Chef Lupita
Acúmara Tatemada al Comal
Michoacán's Lake Pátzcuaro acúmara, a whole kurucha from the lago tatemada on a comal de leña and served with chile perón atápakua, corn tortillas, and P'urhépecha discipline.
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Trucha de Zitácuaro con Salsa de Chile Perón
Created by
Michoacán's eastern highland trout, cooked whole over carbón and finished with lime, epazote, and salsa de chile perón, the mountain answer to the kurucha of Lake Pátzcuaro.
Main Dishes
Mexican
Outdoor Dining
Weeknight
Comfort Food
30 min
Active Time
25 min cook•55 min total
Yield4 servings
Michoacán, the eastern sierra around Zitácuaro, is where this trucha lives. Not in the lago of Pátzcuaro, not as pescado blanco, but in cold mountain ponds fed by springs near the monarch forests, where the fish can go from water to parrilla the same day.
The chile that marks the plate is chile perón, round, thick-fleshed, orange or yellow when ripe, with black seeds and a sharp fruit underneath the heat. You roast it on a comal with tomatillo milpero, onion, and garlic, then grind it rough. The salsa should taste like Michoacán highland air: green, direct, a little wild. If your chile vendor gives you jalapeños and calls that good enough, pregúntale a las señoras del mercado and start again.
When I traveled Michoacán, the cocineras tradicionales of Zacán, Janitzio, Cocucho, Cherán, and Uruapan taught me the grammar of this kitchen. The milpa gives the tomatillo and tortilla. The monte gives epazote, leña, and the discipline of fire. The lago gives kurucha and acúmara, and the mountain farms around Zitácuaro give this newer trout. Different water, same seriousness.
Do not drown the fish in batter. Do not hide it under cheese. Score it, salt it, brush it with manteca, and cook it whole until the skin browns and the flesh releases from the bone. The salsa goes beside it, the tortillas go in a servilleta, and the barro goes to the center of the table. Así se hace y punto.
Rainbow trout, trucha arcoiris, is not pre-Columbian to Michoacán; aquaculture programs expanded it in cold mountain zones during the 20th century, including eastern municipalities such as Zitácuaro, where spring-fed ponds suited the fish. Michoacán's older fish cookery belongs to P'urhépecha lake communities around Pátzcuaro, where kurucha and acúmara were tied to the lago long before the Cazonci ruled from Tzintzuntzan in the late Postclassic period. The 2010 UNESCO recognition of Traditional Mexican Cuisine used the Michoacán paradigm, including milpa systems and the public work of cocineras tradicionales, to show that ingredients, technique, and community transmission are one system.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
whole rainbow trout
Quantity
4, about 10 to 12 ounces each
scaled, gutted, rinsed, and patted very dry
sal de grano or kosher salt
Quantity
2 teaspoons
divided
garlic cloves
Quantity
4
divided
fresh lime juice
Quantity
3 tablespoons
for the trout
dried Mexican oregano
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
crumbled
fresh epazote sprigs
Quantity
8
manteca de cerdo
Quantity
4 tablespoons
melted
tomatillos milperos
Quantity
12
husked and rinsed
fresh chile perón
Quantity
3 to 4
stemmed
white onion
Quantity
1/4 medium
fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems
Quantity
1/2 cup
fresh lime juice
Quantity
1 tablespoon
for the salsa
warm water (optional)
Quantity
2 tablespoons
only if needed to loosen the salsa
hand-pressed corn tortillas (optional)
Quantity
for serving
warmed
lime halves (optional)
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| whole rainbow troutscaled, gutted, rinsed, and patted very dry | 4, about 10 to 12 ounces each |
| sal de grano or kosher saltdivided | 2 teaspoons |
| garlic clovesdivided | 4 |
| fresh lime juicefor the trout | 3 tablespoons |
| dried Mexican oreganocrumbled | 1/2 teaspoon |
| fresh epazote sprigs | 8 |
| manteca de cerdomelted | 4 tablespoons |
| tomatillos milperoshusked and rinsed | 12 |
| fresh chile perónstemmed | 3 to 4 |
| white onion | 1/4 medium |
| fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems | 1/2 cup |
| fresh lime juicefor the salsa | 1 tablespoon |
| warm water (optional)only if needed to loosen the salsa | 2 tablespoons |
| hand-pressed corn tortillas (optional)warmed | for serving |
| lime halves (optional) | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Comal de leña, charcoal grill, or heavy cast iron grill pan
- •Volcanic stone molcajete for salsa de chile perón
- •Fish basket or wide metal spatula
- •Wide Capula or Tzintzuntzan barro platter
Instructions
- 1
Score the trout
Lay the trout on a board and pat them dry again. Make three shallow diagonal cuts on each side, down to the flesh but not through the backbone. Whole fish needs these cuts so the salt, lime, and heat reach the thickest part before the skin burns. Wet fish sticks to the parrilla. Dry fish behaves.
