Plate 04 of 10

Relleno Negro

Name: Relleno Negro
Prep time: 60 min
Cook time: 150 min
Total time: 210 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Belize
Ingredients: 100 g Black recado, recado negro; 2 L Chicken stock; 1.8 kg Whole chicken; 10 g Fine salt, or to taste; 500 g Ground pork; 1 medium Onion, finely chopped; 2 medium Tomatoes, finely chopped; 15 ml Neutral oil; 15 g Black recado, from the 100 g above; 6 g Fine salt; 2 g Black pepper; 4 Hard-boiled eggs, peeled; 2 Raw eggs, beaten; 16 Corn tortillas, warmed

The feast-day soup of the Maya and Mestizo north, black as ink. A whole chicken stuffed with seasoned pork, tomato, onion and chopped boiled egg, the surplus rolled around a whole egg, and everything simmered in stock stained with black recado, the paste of chiles charred to the point of smoke, until the thigh reads 74 °C. Carved into bowls with warm tortillas.

Prep: 1 hr
Cook: 2 hr 30 min
Serves: 8
Difficulty: Hard

Researched · Kitchen testing pending

A blue-grey bowl of black broth holding a chicken leg, a slice of pork stuffing with a hard-boiled egg at its centre and a meatball, with a stack of corn tortillas behind.

Relleno negro is the dish that marks a wedding, a novena or a fiesta in Corozal, Orange Walk and the Cayo villages, where the cooking looks across the border to the Yucatán. It is a chicken soup only in the sense that a chicken is in it: the broth is stained near-black with recado negro, a paste of dried chiles burned over fire and ground with spices, and the bird is stuffed with a seasoned pork and egg filling that Belize calls the but.

Whatever stuffing will not fit inside the chicken is rolled around a whole boiled egg and poached beside it, so that every bowl gets a slice with a yellow centre floating in the dark.

Ingredients

Broth
100 gBlack recado, recado negro
2 LChicken stock
1.8 kgWhole chicken
10 gFine salt, or to taste
Stuffing, the but
500 gGround pork
1 mediumOnion, finely chopped
2 mediumTomatoes, finely chopped
15 mlNeutral oil
15 gBlack recado, from the 100 g above
6 gFine salt
2 gBlack pepper
4Hard-boiled eggs, peeled3 chopped, 1 kept whole
2Raw eggs, beaten
To serve
16Corn tortillas, warmed

Black recado

Dried chiles are burned, literally, until black, then ground with spices and annatto into a paste that tastes of smoke and char rather than bitterness. It stains everything it touches, including hands, clothes and wooden spoons. Dilute it in stock before it goes near the pot.

The but

The stuffing has its own name in Belize. It goes inside the bird loosely, and what will not fit is rolled around a whole boiled egg and poached alongside, so every bowl gets a slice with a yellow centre.

The five tastes on this plate

Salt is in the stuffing and the broth. Fat is the pork and the chicken's skin. Acid is the tomato. Heat is the charred chiles of the recado, smoky more than hot. Umami is the long-simmered chicken and stock.

Equipment

10-quart stockpot with a lid
Skillet, for the stuffing
Kitchen string and a trussing needle or skewers
Foil or a clean cloth, for the stuffing roll
Instant-read thermometer

Use a pot you do not mind staining. Enamel wipes clean; unglazed clay will remember this soup forever.

