Ingredients
Beef and broth
- 900 g boneless beef chuck roast about 2 lb; raw weight after trimming exterior fat, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
- 2500 ml water about 10 1/2 cups, plus more as needed
- 100 g white onion about 1/2 medium onion, chopped and divided
- 12 g garlic about 4 cloves, peeled and divided
- 6 g fine salt about 1 tsp, divided; adjust at the end
Red chile base
- 30 g dried guajillo chiles about 5; weight without stems and seeds
- 20 g dried ancho chiles 1–2; weight without stems and seeds
- 400 g ripe red tomatoes about 14 oz
- 10 g canola oil about 2 tsp
Vegetables
- 3 ears fresh corn cut into thirds; approximately 450 g edible kernels, excluding cobs
- 350 g chayote about 12 oz trimmed, in 1 1/4-inch pieces
- 300 g carrots about 10 1/2 oz peeled, in 3/4-inch pieces
- 200 g green beans about 7 oz trimmed, in short lengths
- 250 g zucchini about 9 oz, in thick half-moons
- 3 g fresh epazote 1 small washed sprig
Equipment
- 1 6-quart pot with lid
- 1 Heavy skillet or griddle
- 1 Blender
- 1 fine-mesh strainer
- 1 Kitchen scale
- 1 Instant-read thermometer
Instructions
Simmer the beef and prepare the chile base
- Combine beef, water, half the onion, half the garlic and 4 g of the salt in the large pot. Bring just to a boil, skim surface foam and reduce the heat. Partially cover and simmer 90–120 minutes, until a fork enters the meat with little resistance. Add hot water as needed to keep the meat covered.
- While the beef cooks, briefly toast the cleaned guajillo and ancho chiles in a dry skillet, without smoke or black patches. Cover with hot water, soak 15–20 minutes and drain. Roast the tomatoes on the skillet until softened, retaining the juices.
- Blend the softened chiles, tomatoes with juices, remaining onion and garlic, and 300 ml of the beef broth. Cool first if your blender cannot handle hot liquids. Strain the mixture. Heat the oil in a skillet and cook the strained sauce 5 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring.
- Add the chile mixture to the pot once the beef is nearly tender. If the beef still resists a fork, continue simmering before adding vegetables.
Add vegetables in stages
- Add the corn, chayote and carrots. Simmer gently about 20 minutes, or until the corn is beginning to soften, replenishing hot water if necessary.
- Add the green beans and cook 5 minutes. Add zucchini and epazote and simmer another 8–10 minutes, until all the vegetables are tender but keep their shape and the beef is fully tender. Extend cooking if the corn or beef needs it.
- Taste and add up to the remaining 2 g salt as needed. Remove a tough epazote stem. Divide the beef and vegetables among six bowls, then ladle in the broth. Lime and warm corn tortillas may be served separately.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 serving (1/6 batch)Calories: 381.1kcalCarbohydrates: 35.1gProtein: 37.2gFat: 12.8gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 103.5mgSodium: 577.9mgPotassium: 1517.5mgFiber: 8.5gVitamin A: 11377.4IUVitamin C: 36.7mgCalcium: 93.9mgIron: 5.4mg
Notes
US amounts are approximate; use gram weights for precise scaling. Timing varies with the beef and corn. Refrigerate in shallow containers within 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F, at 40°F or below. Use within 3–4 days and reheat to 165°F.
Nutrition is an ingredient-sum estimate for one-sixth of the recipe, including all broth solids and measured oil, excluding optional lime and tortillas. USDA SR Legacy records use raw edible weights and 450 g corn kernels; cobs are excluded. Trimmed beef is modeled with lean chuck eye roast (FDC 169565), and guajillo with generic sun-dried hot chile (168570), so actual fat and chile composition vary. Sugar and saturated/mono/polyunsaturated fat are omitted because ancho or epazote records are incomplete. Vitamins are not adjusted for cooking losses. Minerals naturally present in added water are not modeled.