- 2
Season the fish
In a molcajete, grind 2 garlic cloves with 1 teaspoon of salt until you have a rough paste. Stir in the 3 tablespoons lime juice and the crumbled Mexican oregano. Rub this into the cuts and inside the belly of each trout. Tuck 2 sprigs of epazote into each cavity and let the fish rest for 15 minutes. No more. Lime is useful, but leave fish in lime too long and it tightens like rope.
- 3
Roast the salsa
Heat a dry comal over medium heat, preferably over leña or carbón. Roast the tomatillos milperos, chile perón, onion, and the remaining 2 unpeeled garlic cloves. Turn everything with tongs. The tomatillos should soften and turn olive-gold with blackened patches, the chile perón should blister, and the garlic should feel soft inside its skin. This is where the salsa gets its backbone.
Chile perón has thick flesh, black seeds, and a fruitier bite than serrano. If the chile vendor calls it manzano, look at the seeds. Black seeds tell you you are in the right family. - 4
Grind the salsa
Peel the roasted garlic. Grind it in the molcajete with the remaining 1 teaspoon salt. Add the roasted onion and chile perón, then grind to a rough paste. Add the tomatillos and crush them until the salsa is loose but still textured. Stir in the cilantro and 1 tablespoon lime juice. Add warm water only if the salsa is too thick to spoon. Do not make it smooth. A blender works only if you pulse it. No me vengas con atajos that turn a molcajete salsa into green soup.
- 5
Prepare the parrilla
Build a medium fire with carbón, or heat a heavy cast iron comal or grill pan until a drop of water jumps on contact. Brush the grate or pan with a little melted manteca. Brush the trout on both sides with the remaining manteca. La manteca es el sabor, but here it also protects the skin and carries the garlic into the heat.
- 6
Grill the trout
Set the trout on the parrilla and leave them alone for 5 to 7 minutes. The skin will release when it is ready. Flip once, carefully, and cook the second side 4 to 6 minutes more. The flesh should flake at the backbone and read 145F at the thickest part if you use a thermometer. If the skin tears a little, nobody dies. If the fish is raw at the bone, put it back on the fire.
- 7
Serve from barro
Move the trout to a wide Capula or Tzintzuntzan barro platter. Spoon salsa de chile perón along the side of each fish, not buried over the whole thing. Set warm corn tortillas and lime halves on the table. This is outdoor Michoacán food: fish from cold water, chile from the highlands, tomatillo from the milpa, fire from the monte. Cada estado, su propia cocina.
Chef Tips
- •Buy whole trout with clear eyes, firm flesh, and a clean smell. If the fish smells muddy or sour, walk away. Zitácuaro trout should taste like cold water, not like the bottom of a bucket.
- •Chile perón is the point of the salsa. If you cannot find it, chile manzano is the closest relative. Serrano will give heat, but it will not give the same thick flesh or fruit. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
- •Use tomatillo milpero when you can. They are smaller and more concentrated than the large supermarket tomatillos. If the tomatillos look dry and pale, use ripe Roma tomatoes that day. Cook what the mercado is selling today.
- •A fish basket helps if you are nervous about flipping whole trout over carbón. It is a tool, not a shortcut. The shortcut is pretending fillets taste the same. They do not.
- •Serve with corn tortillas, not flour tortillas. Flour tortillas are a northern tradition. This plate belongs to Michoacán's highlands and its milpa.
Advance Preparation
- •The salsa de chile perón can be made one day ahead and refrigerated. Bring it to room temperature before serving and taste for salt and lime again.
- •The trout should be cleaned the day you cook it. Season it only 15 minutes before it hits the fire so the lime does not tighten the flesh.
- •The carbón can be lit 30 minutes ahead. Cook over glowing coals, not tall flames, or the skin will burn before the fish is done.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 300g)
Calories
530 calories
Total Fat
28 g
Saturated Fat
8 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
16 g
Cholesterol
125 mg
Sodium
1300 mg
Total Carbohydrates
31 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
40 g
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