FLAVOR TELLER – SINALOA’S BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS: CALDILLO DE MACHACA

By Maaike Hoekstra

The Flavor Teller

Did you know that you can buy beef jerky in México? Have you heard of Machaca? It is dried beef, sometimes sold in strips and in Sinaloa it is always shredded. You may have seen it at local butchers and at cremerías (cheese shops). Machaca is very versatile; from burritos to machaca a la mexicana. Its origins go back to the seminomadic native peoples that lived in the north of México before the arrival of the Spanish. They used this preservation technique to store the meat of animals they hunted. The name comes from the pounding of thin strips of meat on a flat stone surface, to extract excess juices and to speed up the drying process. Before extending the strips of meat on a drying rack, it was salted first to improve its preservation. Machaca was made hunted meat: deer, rabbit or other mammals. In Sinaloa, although everyday machaca is made with beef, you can also find fish or shrimp machaca.

This recipe was published by Mexican food expert Dr. José N. Iturriaga (“Cocina y Cultura en Sinaloa) in December 2024. Every family has their own way of preparing it, depending on taste and tradition. Instead of lard you can use vegetable oil, although it is less tasty. Others use wheat flour instead of corn flour. You can use poblano peppers instead of serrano peppers. Some people prefer to use water instead of chicken broth. Caldillo de machaca reminds me of huevos ahogados from central México, where eggs are stewed in a tomato broth with strips of Poblano pepper. With a substantial breakfast like this, you are certainly set up of a successful day.

INGREDIENTS:

3 tbsp lard or vegetable oil
300 gr. (10 oz.) beef machaca
1 tbsp corn flour
3 tomatoes, grilled and chopped
2 serrano peppers, grilled and chopped
1 small onion, finely diced
6 cups hot beef broth
Salt and pepper to taste
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 small bunch fresh cilantro
4 eggs

PREPARATION:

Heat the lard or oil in a skillet and fry the machaca until lightly golden.
Add a tablespoon of corn or wheat flour and stir.
Add diced onion, tomatoes and peppers without the seeds.
Stir and leave to simmer for one minute.
Add the hot beef broth, salt and pepper to taste. Stir and cover the skillet with a lid.
Once the broth is simmering, add the cubes of potato.
When the potatoes are almost cooked, add the small bunch of cilantro. Simmer for another five minutes.
Finally gently add the eggs, one by one, making sure that the egg yolks don’t break.
When the eggs are cooked, serve in individual soup bowls, with one egg per person. It is served with corn or flour tortillas.

SERVES 4 PEOPLE

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