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Relleno Negro (Chilmole de Pavo)

Name: Relleno Negro (Chilmole de Pavo)
Prep time: 2 h 21 min
Total time: 2 h 51 min
Cuisine: Mexican · Yucatán
Ingredients: turkey meat — 2500 g; dried chiles secos yucatecos — 200 g; black peppercorns — 15 g; allspice — 15 g; cloves — 18 g; cumin seed — 5 g; garlic — 60 g; dried mexican oregano — 4 g; sour orange juice — 120 g; pork — 500 g; eggs — 300 g; eggs — 100 g; white onion — 200 g; water — 3000 g; masa harina — 60 g; water — 250 g; salt — 15 g; epazote — 2 g

Relleno Negro (Chilmole de Pavo) reads allium 4.3, umami 4.3 and sourness 4.1 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Mexican · Yucatán main, about 2 hr 51 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

Umami & Savory — 4.6 / 10
Sweet & Fruity — 1.9 / 10
Sour & Bright — 5.2 / 10
Bitter & Earthy — 2.5 / 10
Rich & Fat — 4.2 / 10
Aromatic & Spice — 4.9 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Allium 4.3 · Umami 4.3 · Sourness 4.1 · Richness 4.0 · Warm Spice 3.8 · Salinity 3.6 · Citrus 3.6 · Floral 2.6 · Earthy 2.3 · Sweetness 1.6 · Bitterness 1.3 · Fruity 1.1 · Herbaceous 1.1 · Heat 1.0 · Nutty 0.8

What's in it (18)

turkey meat — 2500 g
dried chiles secos yucatecos — 200 g
black peppercorns — 15 g
allspice — 15 g
cloves — 18 g
cumin seed — 5 g
garlic — 60 g
dried mexican oregano — 4 g
sour orange juice — 120 g
pork — 500 g
eggs — 300 g
eggs — 100 g
white onion — 200 g
water — 3000 g
masa harina — 60 g
water — 250 g
salt — 15 g
epazote — 2 g

Time & effort: about 2 hr 51 min (2 hr 21 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 67.3 kcal, 9.3 g protein, 2.7 g fat, 1.6 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains egg — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (9 steps)

The black in relleno negro is not chocolate and not burnt sugar. It is chile burned to actual charcoal, and it is the most counterintuitive step in Mexican cooking.
Take the chiles and their seeds outdoors or under a strong extractor and burn them in a dry pan over high heat until they are black, brittle and smoking violently, about 15 minutes. They will make you cough. Do not stop early — half-burnt chile tastes acrid, fully burnt chile tastes of smoke and iron.
Soak the charcoaled chiles in hot water 30 minutes, then rinse them twice to wash the loose ash away.
Toast the peppercorns, allspice, cloves, cumin and oregano until fragrant, grind them, and blend with the burnt chiles, the charred garlic and the sour orange juice into a jet-black paste — this is recado negro.
Mix the ground pork with the chopped onion, the beaten egg, a heaped spoon of the recado, and salt. Wrap it around the whole hard-cooked eggs and shape it into one large loaf; this is the but, the stuffing that gives the dish its name.
Simmer the turkey in the water with two-thirds of the recado and the salt for 60 minutes, skimming as it goes.
Lower in the loaf and poach it gently 30 minutes, until it is firm right through and the broth is inky.
Whisk in the slaked masa and simmer 10 minutes until the broth thickens to the consistency of thin gravy. Add the epazote at the end, and serve the turkey with slices of the but so each plate shows the ring of white egg against the black.
Substitutions: ancho chiles can stand in for the dried chiles secos yucatecos; white vinegar can stand in for the sour orange juice.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Torta Ahogada Tapatía — Mexican · Jalisco
Spicy Pepper Chicken Curry — Indian
Spiced Lamb and Rice Stuffed Cabbage — Middle Eastern
Chickpea Coconut Curry with Kale — Indian
Tandoori Chicken Drumsticks — Indian

Keep reading: what allium, umami, sourness mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.