Chojín en recado is a patron-saint feast dish from Suchitepéquez: chojineada beef, roasted over low heat on palo de pito branches, then boiled with mint and cooked in a recado (sauce) of tomato, onion, and chiles.
This is the Samayac recipe of tradition bearer Marta Cacoj, recorded by Guatemala’s Ministry of Culture and Sports.
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Chojín en Recado – Guatemalan Fire-Dried Beef in Recado
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Total Time: 3 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings
- Category: Main Course
- Cuisine: Guatemalan
Ingredients
- 2 lb beef (posta, viuda, and rib cuts)
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 4 tomatoes
- 1 chile pasa (dried chile)
- 1 chile pimiento (bell pepper)
- 1 onion
- Bread, as needed to thicken the recado
- 1 bunch mint (hierbabuena)
- Water, as needed to boil the meat
- 4 palo de pito branches
Preparation
- Make the recado, roast the tomatoes, onion, chile pasa, chile pimiento, and bread on the comal. Soak the bread and grind everything on the grinding stone.
- Fire-dry the meat, lay the palo de pito branches over the grill and set the meat on top, over low heat, for 2 hours.
- Wash and boil the meat, cut the roasted meat and wash it in a bowl of fresh water. Move it to a pot of hot water and boil it with the bunch of mint.
- Cook in the recado, strain the recado, stir it into the pot, adjust with the salt, and cook everything for 30 minutes.
Tips
- Low heat and the palo de pito branches give the meat its particular flavor.
- Strain the recado well so the broth is smooth.
- Add the bread little by little until the recado has the consistency you want.
Traditional variations
In other Suchitepéquez towns, such as San Bernardino, the recado is made with tomato, miltomate, chile pasa, chile guaque, bell pepper, dried seeds, and aromatic herbs, roasted and blended.
In Guatemala the name chojín refers to different dishes: besides this chojín en recado, there’s radish and pork rind chojín, a cold salad, and Chojín Bataneco from San Sebastián, Retalhuleu, a soup of chojineada beef with vegetables.
How to serve
Serve the chojín in a clay bowl, with corn masa tamalitos.
Recommended pairings
- Corn masa tamalitos
Did you know?
According to the Ministry of Culture’s record, the word chojín comes from K’iche’ and means «to roast»; the palo de pito tree the meat is roasted on appears in the Popol Vuh.
Frequently Asked Questions
Roasting it over low heat on palo de pito branches for about 2 hours, which gives it its particular flavor.
Tomato, onion, chile pasa, chile pimiento, and bread, roasted on a comal and ground.
Corn masa tamalitos, in a clay bowl.
