerator while you work. Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chile simojovel for 8 to 12 seconds per side, just until fragrant and a shade darker. Toast the chile ancho for about 20 seconds per side. Do not blacken them. Simojovel burns fast, and burned chile turns bitter before you have time to argue with it.

   Wipe dusty chiles with a barely damp cloth before toasting. Do not rinse them under running water. You are waking the chile oils, not washing flavor down the sink.
2. 2

   Make the adobo

   Put the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with hot water for 15 minutes. Toast the peppercorns, cumin, cloves, canela, and bay leaves on the same comal until they smell warm and sharp, about 45 seconds. Drain the chiles and blend them with the vinegar, garlic, achiote paste, oregano, tomillo, mejorana, toasted spices, salt, piloncillo, and 2 tablespoons of the chile soaking water. The paste should be smooth, thick, and brick red.

3. 3

   Season the pork

   Put the cold ground pork and fat in a chilled bowl. Add the adobo and mix with your hand for 3 to 4 minutes, until the meat turns evenly red and feels sticky. Fry a teaspoon of the mixture in a small skillet and taste it. It should taste salty, sharp from vinegar, and deep with chile. The edge will soften after the two-night cure.

   If the mixture looks lean, add more chopped pork fat. Chorizo de Comitán is not diet sausage. Without fat, it fries dry and the beans lose their red manteca.
4. 4

   Cure two nights

   Pack the seasoned pork into a glass, ceramic, or stainless steel container. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface, cover, and refrigerate for 36 to 48 hours, stirring once halfway through. The color will deepen, the vinegar will mellow, and the herbs will settle into the meat. This is a fresh cured chorizo, not a shelf-stable sausage. Keep it cold and cook it fully.

5. 5

   Fry the chorizo

   Heat a wide skillet or clay cazuela over medium. Add 1 tablespoon of manteca de cerdo if the pan is dry. Add the chorizo and break it into rough crumbles with a wooden spoon. Fry for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring often, until the pork is cooked through, the edges darken, and the fat in the pan turns red from the chile and achiote. The pork should reach 160F. Remove the chorizo with a slotted spoon and leave the red fat in the pan.

6. 6

   Refry the beans

   Add the remaining 3 tablespoons manteca de cerdo to the chorizo fat. La manteca es el sabor. Fry the chopped onion until soft and lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and epazote and cook for 30 seconds. Add the cooked black beans with 1/2 cup of their broth and mash hard with a bean masher or potato masher. Cook 12 to 15 minutes, adding more broth only if needed, until the beans are thick, glossy, and slow to fall from the spoon.

7. 7

   Serve comiteco

   Spoon the frijol refrito into a warm clay cazuela or onto a wide plate and mound the fried chorizo over one side so the red fat stains the beans. Scatter queso crema de Chiapas and finely diced raw white onion over the top if using. Warm the tortilla coleta on a comal until pliable with a few toasted spots, then wrap them in a servilleta. Serve immediately. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Ask for chile simojovel by name from a Chiapas or southern Mexico chile vendor. It should be deep red, dry but not dusty, and smell fruity with a clean bite. If you cannot find it, use 8 chile guajillo and 2 chile de árbol in its place. That is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Use pork with real fat, 25 to 30 percent. Lean supermarket ground pork makes dry chorizo and leaves nothing useful in the pan for the beans. No me vengas con atajos.
• •Vinagre de caña or vinagre de piña gives the right sharpness. Plain white vinegar works only when there is no other choice, and you will taste the difference.
• •This is fresh cured chorizo. Refrigerate it, cook it fully, and freeze what you will not use within four days. Do not hang it in a warm kitchen and pretend you live in a cold highland pantry.
• •If you serve chirmol on the side, cook it properly: roast jitomate, onion, garlic, and chile simojovel on the comal, then crush them. Chirmol is cooked salsa, not raw pico de gallo.

Advance Preparation

• •The chorizo must cure 36 to 48 hours before cooking. Mix it on Sunday night and you have breakfast ready for Tuesday or Wednesday.
• •Cook the frijol negro up to two days ahead with onion, garlic, salt, and a sprig of epazote. Save the bean broth. Refried beans without broth turn pasty.
• •The cured uncooked chorizo keeps refrigerated for four days or frozen for three months. Freeze it in flat packets so it thaws quickly for weeknight beans.
• •Refried beans can be made one day ahead. Reheat them in a cazuela with a splash of bean broth and a spoonful of manteca de cerdo.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 320g)