Kak'ik

Ingredients

• Turkey — in pieces, on the bone2 kg
• Guajillo chillies6
• Cobanero chillies3
• Tomatoes500 g
• Tomatillos200 g
• Onions2
• Garlic6 clove
• Coriander seeds1 tbsp
• Achiote1 tbsp
• Mace1 tsp
• Samat or coriander30 g
• Mint20 g
• Corn tamalitos — to serve6
• Saltto taste

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Simmer the turkey with an onion in three litres of water for ninety minutes, skimming.

   95 min

2. 2

   Seed the chillies and char them on a dry pan for ten seconds a side.

   10 min

3. 3

   Char the tomatoes, tomatillos, onion and garlic on the same pan until blackened in patches.

   15 min

4. 4

   Toast the coriander, achiote and mace on a dry pan until fragrant.

   6 min

5. 5

   Blend everything with two ladles of the broth to a smooth red mass.

   8 min

6. 6

   Strain the mass through a sieve into the pot with the turkey and cook twenty-five minutes.

   28 min

7. 7

   Add the samat and mint for the last five minutes and serve with corn tamalitos.

   8 min

About the dish

The name means "very red" in Q'eqchi'. The colour comes from guajillo chillies charred on a dry pan rather than from paprika or tomato.

The turkey is cooked whole, on the bone — the bones give the broth a body fillet cannot. In villages a farm bird is used and the cooking runs to three hours.

Dried samat and mace are obligatory here. Their combination with the charred chillies is the flavour for which the soup is recognised as Guatemalan intangible heritage.

Worth knowing

• — The chillies must not scorch. A blackened guajillo leaves a bitterness that runs through the whole soup and does not lift.
• — The mass must be sieved. The chilli skins stay behind, and without that step the broth comes out grainy.
• — Cobanero is very hot and sold dried. One chile de árbol substitutes, but the flavour comes out less smoky.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

520 kcal

Protein

52 g

Fat

18 g

Carbs

32 g

More from Guatemala

• Pepián — Chicken in a thick sauce of toasted seeds and chillies. One of Guatemala's oldest dishes.
• Guatemalan tamales — Corn dough with meat and recado sauce, wrapped in banana leaf and steamed.
• Rellenitos — Balls of ripe plantain purée filled with sweetened black beans and chocolate.