Chirmol (Guatemalan charred tomato salsa)
Chirmol is a Guatemalan salsa of charred tomatoes with onion, cilantro and lime, served with grilled meat and toasted chiles.
Traditional method
Pepián recado
Recado para pepián · Recado de pepián
The roasted chile, seed and vegetable sauce that thickens and colours Guatemalan pepián stew.
What the recado is
Recado is the thick sauce that gives pepián its colour, body and nutty flavour. In the Antigua-style recipe it is made separately and then stirred into a broth with chicken, rather than being a dish of its own.
The sauce is built from dried chiles, charred tomatoes, tomatillos, onion and garlic, with pumpkin and sesame seeds ground in for body. Each element is roasted so that its sugars and fats darken before blending, which gives the sauce its roasted, not raw, taste.
Sources for this section
Method and role of each ingredient
The chiles are roasted briefly so they soften without burning; the tomatoes, tomatillos, onion and garlic are blistered until they char. Cooking them in water after roasting softens the solids before they are blended.
The seeds are toasted separately and last. Pumpkin seeds turn smoky and sesame seeds turn pale gold, and both thicken the sauce when ground. Sesame moves from toasted to burnt quickly, so it needs close attention.
After blending, the recado is strained to remove small fragments. It is then stirred into chicken and broth and simmered uncovered for ten to fifteen minutes to reduce.
Sources for this section
Thickening and variation
The source offers a chef's alternative: roast a cup of breadcrumbs, blend them with water and add the mixture while the stew simmers. Flour or cornstarch is also named as an option.
The source does not describe pepitoria, the heat of the guajillo and ancho chiles, or regional differences in the recado. Those points remain open and should not be assumed from this recipe.
Sources for this section
History
The Guatemalan Ministry of Culture and Sports' Recado glossary describes pepián generally as a recado of pre-Hispanic origin. The Vida Antigua recipe source describes indigenous and colonial roots for its dish but does not date this Antigua-style formula. The precise chronology of this formula remains undated; no earliest attestation is established here.
Ingredients
Scaling: source batch only
Guajillo chileDry roast on a hot comal or cast-iron pan.
2 chiles
Ancho chileDry roast on a hot comal or cast-iron pan.
2 chiles
TomatoDry roast until blistered and blackened.
6 Roma tomatoes
TomatilloDry roast until blistered and blackened.
4
OnionDry roast in sections.
½ large onion
GarlicDry roast until coloured and aromatic.
5 cloves
5 to 6 cloves in the sourceRaw pumpkin seedsDry roast until smoky.
159 mL0.67 cup as recorded
2/3 cup, shelledSesame seedsDry roast until pale gold.
159 mL0.67 cup as recorded
2/3 cupStar anise (optional)Dry roast with the garlic.
2 stars
Cilantro (optional)Lightly dry roast, optional.
59 mL¼ cup as recorded
Method
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Sesame and pumpkin seeds scorch quickly; the source warns that sesame goes from toasted to burnt rapidly.
- Dry roast the ancho and guajillo chiles on a hot pan or comal for one to two minutes and set them in a bowl.
- Dry roast the tomatoes, tomatillos, onion, garlic and star anise until they blister and blacken. Garlic and anise go first, as they darken and give off aroma; add the rest to the bowl as they blister.
- Put the roasted chiles and vegetables in a saucepan, cover with water, bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then switch off the heat, add the optional cilantro and let it cool.
- Dry roast the pumpkin seeds over low heat for about five minutes until smoky, then dry roast the sesame seeds for three to five minutes until pale gold, watching them closely.
- Blend the cooled solids with about half a cup of the cooking liquid, the toasted pumpkin and sesame seeds until completely smooth.
- Strain the blended sauce in batches through a colander and discard the small scraps that remain.
Places
Guatemala
Documented preparation · Country evidenceA country-level association documented in a recipe source; it does not establish a single place of origin.
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Sources
Vida AntiguaMethod · History
Pepián con Pollo de GuatemalaRecado ingredients and steps
Pepián as a colonial and indigenous-rooted dish
Simmer 10 to 15 minutes
Cited in: What the recado is; Method and role of each ingredient; Thickening and variation
Guatemala Ministry of Culture and Sports (MCD), UNESCO Nominations portalHistory · Regional variation · Ingredients
Recado’s glossary — PepiánThe Ministry's Recado glossary describes pepián as a recado of pre-Hispanic origin.
It lists tomato, pepitoria, guaque pepper, pasa pepper and other spices; proteins may include hen, chicken, pork, beef or turkey.
It says tortillas or masa thicken the recado.