Comments on: Guatemalan Pepian: Please Try This at Home

By: Roberto M.

Roberto M. — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 04:07:34 +0000

Guatemala is a wonderful country. On December 21st, 2012 Guatemala will be celebrating the new era of the Maya. You should be there!

By: Daniel Noll

Daniel Noll — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 04:04:45 +0000

@Yoly: Thank you for the recommendation to do pepian with beef ribs. It sounds like pepian can go with just about any meat: chicken, beef or pork. An even bigger thank you for suggesting alternatives for the chili pasa.

We have tried Kak’ik. After one of our photo shoots in the hills outside of Guatemala City, the people we were with took us for a huge serving of it!

By: Yoly H

Yoly H — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 14:29:46 +0000

Hi,
I am guatemalan and I was delighted to find this recipe online. I have to say that the pepian can be done with beef ribs (costilla), and it is amazing. For the chillies, you can use Ancho chilli instead of Chile Pasa, which I am sure you can find in the US as I have found in the Caribbean and in UK.
If you are still in GUatemala, try Kak’ik which is made with turkey!
Good luck in your culinary journeys…

By: Paula

Paula — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 20:34:15 +0000

Help me pleas!! 🙂 I want to make this recipe but live in USA,what can I use instead of chile guaque and chile pasa!!
I have tried looking for substitutes in the internet but can’t find anything, both chiles seem to be originally from Guatemala so they are not known well in other countries.

Thanks so much!!
Paula

By: Daniel Noll

Daniel Noll — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 16:56:37 +0000

@pachanga323: Thanks for the recommendation. Sounds like a very traditional recipe. We’ll look forward to trying it when we can get our hands on the ingredients.

@Paula: For chile guaque, I’m told you can use (if you can find them) guajillo chiles. As for a chile pasa (chili pasa) substitute, I really don’t know. You might try dried/sundried red bell pepper. Good luck! And please let us know how it goes.

By: pachanga323

pachanga323 — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 00:12:16 +0000

My grandmother makes this all the time except instead of chicken we use beef tongue. The recipe is similar — you boil the tongue whole, and, once cooked, you chop it into approx. one-inch cubes. The recado remains the same. It is absolutely delicious! You should try it sometime…

By: Daniel Noll

Daniel Noll — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 05:19:03 +0000

@Shannon: Definitely. Pepian is a culinary keeper. And as always, food is one of the best gateways to the culture…and the language 🙂

By: Shannon OD

Shannon OD — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 01:01:21 +0000

I’m crawling through your Guatemala posts for ideas – I may just have to borrow this when I go through Spanish class in a few weeks! (also planning on Xela 🙂 What a creative way to learn some pretty useful market skills in Spanish!

By: Daniel Noll

Daniel Noll — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:04:53 +0000

@claudia: Your mom makes this all the time? Lucky you. We were just talking the other day about how nice it would be to get our hands on some pepian. If you have some time, please let us know which pepian ingredients in the U.S. can be substituted for the ingredients you would find in Guatemala. We have some idea on which ones would work, but it would be nice to get your ideas.
Thanks for the tip on jocon. We had it a couple of times. Very, very good. In fact, it’s a bit of an oversight on our part that we did not include it in our Central American food roundup (though Guatemala is already well-represented!):
https://uncorneredmarket.com/2009/09/best-central-america-food/

By: claudia

claudia — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:30:53 +0000

It looks so delicious my mom makes this all the time and i feel like having some of it right now :), here in the US is hard to find the same ingredients but it tastes almost the same 🙂
Jocon is also a well known Guatemalan dish, very delicious as well…