Eat Like a Guatemalan: Pepian Recipe
Pepian is a traditional Guatemalan meat stew, prepared with beef, pork, or chicken (or a mixture of the three). Every Guatemalan makes it a little differently—richer, spicer, thicker, meatier. It is typically served with an array of chilies (as is everything in this country), rice, and a corn tamale.
I had two versions of Pepian in Guatemala, the first at Antigua’s Fonda en la Calle Real (above), and the other from chef Armando Caceres at Finca Filadelfia’s Pergaminos Restaurante (below).
If you’d like to make Pepian at home, click through for a recipe from Guatemalan celebrity chef Mirciny Moliviatis.
Serves four. Can be prepared with beef, pork, or chicken.
Ingredients:
- 3 pounds of tomatoes
- 8 red bell peppers
- 1 pound green beans
- 1 güisquil (chayote)
- 4 chiles guaque
- 8 chiles pasa
- 2 onions
- 1 garlic
- 4 ounces squash seeds
- 4 ounces sesame seeds
- 1 pound ribs
- 3 pounds pork leg, ham, and beef fillet
- 2 pounds of potatoes
- 2 carrots
- 2 pounds of rice
- 1 bunch cilantro
- salt
- pepper
- 6 tortillas burnt
Directions
- Cut potatoes, carrots, green beans, and güisquil
- Cook the meats in a clay pot with a little water, 1 quartered onion, 4 cloves of garlic. Let simmer until the water is reduced by half. Add carrots, potatoes, green beans, and güisquil.
- Grill tomatoes, peppers, remaining garlic, onion, chile pasa, squash seeds, sesame seeds, and tortillas until burnt. Blend ingredients and add to pot and simmer. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Cook white rice. Serve pepian with white rice and tamalitos.
