Guatemala: chuchitos [vegan]

We have reached Guatemala on our vegan world tour and it is time to make chuchitos, a smaller version of Guatemalan tamales. In this delicious Guatemalan, vegan recipe, a sauce made from toasted sesame seeds and roasted vegetables is wrapped in corn dough and steamed to perfection.

Guatemalan cuisine

Situated just south of Mexico, Guatemala was once the heart of the Mayan empire. Today, many of its 17 million inhabitants still trace their roots to this old Central American tribe. Guatemalan cuisine is still largely Mayan and includes Spanish influences, brought to Guatemala through Spanish conquest and occupation between the 16h and 19th century.

Among the ingredients in the Guatemalan kitchen, you will find traditional South and Central American staples like maize, peppers, tomatoes, avocadoes, and beans ​[1]–[3]​. While many dishes from Guatemala may not have traveled far, one of the Mayan inventions, chocolate, has gotten a life of its own and is, of course, known across the world ​[4], [5]​.

Guatemalan dishes

Back in 2007, the Guatemalan government made a list of the country’s most characteristic dishes ​[6]​. The list now includes 5 dishes such as jocón – a green sauce based on cilantro, tomatillos, and tortillas (soaked and cooked in the sauce), seasoned with toasted sesame and pumpkin seeds ​[7]​. The list also features platanos en mole, fried plantains served with a savory chocolate and tomato sauce seasoned with toasted sesame and pumpkin seeds ​[8]​. The large variety of other characteristic dishes includes chiles rellenos – stuffed chiles; taquitos – stuffed, fried tortillas, and yuca fritters ​[2]​. Many of the recipes are seasoned with chilis and toasted, ground sesame and pumpkin seeds.

Chuchitos

Among the Guatemalan dishes that didn’t make the government list above, you will find tamales, paches, chuchitos, and tamals. All of these are variations of steamed dough made from corn flour, rice or potato with different fillings, wrapped in corn husks or plantain leaves and steamed ​[9], [10]​. Fillings range from simple sauces to chilies, meat, corn, or sweet things like almonds, raisins, and chocolate found in dessert style tamales​[9], [10]​ Some sources state that Guatemala sports more than 200 versions of these tamale-relatives, more than Mexico.

For this blog post, I chose to make chuchitos. A simple representative of the tamale category. A dough made from masa harina is spread on a sheet of corn husk and covered in a sauce made from roasted vegetables, seasoned with toasted sesame and pumpkin seeds and chili. The corn husk is wrapped up and steamed.

Chuchitos – a vegan recipe

To make the vegan version featured below, I gathered inspiration from a few different sources. Most versions contain lard and some piece of meat in them (usually chicken or pork) ​[11]–[14]​ but some vegan adaptations exist where meat is replaced with potatoes ​[15]​ or corn ​[16]​. Here I opted for no meat replacement but rather focused on making a good sauce. Some recipes boil all the vegetables (tomatoes, tomatillos, onion, garlic and sometimes bell pepper) in plenty of water before pureeing but some versions roast them instead ​[12]–[14]​. I find that roasted vegetables develop very nice flavour so I opted for this method to make the sauce.

Interesting ingredients

Tomatillos are a small fruit that looks like a cross between a tomato and golden berries and is related to both (all three are members of the nightshade family, just like potato, peppers, and eggplant). ​[17]​
Also known as husk tomato, named after its papery shell, tomatillos are eaten both raw and cooked. Roasted, they are often found in different salsas in Mexico and Central America. Personally, I find it adds a bit of a raspberry hint to sauces but maybe that’s just me. If you haven’t tried it and happen to spot it in the vegetable aisle, grab a few and try them.

In these chuchitos, the tomatillos are roasted with tomatoes, onions, and garlic and blended to create a nice sauce spiced with the Guatemalan signature combo of ground, toasted sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds and toasted, dried chilies.

Masa harina, might be an ingredient new to many readers. (I first started using it after moving to Toronto.) In essence, it is ‘just’ cornflour but the corn has been soaked and cooked in some alkaline solution (like lime water) before being dried and ground ​[18]​. This treatment gives the flour a quite special taste, like flowers almost. I’m reminded faintly of rosewater. Masa is what gives these chuchitos a very special flavour.

Conclusion

I hope you’ll be able to find the ingredients used in this vegan Guatemalan recipe so you can make your own chuchitos because they are delicious. Especially try to find the masa harina, I think the flour has more of an influence than the tomatillos in this case.

The chuchitos can be eaten on their own (serve with the sauce left from stuffing them) but we ate them with some refried beans to make a full meal out of it.

Print

Chuchitos

These vegan, Guatemalan chuchitos are a tasty snack on their own or can be eaten as part of a larger meal. This recipe makes 8 smaller ones, a good amount for 2-3 people.

Servings 8 chuchitos

Equipment

• Steaming basket(s) or colander in large pot

Ingredients

Dough

• 400 mL maza harina corn flour
• ½ tsp salt
• 100 mL canola oil
• hot water ~200 mL
• corn husks or aluminum foil

Tomato sauce

• 6 tomatoes
• 2 tomatillos optional
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves garlic optional
• 3 tbsp sesame seeds
• 3 tbsp pumpkin seeds
• 2 dried red chilies e.g. guajillo, pasilla
• salt to taste

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 230°C
• Roast tomatoes (whole), onion (peeled), garlic (with skin), and tomatillos (whole, if using) in the oven until they start to blacken, 30-40 min. Turn on grill during the last 5 minutes.
• While vegetables are roasting, soak corn husks in warm water.
• Toast sesame seeds and pumpkin seed in a dry pan. Toast one at a time, the smaller sesame seeds risk burning.
• Deseed and toast the dried chilies in the same pan. They should go darker and start to soften a bit. Soaj in boiling water until ready to use.
• Prepare the dough by mixing flour, salt and oil. Stir in warm water, a little at a time until dough reaches a smooth texture. 200 mL worked for me. Let rest until vegetables are done.
• Blend sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds to a coarse powder.
• When vegetables are roasted, let cool somewhat and add to the blender. Add some of the chili and blend. Taste, add more chili if desired. Add salt to taste. If the sauce seems too lose, you can add some of the dough to help thicken it.
• Spread a piece of dough thinly on a corn husk or sheet of aluminum foil. Add a thin strip of sauce in the center, fold the dough in to cover the sauce. Fold the corn husk / alumnium foil around the dough. Seal with string or torn strips of corn husk.

  Repeat until you're out of dough.
• Place all packets in a your steaming basket(s), colander or in a circle in a large pot. Add water and place on the stove. Bring to a boil and let the packets steam for 30-45 min.
• Enjoy with the sauce.