Mixiotes
User Reviews
5
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Prep Time
1 hr
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Cook Time
1 hr
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Marinating Time
8 hrs
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Total Time
10 hrs
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Servings
6 servings
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Calories
281 kcal
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Course
Main Course
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Cuisine
Mexican
Mixiotes
Description
Mixiotes are prepared by creating an adobo sauce from dried ancho, guajillo, and chipotle chiles rehydrated and blended with toasted spices like cumin, cloves, and cinnamon, as well as seared garlic and onion, lime juice, and salt. The sauce is pureed until smooth, optionally strained to remove chile seed and skin remnants. This adobo marinade is used to coat pieces of meat such as chicken, rabbit, or game, which can be pre-simmered if tough, along with Yukon Gold potatoes, nopales (cactus paddles), and fresh mushrooms.
The ingredients are wrapped, often in their original mixiote leaves or alternatives, then steamed or cooked over indirect heat, allowing the meat and vegetables to soak in the smoky, acidic, and spiced flavors of the adobo. Using smoked salt and preferred chipotles enhances the smoky depth. The softness of the cooked potatoes and the earthiness of mushrooms balance the piquant chile paste. The dish is served accompanied by corn tortillas to scoop and complement the rich preparation.
Traditional techniques include elevating the packets on corncobs or makeshift steam racks if a steamer is unavailable. Preparing nopales ahead smooths the process. The marinating and slow steaming deeply tenderize game meats especially, making the dish appropriate for special occasions with a uniquely Mexican flavor profile.
Ingredients
ADOBO
- 4 ancho chile stemmed and seeded
- 4 guajillo chiles stemmed and seeded
- 3 chipotle pepper stemmed, dried
- 1/2 onion cut in half to make wedges, white
- 3 cloves garlic unpeeled
- 1 teaspoon cumin seed or 1/2 teaspoon ground
- 5 clove or 1/4 teaspoon ground
- 1/2 inch piece cinnamon or 1/2 teaspoon ground
- 1/4 cup lime juice or white vinegar
- salt smoked if you have it
FILLING
- 1-2 pounds meat chicken, rabbit, pheasant, squirrel, grouse, quail, in pieces
- 1-2 pounds Yukon Gold potato cut in chunks, or other yellow potatoes
- 8 ounces Nopales see headnotes for prep, prepared
- 8 ounces mushroom any kind you want, fresh
- 6 avocado leaves or bay leaves
- corn tortilla to serve with the mixiotes
Instructions
ADOBO
- Set the dried chiles in a bowl and pour boiling water over them. Cover the bowl and let them rehydrate. Meanwhile, if you're using the whole spices, toast them over medium-high heat in a dry pan until fragrant, then move them to a mortar and pestle. Now set the quarters of white onion and the unpeeled garlic in the pan to sear. You want both cut sides of the onion to blacken, and char marks on all sides of the garlic cloves.
- Peel the garlic and set inside the mortar and pestle. Add a healthy pinch of salt, about 1 teaspoon. Grind all this into a paste. Add the lime juice or vinegar and use it to clean the mortar as you move the mixture to the bowl of a blender.
- Add the chiles to the blender bowl, too. Roughly chop the onion and add it to the blender. Pour in water or broth and start blending. You want a puree about the thickness of barbecue sauce or house paint.
- OPTIONAL STEP: Push the adobo through a fine-meshed strainer to remove bits of seed and skin from the chiles, which are not digestible.
- BLENDER METHOD: If you don't have a mortar and pestle, use ground spices and skip the toasting. Add all ingredients to a blender and puree.
MIXIOTES
- You'll likely have more adobo than you need; it keeps for weeks in the fridge. Coat the meat with some adobo and put this in a covered container for at least 4 hours, and up to 2 days. I prefer a full day.
- When you are ready to make the bundles, soak the pieces of parchment paper for 10 minutes or so. Use this time to take the meat out of the fridge and chop vegetables.
- Set some foil in a bowl. Set 2 pieces of wet parchment paper inside that. Divvy up the adobo-coated meat into 6 portions, and put a portion in the open bundle. Add some of the potatoes, nopales and mushrooms to the bundle. Sprinkle a little salt over it all. Add an avocado or bay leaf or two. Fold up the parchment paper into a bundle, and tie it off with twine or a twist tie. Fold the foil over the bundle to double seal it. Repeat with the remaining bundles.
- Set a steamer insert into a large, lidded pot. Fill water up to the level of the steamer insert and set the temperature to high. Arrange the bundles on the steamer, cover the pot and steam for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- Carefully remove the bundles and set them on a board. Remove the foil and set each parchment bundle on a plate. Let your guests open them at the table. Serve with hot corn tortillas.
Notes
- For tough game meats like squirrel or pheasant, simmer in salted water for 1-2 hours before marinating to ensure tenderness.
- If no steamer insert is available, elevate mixiote bundles on stripped corn cobs or a plate over an empty can for steaming.
- Prefer tan chipotle meco chiles but morita are acceptable; canned chipotles can be substituted but note 2 chiles, not cans, are used.
- Use smoked salt, such as mesquite, to enhance the smoky flavor in the adobo.
- Nopales should be prepared in advance; prepped nopales keep for several days.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 6servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 281 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 281kcal | 14% |
| Carbohydrates | 39g | 13% |
| Protein | 22g | 44% |
| Fat | 6g | 9% |
| Saturated Fat | 2g | 10% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 2g | 12% |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 1g | 5% |
| Cholesterol | 43mg | 14% |
| Sodium | 74mg | 3% |
| Potassium | 1305mg | 28% |
| Fiber | 12g | 48% |
| Sugar | 14g | 28% |
| Vitamin A | 6990IU | 140% |
| Vitamin C | 32mg | 36% |
| Calcium | 107mg | 11% |
| Iron | 4mg | 22% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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