Relleno negro is a Yucatecan stew of turkey or pork in a deeply black sauce made from charred dried chiles, the dish's distinguishing colour and smoky flavour coming from the burnt-chile recado negro paste.

The dish is one of the oldest Mayan stews to survive into modern Yucatán cookery, traditionally cooked for Hanal Pixán (the Yucatán Day of the Dead) and family feasts. The recado negro paste (charred chiles xcatic and chile dulce, garlic, cloves, allspice and burnt tortilla) gives the deep-black colour; the technique is to char everything to ash on a comal, then grind and rehydrate. Stuffed turkey or chicken cooks in the inky stock for two hours; hard-boiled egg and pork meatballs (bolitas) ring the plate. La Chaya Maya, La Tradición and Restaurante Kinich in Izamal are the canonical sources. The dish appears across Mérida tasting menus during November.

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Make it at home

Serves 62 hrIntermediate

Ingredients

  • 1.2 kg turkey thigh and breast
  • 200g recado negro paste (Yucatán burnt-chile paste, available at Mexican grocers)
  • 2L chicken broth
  • 1 onion, charred and roughly chopped
  • 6 garlic cloves, charred
  • 200 ml sour orange juice
  • 4 hard-boiled eggs
  • 300g ground pork (for the meatball that traditionally goes inside the egg)
  • Salt to taste
  • Corn tortillas to serve

Method

  1. Dissolve recado negro paste in 500 ml warm broth, whisking smooth.
  2. Add the remaining broth, charred onion, charred garlic, sour orange and turkey to a heavy pot.
  3. Bring to a simmer and cook covered for 1.5 hours until turkey is tender.
  4. Meanwhile, make small meatballs (about walnut size) from the ground pork. Season with salt and a touch of recado negro.
  5. Halve the hard-boiled eggs, remove yolks, fill with pork meatball, replace yolk and reform.
  6. Add the stuffed eggs to the pot for the last 20 minutes of cooking.
  7. Serve in deep bowls with the black broth, turkey, stuffed eggs and warm corn tortillas.

Editor tip. Recado negro paste is the only authentic source of black colour; do not substitute soy sauce or other dark seasonings.

Common allergens: Turkey, Egg.