Thursday, September 13, 2012

Alien Ingredient #36: Chipilin

Chipilin: A Legume from Sothern Mexico and Central America

I was trolling through the market a few weeks back and I saw some mangy looking plants with leaves similar to peanuts, but they were in too sad a shape to bring back to the restaurant. And they were not labeled. I saw a guy with some in his basket, so I asked him what they were and what they were used for. Alas, he spoke no English, but still I managed to learn that they were called chipilin and were used in chicken soup.

I finally found a beautiful bunch that I brought home with me to check out. It turns out that I was right in thinking peanuts; chipilin is a perennial legume of the Crotalaria genus. We checked it out raw, quickly stir-fried with garlic, and boiled as a pot herb. The color is beautiful and we could see where it could add greatly to the presentation of caldo de pollo, but the flavor just isn't there. It is a very neutral and fairly boring green leafy vegetable.

Vote: a very pretty leafy green but extremely uninteresting in flavor. Give me spinach or pea shoots!

4 comments:

  1. I picked some up at the Culpeper Farmer's market because I was curious. My Spanish is even more limited than yours, so I could not even understand the name. But I got is was served with chicken/chicken soup. I agree with your assessment - The leaves also had to be picked off the stems - so that was fairly laborious. I'd be curious to taste a dish made by someone familiar with the greens though....

    The vendor had other greens unknown to me - schedule allowing I will visit his stand again.

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  2. Let me know what else you find at the market. I'm always game for unknown greens!

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  3. (Are you kidding?) Obviously you have never eaten tamales de chipilin!!

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  4. Obviously not. Why don't you tell us all how to make the filling?

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