Jocón
A gift from Guatemala's heritage

Poultry | Jocon Image

(Guatemalan chicken in tomatillo-cilantro sauce)

Jocón or "Pollo en Jocón" is a dish popular with the Mayan population of Guatemala. Chicken is simmered in a tasty sauce tinted to a beautiful green by tomatillos and cilantro then thickened with ground sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds and corn tortillas.

This recipe is a little labor intensive and takes some work with either a food processor or a blender as I used is needed. But believe me, it was worth all the effort!

This makes 4-6 servings
  • 2 1/2 to 3 pounds - Chicken, cut into serving pieces, (as usual, I don't follow directions well so I boiled them and shredded the meat off the bones)
  • 4 cups - Water
  • 2 teaspoons - Salt
  • 1/4 cup - Pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
  • 1/4 cup - Sesame seeds
  • 2 - Corn tortillas, chopped, soaked in water, drained if they are dry ones.
  • 1 cup - Tomatillos, hulled and chopped
  • 1 bunch - Cilantro, chopped (I used the local Cullantro)
  • 1 bunch - Scallions, chopped
  • from 1 to 5 - Jalapeño or serrano chile pepper, chopped

Method

  1. Place the chicken, water and salt into a large pot over medium-high flame. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
  2. Remove the chicken to a bowl and strain and set aside the broth. Let chicken cool, then remove the meat from the bones and shred it with your fingers. Set aside.
  3. Heat a dry skillet over medium flame. Add the pumpkin and sesame seeds and toast, stirring, until lightly browned. Remove to a coffee grinder and grind to a fine powder (again, I used my blender).
  4. Add the sesame and pumpkin seeds, tortillas, tomatillos, cilantro, scallions and chile peppers to a food processor or blender. Add 1 cup of the reserved broth and process until smooth. If using a blender you may have to do this step in batches but I didn't need to.
  5. Return the chicken to the pot. Pour over pureed sauce and add 1 to 1 1/2 cups of the remaining broth to give it a sauce-like consistency.
  6. Heat over medium-low flame and simmer for an additional 15-25 minutes. Adjust seasoning and serve.

Variations

  • Leave the chicken pieces whole if you prefer.
  • If you can't find pumpkin seeds, simply use 1/2 cup of sesame seeds. And if finding sesame seeds is a problem, you can substitute a slightly smaller amount of tahini.
  • Cubed pork can be substituted for the chicken. There is no need to shred the pork, but you may need to simmer it longer for it to become tender.
  • Use any remaining broth to make rice to accompany the meal or put the bones back in and reduce it down then strain the bones out to have chicken broth later on.
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