Destination
Antigua
The story
Pepián de pollo is Guatemala's national dish and the country's most emblematic Mayan preparation: chicken pieces slow-cooked in a dense, deep-red-brown sauce built from toasted pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, dried guajillo and pasilla chillies, tomato, tomatillo, cinnamon, cloves, and a fistful of aromatic spices, all charred and blended into a thick, spice-heavy stew. Served over white rice with warm tortillas and a slice of lime, and treated with genuine reverence by every Guatemalan cook who makes it. UNESCO added pepián to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list.
Method
Combine the chicken, quartered onion, garlic, bay leaf, salt and cold water in a large pot. Bring to a gentle simmer and poach 40 minutes until cooked through. Lift the chicken out. Strain and reserve the cooking stock.
Heat a large dry heavy pan over medium heat. Toast the pumpkin seeds 3 to 4 minutes, stirring often, until deep gold and starting to pop. Transfer to a plate. Toast the sesame seeds the same way, 2 minutes. Transfer to the plate.
In the same pan, briefly toast the dried chillies 30 seconds per side until fragrant (don't burn; they turn bitter). Toast the coriander seeds, cumin, cinnamon and cloves for 60 seconds until fragrant. Cover the chillies with warm water and soak 15 minutes to soften.
In the same dry pan (or under a hot grill), char the tomatoes, tomatillos, onion slices and garlic cloves (with skin on) until blackened in patches on all sides, 5 to 8 minutes total. Peel the garlic once cool.
In a blender, combine the toasted seeds, drained soaked chillies, charred tomatoes, tomatillos, onion, peeled garlic, all the toasted spices, salt and 500ml of the reserved chicken stock. Blend on high for 90 seconds until as smooth as your blender manages. Strain through a fine sieve into a bowl for the smoothest finish (optional but classic).
Warm the oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Carefully pour in the blended sauce (it will splatter). Cook 20 to 25 minutes, stirring often, until the sauce darkens noticeably and thickens to coat the back of a spoon.
Return the chicken pieces to the pot, spooning the sauce over the top. Add another 300ml of the reserved stock. Simmer 30 minutes on low heat so the flavours meld and the chicken becomes deeply infused with the sauce.
Plate a mound of white rice with a chicken piece on top. Spoon over generous sauce. Serve with lime wedges, warm tortillas and fresh coriander.
Tips
- Toast everything before blending. This is the whole flavour foundation. Untoasted seeds and un-charred vegetables give you a bland, thin pepián. Every ingredient that goes into the blender should have been toasted or charred first.
- Watch the chillies. Dried chillies burn fast in a hot pan; 30 seconds per side, no more. Burnt chillies turn the whole sauce bitter and irredeemable.
- Strain the sauce for a silky finish. Passing the blended sauce through a fine sieve before cooking gives you the classic silky pepián texture. Skipping the strain gives you a rougher, more rustic version (still delicious, just different).
- Cook the sauce hard before adding chicken. The 20 to 25 minute simmer after pouring the sauce into the hot oil is what develops the flavour. Skimping on this step leaves you with a raw-tasting stew.
- Better on day two. Like most complex Guatemalan sauces, pepián deepens overnight as the flavours integrate. Make Saturday for a Sunday feast; it also freezes beautifully for later.
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