Kak-ik recipe

A Q'eqchi' Maya turkey soup whose red broth comes from a recado of toasted guaque, pasa and cobanero chilies blended with charred tomatoes and achiote.

1 hour and 40 minutesmedium12 ingredients

Ingredients

• 1500 g turkey legs
• 4 dried guaque chilies
• 2 dried pasa chilies
• 1 tsp cobanero chili
• 2 tbsp achiote paste
• 500 g tomatoes
• 250 g tomatillos
• 1 onion
• 4 clove garlic
• 1 bunch fresh mint
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 2 tsp salt

How to make Kak-ik

1. Simmer 1.5 kg of turkey legs and thighs in 2.5 L water with half an onion and 2 tsp salt for 45 minutes. Use turkey, not chicken: kak'ik is a chompipe soup.
2. Toast 4 guaque and 2 pasa chilies in a dry pan 30 seconds per side, remove the seeds, and soak them in hot broth for 15 minutes.
3. In the same dry pan, char 500 g tomatoes, 250 g tomatillos, 1 onion and 4 unpeeled garlic cloves for about 10 minutes until blackened in spots.
4. Blend the soaked chilies, the charred vegetables, 2 tbsp achiote paste and 1 tsp cobanero chili powder with 300 ml of the broth into a smooth recado.
5. Strain the recado into a pot and fry it 10 minutes, stirring, until it darkens and thickens. This is the step that makes the broth red.
6. Return the turkey and the rest of the broth, and simmer 20 minutes.
7. Tie a bunch of mint and a bunch of cilantro together, drop them in for the last 5 minutes, then pull them out. Use samat (Eryngium foetidum) instead of cilantro if you can find it.
8. Serve in deep bowls with white rice and small tamales. No potatoes go into kak'ik.

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