How to Cook Mayan Stew
Mayan Stew is a savory soup that makes good use of leftover pork or chicken (or both). The recipe is flexible! Add what meat you have! So, while traditionally made with pork shoulder, it is fine with chicken or even seafood.
How to Cook Mayan Stew
Yield:
4
Prep Time:
20 minutes
Cook Time:
2 hours
Total Time:
2 hours 20 minutes
Maya stew is a savory Central American soup or stew that is a great use for leftovers.
Ingredients
- For the pork:
- 2 ¼ lb pork shoulder
- 1 head garlic, chopped
- 1 onion, sliced
- 5 bay leaves
- 3 pints of chicken stock
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- For the tomato chili sauce:
- 1lb plum tomatoes
- 9 oz dried corn
- 4 guajillo chiles
- 4 chilcostle rojo chiles
- 9 oz pumpkin seeds
- 2 cloves
- 1 tsp ground fennel seeds
- 4 black peppercorns
- ½ pint hot water
- Sunflower oil, for cooking
Instructions
- Place the pork in a large stockpot and pour in the chicken stock.
- Drop the garlic, onion slices and bay leaves into it and stir them all together along with a dash of salt.
- Cook the mixture until it begins to boil and reduce it to a simmer.
- Continue to cook likewise for an hour or until the meat falls apart.
- Warm up your oven to 400 degrees F.
- In the meantime, toss both kinds of chiles into a hot, dry skillet and sauté them, stirring often, until they are charred in places.
- Dip them into a bowl of hot water and set aside for about 20 minutes to soak in water and soften.
- Scatter the tomatoes across a roasting pan and drop in the garlic cloves.
- Roast the veggies in the oven until they turn tender and take it out; keep it aside until required.
- Roast the whole spices in the same hot skillet, until they start popping and dump them into a blender.
- Plop in the roasted veggies and chilies, along with a splash of chili soaking water and blitz them together into a thick sauce.
- Strain it out into a bowl, through a fine mesh sieve and set aside.
- To cook the stew, fry the pumpkin seeds in the dry skillet until they are toasted evenly and toss them into a food processor to pulse them into a fine powder.
- Toast the corn in a similar fashion and make a fine powder out of it in the food processor.
- Drizzle sunflower oil in the skillet and heat it up until it sizzles.
- Cook the strained sauce for about 15 minutes or until it darkens in colour slightly.
- Pour it into simmering stew and sprinkle the ground corn, fennel as well as pumpkin seeds on top.
- Stir them all together until well mixed and continue to cook the stew, uncovered, for about 45 minutes or until it thickens considerably.
- Serve alongside cooked pasta or rice.
Last Updated on April 21, 2023 by Carleen
