Community Cocina: Pepián Guatemalteco
On Thursday, June 20th, QLatinx's Community Cocina featured: Pepián Guatemalteco! This a delicious stew made from a fusion of Mayan and Spanish cultures consisting of boiled chicken and fragrant chilles and spices, along with pumpkin seeds. It is delicious served as a lone dish or on rice or accompanied by tortilla.
Recipe can be found below:
Pepián Ingredients
1 whole chicken, jointed, or 8 pieces of chicken, skin on
3 medium onions, 1 quartered, 2 whole
1 heaped salt
2 quaque (quajilio) chillies, dried,deseeded
2 pasa (poblano/mulato) chillies, dried and deseeded
115g raw pumpkin seeds (pepitoria)
115g seasame seeds
6 large black peppercorns
6 cloves
3 large garlic cloves
1 small bunch coriander
9 roma.plum tomatoes, around 500g
1 tbsp dried oregano
1/2 stick cinnamon
1 quisquil (mirliton/chayote) or squash
500g potatoes or root vegetables
Pepián Preparation Instructions
Put the chicken in a large pot, covering it with roughly 3 liters of water, so the chicken is covered. Add the salt and the quartered onion to the water while the chicken boils.
While the chicken is boiling, roast the dried chillies over a medium heat in a dry frying pan until fragrant. Once roasted, crumble chillies into a mixing bowl; all roasted ingredients will be combined in this bowl so make sure it's large enough.
Next, toast the raw pumpkin seeds in the same pan, then ass to the mixing bowl. Toast the sesame seeds until golden. Add to the mixing bowl.
Put one whole onion with 6-8 black whole peppercorns and 6 cloves plus the garlic cloves, in the pan, then toast until golden and mix with the seeds.
Toast fresh coriander the same as the other ingredients. This will become very fragrant. Add to mixing bowl.
Next, roast the tomatoes until blackened and soft, then add to the other ingredients.
Finally, toast 1 tablespoon of dried oregano and the cinnamon, then add to mixing bowl.
In a separate bowl, cut peeled potatoes into large chunks. Cut quisquil into thick slices and peel. Cut remaining onion into chunks. These will be added to the chicken pot once chicken is mostly cooked.
Combine all roasted ingredients and add 750ml water. Whizz in a blender to combine fully. Add the mixture to the chicken pot. Continue cooking until the sauce reduces, add the vegetables and cook until tender. The sauce is typically like a soup. This dish can be served in a bowl as a stand alone or with rice. Typical Guatamalan style include rice or tortillas.
Thank you to those who attended another Community Concina event! We were able to enjoy
cooking this delicious dish from Guatemala: Pepián Guatemalteco, see you at the next one! Also, a special thank you to our partners Breaking Bread with Mira, Inc and the Orlando United Assistance Center.
