Michoacán Beef Tatemado

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Dry comal or heavy cast iron skillet
• •High-powered blender
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Lead-free oven-safe clay cazuela with lid or heavy Dutch oven
• •Mixing bowl for masa seal

Instructions

1. 1

   Salt the beef

   Season the beef all over with the salt. Let it sit while you prepare the adobo, or refrigerate it up to one day ahead. Bone-in beef gives the sauce body. Boneless meat will cook, yes, but the pot will not have the same depth.

2. 2

   Tatemar the chiles

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chile ancho and chile pasilla one at a time, pressing them flat for a few seconds per side until they darken, puff, and smell deep, not burned. This is tatemado: touched by fire. If the chile turns black and sharp-smelling, throw it out. Burned chile makes bitter adobo and no señora in Apatzingán will forgive that.

3. 3

   Soak the chiles

   Put the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with hot water. Hot, not boiling. Let them soften for 20 minutes, then drain. Boiling water toughens the skins and can pull bitterness into the adobo. You want the flesh soft enough to blend clean.

4. 4

   Char the vegetables

   On the same comal, roast the tomatoes, onion, and unpeeled garlic until they are blistered in spots and softened. Peel the garlic. The tomatoes should slump and leak a little juice. The onion should have dark edges. That char is not decoration. It is the flavor that gives the dish its name.

5. 5

   Blend the adobo

   Blend the softened chiles, roasted tomatoes, onion, peeled garlic, vinegar, broth, Mexican oregano, cumin seeds, cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon, and one bay leaf until completely smooth. Blend longer than you think. A rough adobo leaves chile skin on the tongue. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve if your blender is weak.

6. 6

   Marinate overnight

   Coat the beef with the adobo in a nonreactive bowl or clay cazuela. Cover and refrigerate at least 12 hours. Two hours is not enough. The vinegar and chile need time to enter the meat, and this is a special-occasion dish, not weekday impatience. No me vengas con atajos.

7. 7

   Brown in lard

   Heat the manteca de cerdo in a wide cazuela or heavy Dutch oven over medium-high. Lift the beef from the marinade, letting excess adobo drip back into the bowl, and brown the pieces on all sides. Work in batches so the meat browns instead of sweats. La manteca es el sabor. Oil will not give you the same finish.

8. 8

   Pack the clay pot

   Return all the browned beef to a lead-free oven-safe clay pot or Dutch oven. Pour the reserved adobo over the meat. Add the second bay leaf and the hoja santa or epazote if using. The sauce should come about halfway up the meat. Add a splash of water only if the pot looks dry.

9. 9

   Seal with masa

   Mix the masa harina with warm water until you have a soft dough, like tortilla masa but a little wetter. Press it into a rope and seal the lid to the pot all the way around. This masa seal traps the chile, vinegar, beef fat, and clay together. That closed pot is the technique. Así se hace y punto.

10. 10

    Slow-cook tender

    Bake at 300F for 3 1/2 to 4 hours, until the beef pulls apart with a fork and the adobo has turned dark brick red with glossy fat at the edges. Do not keep opening the pot. You sealed it for a reason. Let it rest 20 minutes before breaking the masa seal.

11. 11

    Serve from clay

    Spoon the beef and thick adobo into a green-glazed Michoacán barro serving dish, or bring the cazuela to the table if it is clean enough to honor the meal. Serve with warm corn tortillas, sliced white onion, and lime. Flour tortillas belong to the north. This is Michoacán.

Chef Tips

• •Use chile ancho for sweetness and body, chile pasilla for dark fruit and depth. Do not replace them with generic chile powder. If your chile vendor cannot tell you when the chiles arrived, find another vendor. Si no conoces el mercado, no conoces la cocina.
• •The clay pot must be lead-free and oven-safe. Traditional does not mean careless. If you do not have safe clay, use a heavy Dutch oven and seal it with masa anyway. That is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Pineapple vinegar is excellent here if you can find it in a Mexican market. Apple cider vinegar works. White distilled vinegar is too sharp and thin for this adobo.
• •Do not skip the overnight marinade. This dish is better when the chile and vinegar have time to settle into the beef. Make it the day before and let the pot rest. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.
• •Serve with corn tortillas. Flour tortillas are a northern tradition and they do not belong automatically on every Mexican table. This is a 32-state cuisine.

Advance Preparation

• •The adobo can be blended two days ahead and refrigerated. Its color will deepen and the vinegar will settle.
• •The beef should marinate at least 12 hours and up to 24 hours before cooking.
• •The finished tatemado keeps refrigerated for four days. Reheat gently in a covered cazuela with a splash of water so the adobo loosens without thinning too much.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 330g)