🇬🇹 Guatemala · Alta Verapaz, Q'eqchi' Maya territory
Kaq'ikGuatemalan turkey soup
A red, spiced turkey soup of the Q'eqchi' Maya of Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, coloured with ground annatto (achiote) and flavoured with chile, garlic, onion, mint and cilantro, served with rice and small plain cornmeal tamales.
Origin and history
Kaq'ik is a Maya Q'eqchi' dish of Alta Verapaz in Guatemala with pre-Hispanic roots, called a soup originating in the Q'eqchi' region; the name combines kaq (red) and ik (chile). Historians say its red colour recalls rituals of the ancestors, and Spanish-introduced ingredients changed its flavours over time. Guatemala recognised it as intangible cultural heritage of the nation in 2007 (ministerial agreement 801-2007); this is a national designation, not a UNESCO listing.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 6 servings
- Total time
- 2 h 15 min
- Hands-on
- 40 min
Ingredients
- 2 kg4.4 lb turkey pieces (chunto, chompipe), bone-in thighs, drumsticks and wings, cut in large pieces
- 1.5 liters6 1/4 cups water, plus more as needed
- 1/4 white onion, for the pot
- 2 cloves garlic, for the pot
- 2 large ripe tomatoes, for the recado
- 4 miltomates (small tomatillos), husked; use 4 small green tomatillos if you cannot find miltomate
- 1/4 large white onion, for the recado, quartered
- 2 cloves garlic, for the recado
- 2 dried chile cobanero, or 1 to 2 dried chipotles as the nearest substitute
- 30 g1 oz achiote (annatto) paste
- 3 allspice berries (pimienta gorda)
- 1-2 cloves
- 1 stale corn tortilla
- 1/2 bunch cilantro
- 1/2 bunch hierbabuena (spearmint)
- 2 zamat (samat) leaves, optional
- salt, to taste
- cooked white rice and small plain white corn tamales (tamalitos blancos), to serve
Method
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1. Put the turkey pieces in a large pot with the water, the 1/4 onion, 2 cloves of garlic and salt. Bring to a boil, skim, then simmer gently for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until the meat is tender.
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2. Char the tomatoes, miltomates, the quartered onion and the 2 garlic cloves on a hot dry comal or cast-iron pan for about 15 minutes, turning them until blackened in spots.
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3. Press the dried chiles flat and toast them for about 2 minutes per side, without burning them. Toast the tortilla until stiff and dark brown, and the allspice and cloves for about 1 minute.
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4. Dissolve the achiote paste in 1 cup of warm turkey broth.
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5. Blend the charred vegetables, chiles, tortilla, spices and dissolved achiote with 2 cups of the turkey broth until completely smooth.
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6. Strain the sauce into the pot with the turkey, pressing out the juice. Add the cilantro, mint and zamat leaves.
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7. Simmer gently for 30 minutes, stirring now and then. The broth should be a deep red-orange with some body.
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8. Season with salt and chile to taste, and serve in deep bowls with turkey and broth in each, with rice and the small white tamales.
Notes
- Add the red recado only after the turkey is fully tender; start testing a supermarket turkey about 30 minutes early. Roast every vegetable before using it.
- Chile cobanero is named for Cobán in Alta Verapaz, where it is mainly grown. Dried chipotle is the closest substitute; ancho and guajillo are too mild.
- Quantities are scaled to about half of the Living in Guatemala recipe for 8 people (which uses a turkey of 8-10 lb, 4 chiles and 60 g of achiote paste); the Prensa Libre recipe for 10 people uses a 10 lb turkey and a recado with tomate de árbol and guaque chiles as well as allspice, cloves, a cinnamon stick, mint and cilantro. Recipes vary by region and the heat of the chile is a defining trait.
- The tamales that go with it are small, plain white (salt only) corn-dough tamales without filling, wrapped in maxán leaf, corn husk or, per Prensa Libre, banana leaf; Prensa Libre also serves a cacao drink with the soup. Buy them or leave them out and serve the soup with rice or tortillas.
- Make ahead: the soup keeps 2 days in the fridge and its flavour deepens; reheat gently.
- Substitutes: Living in Guatemala suggests annatto powder with a little cumin and oregano in place of achiote paste, and turkey legs and thighs for the best flavour; adding the neck and giblets deepens the broth. Prensa Libre says kaq'ik is eaten at any time of year, not only on special dates.
Adapted from Living in Guatemala, Kak'ik: Maya Turkey Soup from Alta Verapaz and Prensa Libre, Kak'ik (Pavo en caldo de chile rojo).
At the festivals
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