Ms. Carolina Cohen’s Mexican Cooking cultural Cooking Corner

By Lydia Ezon

Contributing Writer

The home to salsa, fiestas, and Ms. Carolina Cohen is a place like no other! Ms. Cohen, who teaches graphic design and AP photography, was born and raised in Yucatan, Mexico.

Today Ms. Cohen shares a Mexican recipe called Huevos (Eggs) Motuleños taught to her by her Chichi (the Mayan word for grandmother.) Ms. Cohen’s Chichi was born in Motul, which is a small city on the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. Ms. Cohen describes her Chichi as a fantastic cook, and this recipe happens to be the only one she learned from her! “It is a very traditional dish, made with delicious ingredients that are easy to find almost everywhere!” says Ms. Cohen.

Huevos Motuleños

Ingredients

Eggs: They have to be fried. Not poached, not scrambled, fried with a creamy, running yolk.

Corn tortillas: Also fried. Not totally crunchy like a tostada. Neither can they be too soft, as they will fall apart easily. Just fried enough to hold well all the weight of the ingredients on top.

Beans: Not refried as you might think. The beans are mashed with some liquid, then they’re strained so you’ll end with some sort of thick soup. Beans for this dish even have a name: frijol colado (strained beans). And they’re cooked with epazote (a Mexican cooking herb).

Sauce: The sauce is made with tomatoes, onions, garlic, and the most important ingredient: chiles habaneros (habanero chiles)

Toppings: Peas, fried plantains, and queso fresco.

Directions

Put the tomatoes, garlic and habanero chiles in a blender. Add 2 cups of water and blend until smooth.

In a small pan, saute diced onions in olive oil until soft and translucent. Add the tomato mixture, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 10 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Set aside.

Put beans in the blender, add 1/2 cup of water, and blend until smooth. Strain and discard any solid parts.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in more diced onions and sauté until soft and translucent. Add the beans and epazote, then let them simmer for about 5 minutes or until they become a thick sauce. Set aside.

Cut the plantains into half inch slices. Fry until golden and lightly crispy. Set aside.

In a frying pan, heat some olive oil and fry the tortillas one by one until they are a little crispy. Place two tortillas, side by side on a plate.

In the same frying pan, fry the eggs to your liking. I like mine with runny egg yolk.

Spoon the beans onto each tortilla and place one fried egg on each. Pour the tomato sauce and then top with the peas and sprinkle fresh cheese. Put the fried plantains on the side and serve im- mediately.

A Few Tips …

Be careful with the habanero chilies. They’re very spicy, so use gloves when seeding them and also try to discard the veins. The flavor, however, is delicious, so it is still a nice addition to the dish.

It’s not easy to find epazote in New York in its fresh version, but you can find it dried and packed in small bags at Latino markets.

Once your dish is ready, sit around a table and enjoy it with your family and friends!

¡Buen Provecho!