Guatemala - Jocon de Pollo

Our gustatory galavant through Central America continues with Guatemala. This country is sandwiched between Mexico and Honduras on the Pacific coast of Central America, and is a major bastion of both historical and modern Mayan culture.

The Mayan cuisine of Guatemala focuses heavily on flavorful stews called “Recados”, which are usually comprised of chicken and peppers and are often thickened with ground nuts, seeds, or tortillas. Usually focusing on red chiles and achiote (a paste of ground annatto seeds that lends a striking red color and earthy flavor), the recipe I chose is a bit of an oddball in that it relies on green chiles, cilantro, tomatillo, and green onions rather than the significantly redder ingredients that other recados such as Pepian do. I’m not saying Jocon was made fun of by other recados in school, but I’m not not saying that either.

I chose a recipe from Just a Pinch for this one.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 - 3 lb chicken thighs

• 4 c water

• 2 tsp salt

• 1/4 c pumpkin seeks (pepitas)

• 1/4 c sesame seeds

• 2 corn tortillas, chopped, soaked in water, drained

• 1 c tomatillos, hulled and chopped

• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped

• 1 bunch green onions, chopped

• 1-3 jalapeno peppers, chopped

Directions

1. Place the chicken, water and salt into a large pot over medium-high flame. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

2. Remove the chicken to a bowl and strain and set aside the broth. Let chicken cool, then shred it with your fingers. Set aside.

3. Heat a dry skillet over medium flame. Add the pumpkin and sesame seeds and toast, stirring, until lightly browned. Remove to a coffee grinder and grind to a fine powder.

4. Add the sesame and pumpkin seeds, tortillas, tomatillos, cilantro, scallions and chile peppers to a food processor or blender. Add 1 cup of the reserved broth and process until smooth. If using a blender you may have to do this step in batches.

5. Return the chicken to the pot. Pour over pureed sauce and add 1 to 1 1/2 cups of the remaining broth to give it a sauce-like consistency.

6. Heat over medium-low flame and simmer for an additional 15-25 minutes. Adjust seasoning and serve.

The Verdict: This may come down to preparer error to an extent, but I was pretty disappointed by this one. I expected some bright, tangy flavors paired with a good spice level and some earthiness from the seeds, and got very little of that. It all just tasted very flat, like a vital ingredient was missing (and don't say “a skilled cook”, ya jackals). I may attempt this again with some mods like serrano peppers and a metric crapload of lime, may help. I'd give this a 5/10.