By
Diego Cortés
Jocón is Guatemala's green chicken stew, one of the country's most recognisable dishes and the best known from Huehuetenango, in the highlands. The name comes from the K'iche' word jok'om, meaning green, and it sums up the dish: the colour comes from miltomate, coriander and green pepper, with no colouring and no red tomato.
It shows up at family lunches, birthdays and end of year celebrations, always with white rice and corn tortillas to mop the sauce. Unlike pepián, which is red and built on dried chillies, jocón stays green and mild, with a heat you control in the blender. Some cooks use a mature hen for a deeper broth that takes longer to cook.
If you like Guatemalan food, try the hilachas and the tamales de Guatemala. And to understand the dish before you cook it, read Jocón: what Guatemala's green chicken stew is.
Prep
25 min
Cook
60 min
Servings
6
Calories
400 kcal
Toast the pepitoria in a dry pan over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly, and add the sesame seeds in the last minute, once the seeds start to puff and smell nutty.
Grind the toasted seeds in a blender or molcajete to a fine powder and set aside: this is what gives the sauce its body.
Put the chicken in a large pot with the water or stock, half the onion cut into wedges, 2 garlic cloves, the bay leaf and half the salt, and simmer over medium heat for 25 to 30 minutes, until the meat pulls away from the bone.
Lift the chicken out with a slotted spoon and set aside; strain the broth and keep 1.2 litres for the sauce.
Poach the miltomates and green tomatoes in the hot broth for 8 to 10 minutes, until they turn a paler green, then drain them.
Blend the cooked miltomates and tomatoes with the coriander, the chillies, the remaining half onion, the last 2 garlic cloves and 1 cup of broth until no green fibres are visible.
Fry that green sauce in the oil over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the raw taste is gone and it darkens by a shade.
Stir in the ground pepitoria and sesame and 3 cups of broth, lower the heat and cook uncovered for 10 to 12 minutes, until the sauce thickens and coats the spoon.
Add the chicken, boned and in large pieces or still on the bone, and simmer over low heat for 10 more minutes; taste and adjust the salt and pepper.
Rest off the heat for 5 minutes and serve with white rice, corn tortillas and avocado.
This recipe has a medium difficulty level, which means it's accessible for cooks of all levels.
The preparation time is 25 minutes and the cooking time is 60 minutes.
This recipe is designed for 6 servings.
Yes, many ingredients can be substituted with similar alternatives. We recommend checking the recipe variations.
Store the preparation in the refrigerator for up to 3 days in an airtight container. Some preparations can be frozen for up to 3 months.
