Guatemalan · serves 6 · about 90 minutes
Guatemala's pre-Hispanic showpiece — chicken in a deep, brick-red sauce of charred tomatoes, peppers, and toasted seeds. Maya technique, four centuries of refinement, one unforgettable pot.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs chicken pieces
- 1 tsp Iberia Adobo Without Pepper 16 oz
- 4 ripe tomatoes
- 4 tomatillos (miltomates)
- 2 dried guaque (guajillo) chiles
- 1 dried pasa (ancho) chile
- 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds (pepitoria)
- 1/4 cup sesame seeds
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 cups Iberia Parboiled Rice 5 lbs
- to taste salt
Method
- Simmer the Adobo-seasoned chicken in salted water 35 minutes; keep the broth.
- Meanwhile char the tomatoes, tomatillos, and chiles on a dry comal until blistered and dark in places.
- Toast the pumpkin seeds, sesame, and cinnamon until fragrant — the smell IS Guatemala.
- Blend everything charred and toasted with two cups of the chicken broth until velvet-smooth.
- Simmer the sauce 15 minutes, return the chicken, and let them get acquainted 10 more.
- Serve over rice with tortillas. Pepián doesn't do small portions — plan accordingly.