This stew is traditionally made with a losing bull after a bullfight, so it lends itself well to older, tougher, more flavorful animals. Any sort of venison certainly, but Canada geese, older hogs, bears, ducks, even jackrabbits would all work well here. You really want to toss in whatever offal you are OK with eating. With birds, certainly hearts and gizzards, and liver if you want. With mammals, hearts, kidneys, tongues, shanks, tail are all good choices. Chocolomo hinges on the distinct char flavor you get from burning the onions and garlic. If you don't do this, it will still be a nice stew, but it will lack the jarringly smoky flavor that attracts me to this recipe.
Prep time: PT60M
Cook time: PT180M
Total time: PT240M
Rating
5 stars (13 reviews)
Keywords
beef, stews, venison
Ingredients
1/4 cup lard or cooking oil, (divided)
3 pounds various meats and offal (s(ee above))
2 quarts stock or broth
2 cups red wine
1/4 cup sherry or red wine vinegar
Salt
1 large white onion, (charred, peeled and chopped)
1 head of garlic, (charred, peeled and chopped)
2 cups crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped chives
1/2 cup chopped mint
Totopos ((fried tortilla strips))
Chopped radishes and cilantro
Limes
Hot sauce
5 tablespoons black peppercorns
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon dried oregano, (Mexican if possible)
2 teaspoons whole cloves
10 allspice berries
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 heads of garlic, (charred and peeled)
2 tablespoons vinegar
Categories
Soup
Cuisine
Mexican
Steps
Your first task is to make the spice paste, the recado bianco, which can be made days or even weeks ahead and then stored in the fridge. On a grill or gas burner, set the garlic heads over the fire. You want to burn off the paper and cook the garlic at the same time, so you will want to turn the heads frequently as they cook. You want some parts of the garlic to burn and char. This normally takes a solid 5 to 10 minutes, and longer is better. When they are cool enough to handle, peel off any remaining paper around the garlic cloves and chop them roughly. Set them in the bowl of a blender or small food processor with the vinegar.
Toast the peppercorns, cumin, cloves and allspice in a dry pan over high heat until they are fragrant, a minute or three. Put them into a spice grinder with the oregano and cinnamon. Grind into a powder and add to the blender with the garlic. Buzz this to a paste, stopping to scrape down the sides of the blender or processor a few times. This paste will keep for months in the fridge.
To make the stew, cut the meats and offal into pieces you'd want to eat. Get 3 tablespoons of the lard hot in a large, heavy, lidded pot like a Dutch oven. Pat the meats dry and brown them in batches so you don't crowd the pot. This may take a solid 20 minutes. As they brown, set the chunks in a bowl. When the meats are all browned, add some stock to the pot and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom. Add the rest of the stock, the wine, vinegar, 4 tablespoons of your recado bianco spice mixture and the meats -- along with any juices that have collected in the bowl. Bring this to a simmer and add salt to taste. Cook until the meats are tender, which can be anything from 90 minutes to 4 hours.
About an hour after the meats have started simmering, heat the last tablespoon of lard in a frying pan and cook the onion and garlic over medium heat until they're nice and softened, but not browned. Add the tomatoes and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, then add the contents of the frying pan to the stew pot.
When the meats are nice and tender, add the chives and mint and cook another couple minutes, just to wilt the herbs. Serve in big bowls with the finishing garnishes.
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 416 kcal
Carbohydrates: 16 g
Protein: 40 g
Fat: 16 g
Saturated Fat: 4 g
Cholesterol: 105 mg
Sodium: 1130 mg
Sugar: 6 g
Reviews
Kristin on 2025-02-23 (5 stars): This dish is absolutely amazing. The depth of flavor is stunning. Yet another keeper from all your recipes! Thank you!
Ryan on 2020-01-21 (5 stars): Amazing one of the best stews I've ever had
Eric S on 2019-04-05 (5 stars): This is one of my favorite recipes of Hank's (and it's equally loved by family and friends), and I've made quite a few of them. It has a terrific and unique depth of flavor that just goes on and on- there's nothing else really like it. It's a bit of a labor of love to make, so if you're pressed for time I've found it helpful to make the spice paste a day or two ahead of time before I do the stew. There's usually leftover paste for next time, or to get creative with by adding some to other soups, stews, or chilis. And if you're short on venison and wobbly bits, it's still excellent with a 3 lb chuck roast from the store.
Give it a try, it's well worth the effort and an excellent change of pace from chili or other stews.
Capt. Yakes on 2019-03-17 (5 stars): Worth the effort! An incredible combination of complex flavors. Added chopped Avocado, Radish, Cilantro, and some Mexican hot sauce.
William on 2019-01-27 (5 stars): Is 2 tsp cloves correct? Seems like way too much.
Jordan Pack on 2018-05-27 (5 stars): We made this and it was amazing. But we still have leftover paste. Anyone have any good ideas for using the paste elsewhere?
Bob T on 2018-05-18 (5 stars): I had been intrigued by this recipe since it was posted. Yesterday, I finally made it with some of 2016's elk (cuts of which had somehow gotten buried under 2017's elk). I also tossed in a cubed and de-fatted beef heart (grass fed). This recipe was a fantastic treatment, and several hours in the crockpot on low allowed all of the flavors to coalesce into that interesting juxtaposition touted in the description. Thanks to Hank for elevating the art of cooking game, and for providing this type of recipe to expand my own horizons.
One note - I used beef stock. In the future, per the notes of another poster, I would likely opt for chicken or even vegetable stock. The meats I used needed no reinforcement, and a lighter stock might make for a better palette for the other flavors.
