Relleno Negro

The chillies burned black on purpose, outdoors, and the smoke is the whole flavour of the dish.

Pork, Turkey, Egg. Not vegetarian — contains pork, turkey.

Ingredients

the black paste

12 dried chillies — chilhuacle negro, or pasilla and guajillo
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
6 cloves
1 small cinnamon stick
8 cloves garlic, unpeeled
100 ml cider vinegar
2 teaspoons salt

the pot

2 kg turkey legs and thighs, in large pieces
500 g minced pork
6 eggs, hard-boiled and peeled
2 litres water
1 onion, chopped
3 tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoons masa, as on its own page, to thicken

to serve

corn tortillas, as on their own page
pickled red onion

Method

THE CHILLIES ARE BURNED BLACK ON PURPOSE, OUTDOORS, AND THE SMOKE IS THE WHOLE FLAVOUR OF THE DISH. Every other chilli instruction on this site warns against scorching, because a burnt chilli turns a sauce bitter. This one requires it: the chillies are put on a hot dry pan or directly on embers and taken all the way to black and brittle, smoking hard, until they will crumble between the fingers. That carbonised, bitter, smoky taste IS relleno negro -- the dish is named for its colour and the colour comes from here. Toasted gently instead, as every other recipe on this site asks, the result is a pleasant brown stew with none of the character.
IT IS DONE OUTSIDE OR UNDER A FAN AND THAT IS NOT SQUEAMISHNESS. A dozen chillies burning produce a great deal of acrid capsaicin smoke, and in a closed kitchen it is genuinely unpleasant to breathe -- it makes people cough and streams the eyes. A doorway, a garden, or an extractor on full with the windows open.
THEY ARE SOAKED AFTER BURNING AND THE WATER IS THROWN AWAY. The blackened chillies are covered with hot water for half an hour and go soft. That water is black, intensely bitter and useless; the paste is let down with vinegar instead. Keeping it, on the grounds that it is full of flavour, makes the dish inedible.
THE VINEGAR IS WHAT MAKES THE BITTERNESS WORK. A hundred millilitres in the paste. Burnt chilli alone is harsh; with a real quantity of acid behind it the bitterness reads as depth rather than as a fault. This is the balance the whole dish rests on and it is why the vinegar is not reduced.
THE HARD-BOILED EGGS GO IN WHOLE AT THE END AND ARE SERVED WHOLE. Six of them, lowered into the black broth for the last ten minutes. They come out stained dark on the outside and still pale inside, and each bowl gets one. They are also the reason the dish is called 'stuffed' -- and they are not chopped or stirred in.
THE CHILLIES BURNED ALL THE WAY TO BLACK AND BRITTLE on a dry pan or over embers, OUTSIDE or under a strong extractor. They must smoke hard and crumble between the fingers.
Covered with hot water and soaked 30 MINUTES. DRAINED, and the BLACK WATER THROWN AWAY.
The peppercorns, oregano, cumin, cloves and cinnamon toasted dry 30 seconds and ground. The garlic charred in its skin and peeled.
The blackened chillies blended with the ground spices, garlic, the VINEGAR and the salt to a thick black paste. No soaking water.
The minced pork mixed with 3 tablespoons of the paste and rolled into walnut-sized balls.
The turkey put in a large pot with the 2 litres of water, the onion and tomatoes, and simmered 1 HOUR.
Half the remaining black paste stirred in and simmered 30 MINUTES more, until the turkey is tender.
The pork balls lowered in and simmered 20 MINUTES.
The masa slaked with cold water to a smooth slurry and stirred in. Cooked 10 MINUTES, stirred, until it thickens.
The whole hard-boiled eggs lowered in for the last 10 MINUTES.
TASTED: it should be smoky and bitter-edged with the vinegar behind it. More paste or vinegar added to balance.
Served with a whole egg in each bowl, with tortillas and pickled red onion.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Mexico · All recipes