Method

Dissolve the recado5 min
Whisk the black recado, less the tablespoon for the stuffing, into 500 ml of the stock in a bowl until no lumps remain. Keep splashes off clothing and porous surfaces.
Whisk the black recado, less the tablespoon for the stuffing, into 500 ml of the stock in a bowl until no lumps remain. Keep splashes off clothing and porous surfaces.
Cook the stuffing15 min
Heat the oil in the skillet over medium. Cook the onion 3 minutes, add the tomato and cook 5 minutes until jammy. Add the pork, the tablespoon of recado, salt and pepper, and cook, breaking it up, until no pink remains, about 6 minutes. Cool 15 minutes, then bind with the beaten raw eggs and fold in the 3 chopped boiled eggs.
Heat oil over medium; cook onion 3 minutes, then tomato 5 minutes until jammy. Add pork, 1 tablespoon recado, salt and pepper; break up and cook about 6 minutes until no pink remains. Cool 15 minutes; mix in beaten eggs and 3 chopped boiled eggs.
Stuff and truss15 min
Pat the chicken dry and season the cavity with salt. Spoon in stuffing without packing it; it swells as it cooks. Sew or skewer the opening closed and tie the legs. Shape the remaining stuffing into a log around the whole boiled egg and wrap it tightly in foil or cloth; roll any excess into 4 cm meatballs.
Dry chicken; salt the cavity. Stuff loosely, close with stitching or skewers and tie legs. Wrap remaining stuffing around the whole boiled egg; bind tightly in foil or cloth. Form any excess into 4 cm meatballs.
Simmer1 hr 45 min
Pour the remaining stock and the dissolved recado into the stockpot, add the salt and bring to a simmer. Lower in the chicken, breast up, and the wrapped log. Cover and simmer very gently, about 90 °C, for 1 hour 20 minutes. Add the meatballs for the final 25 minutes. The chicken is done when the thigh reads 74 °C at the bone.
Simmer remaining stock, dissolved recado and salt. Add chicken breast-up and wrapped log. Cover; simmer gently at about 90 °C for 1 hour 20 minutes, adding meatballs for the final 25 minutes. The thigh must reach 74 °C at the bone.
Rest and carve15 min
Lift the chicken to a board and rest 15 minutes. Unwrap the log and slice it 2 cm thick. Skim the broth and taste for salt. Carve the chicken into pieces and scoop out the stuffing.
Lift the chicken to a board and rest 15 minutes. Unwrap the log and slice it 2 cm thick. Skim the broth and taste for salt. Carve the chicken into pieces and scoop out the stuffing.
Serve
Into each bowl: a piece of chicken, a spoon of the cavity stuffing, a slice of the egg-centred log or a meatball, and a ladle of black broth. Warm tortillas beside.
Into each bowl: a piece of chicken, a spoon of the cavity stuffing, a slice of the egg-centred log or a meatball, and a ladle of black broth. Warm tortillas beside.
07
Sensory cues of doneness
- Visual: broth the colour of strong coffee with a glossy surface; the stuffing slice showing a bright yellow yolk at its heart.
- Auditory: the faintest tick of a simmer, never a rolling boil, or the bird will fall apart.
- Olfactory: char and smoke, then chicken stock and tomato under it.
Keep the simmer very gentle so the bird stays intact. Look for glossy, coffee-dark broth and a bright yolk in the stuffing slices; expect smoky recado, chicken stock and tomato aromas.

Storing it

Better the next day. Cool within 2 hours and refrigerate up to 3 days; reheat the broth to a full simmer with the meat in it, 74 °C through. The stuffing log freezes well for a month.

Troubleshooting

Bitter broth.: Too much recado, or a harsh brand. Start with 75 g and add the rest after tasting at the hour mark.
Stuffing burst out of the bird.: Packed too tight, or the simmer boiled. Fill loosely and hold the pot at a tremble.
Grey, watery stuffing.: The pork went into the skillet wet, or the egg was stirred in hot. Cook the tomato down first and cool before binding.

Substitutions

One-to-one swaps, with the technique change each one needs.

Ingredient substitutions

Ingredient	Replace with	Culinary impact and technique adjustment
Whole chicken	2 kg bone-in thighs and drumsticks	Poach the stuffing entirely as logs and meatballs; 50 minutes
Black recado	Dried chiles charred black on a comal and ground with the same spices	Char outdoors; the smoke is fierce
Ground pork	Ground turkey or beef	Leaner, so add a spoon more oil to the skillet

Scaling

Half

A 1.2 kg chicken and 1 litre of stock in a 6-quart pot; the same internal temperature, about 65 minutes.

Double

Two birds in two pots. One 16-quart pot works but the simmer is hard to keep gentle.

What to serve it with

Warm corn tortillas, the only bread this soup wants
White rice, for those who prefer a plate to a bowl
Sliced onion in sour orange, and a cold beer

Questions

Is it very spicy?

No. The chiles are charred, not fresh, so the recado tastes of smoke and depth with a mild warmth.

Why is it black?

The recado is made from chiles burned black over a fire. The colour is the whole identity of the dish; the Yucatán calls it chirmole.

Can I make the stuffing ahead?

Yes, a day ahead, cooked and cooled. Stuff and roll on the day so the raw egg binder stays fresh.