Guatemalan Chuchitos

Helga Glaesel de BlandingSeptember 11, 2020

This post is also available in / Esta entrada también está disponible en ESPAÑOL (SPANISH)

We love chuchitos, tamales, tamales de paso, corn tamales. Each family always knows where to buy the chuchitos, which are almost always made to order by a particular person, or by recommendation, you buy them in a business that is dedicated to preparing Guatemalan food. I wanted to learn how to make them, so… I did! Thanks to Sandra, who told me what I had to buy to have the ingredients ready and came in one day ready to teach me.

She had me running in the kitchen preparing the masa (dough), the sauce, and cooking the chicken, all at the same time. «This recipe is from Mazatenango,» she said, «each town has its own way of preparing chuchitos, and this is how I make them».

So, we are happy to share Sandra’s recipe, who is very dear to us and has helped us in our home for a little over 11 years. Some time ago she taught me how to make Chipilín Chuchitos, which you can see here, and the Kaq’ik that you can find here.

The recipe for this sauce is the base to make pepián. So, with this recipe, you will have some leftover be able to prepare pepián (for 2 or 3 people) if you want. Or you can freeze it to make chuchitos again another day.

After having learned how to make this recipe, and knowing the steps it takes, I advise you to prepare your sauce the day before so this step is ready and you can focus only on the masa and assembling the chuchitos the next day. An important step is to soak the corn husks, otherwise, they are not foldable, and the dough will leak out.

The chuchitos were very tasty! The sauce had so much flavor, and it was mildly spicy. I would definitely make them again.

Helga

Guatemalan Chuchitos

A Foodie’s Kitchen original/Sandra Damacio recipe, Mazatenango
Makes about 30 chuchitos

Ingredients, for the dough:
1.5 lbs nixtamalized corn flour (not cornmeal)
1 cup of vegetable oil, butter, or melted lard (we used vegetable oil)
10 cups of water, approx.
2 tablespoons of fine salt
1 tablespoon chicken consommé (powder)

Ingredients, for the sauce:
6 roma tomatoes, halved
1 white onion, quartered
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 red bell pepper, seeds removed
1 cinnamon stick (only a small piece is used)
2 ounces of pumpkin seeds (pepita)
2 ounces sesame seeds
1 guaque chili, seeds removed
1 pasa chili pepper, seeds removed
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

Ingredients, for the meat:
2 chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
3 to 4 bunches of corn husks (depends on size)

Directions, for the dough:

In a large pot, add half of the cornflour and add approx. 4 cups of water. By hand, add the water to the flour, it will be like an atole consistency, very liquid. Add the rest of the flour and add the rest of the water, always working with your hand to incorporate it so that no lumps form. The batter will be close to the consistency of pancake batter.
Transfer the pot to the stove at medium-high temperature and add 1 cup of oil (or melted butter or melted lard), 2 tablespoons of fine salt, and 1 tablespoon of chicken consommé, mix everything very well with a large cooking spoon. Continue stirring, at this point you cannot stop moving the dough until it thickens. For this amount of dough, the time is more or less 30 minutes.
We will know that the dough is ready because it will have thickened and come off the sides of the pot. The dough is the last thing that is prepared since when it is ready you have to start assembling the chuchitos so that it does not dry out.

Directions, for the Sauce (recado):

In a medium saucepan, place the tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, garlic, salt, and enough water to cover half of the ingredients. Cover and bring to a boil. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a frying pan, brown the following ingredients, separately one at a time: the pumpkin seeds, then the sesame seeds, along with a piece of cinnamon stick. These two, stir them around until golden brown, but be careful not to burn them. Set aside to cool a bit, and then process them to a powder. We used a coffee grinder, or it can be done in a blender.
The guaque chili and the pasa chili will also be browned in the pan. Don’t forget to take out the seeds. When they have browned, they are added into the pot where the tomatoes were cooking.
In a blender, add the tomatoes with the liquid and all the other ingredients in the pot, as well as the ground seeds and sesame seeds. Blend until well combined.
Return the already liquefied mixture to the same pot, passing it through a strainer. Add a couple of tablespoons of oil and boil for a couple of minutes. Set aside, the sauce is ready and you can prepare it a day in advance, store it in the refrigerator.

Directions, for the meat:

Add the chicken pieces to a pot with a little water until the meat is cooked. approx. 10 minutes. Set aside.

Directions, to assemble the chuchitos:

The first step is to soak the corn husks in warm water, to make them collapsible. Otherwise, they will break apart and the dough will leak out. For the pieces that we are going to use to tie up the chuchitos, pieces of husk are torn lengthwise, to form strips using the necessary husks to form more or less 30 strips for tying.
At this point, the dough is ready, as you work with it continue to stir it from time to time so that it does not dry out on the surface.
Look at the photos for guidance: place about ½ cup of dough on an extended husk (the amount of dough depends on the width of the husk), make a hole with a spoon and add a piece of cooked chicken and some sauce. With the spoon cover the hole with the same dough that you placed on the husk.
Close the sides of the husk, right and left. Then fold from bottom to top and tie. If necessary, this depends on the size of the husk, an additional piece can be placed on the dough before closing it. It is important that the dough is well wrapped.
Repeat until all the chuchitos are wrapped.
In a large pot, place the chuchitos one next to the other, upright. With the tied side up. Add enough water to steam them, a couple of inches of water is enough. Cover the chuchitos with a clean kitchen towel and place the lid to cover the pot. Cook 40 to 45 minutes, always check that there is water in the pot so that they steam and do not stick to the bottom. Check every 10 minutes or so.
To serve, you can add a bit of leftover sauce, cream, and dry cheese.

Have you made this recipe?

Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and share a picture with the hashtag #thefoodieskitchen!

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