ArticleSources

Tacos de relleno negro

From WikiTacos, the taco encyclopedia · Taco type
Also known as: Tacos de boox but', Tacos de chilmole

Tacos de relleno negro are Yucatecan tacos filled with turkey or pork stewed in recado negro, a jet-black paste of charred chiles and spices, and topped with slices of hard-boiled egg.

Contents
  1. Description
  2. Recado negro and the buut'
  3. Tradition and serving
  4. Recipe
  5. Where to try it
  6. Reviews
  7. See also
  8. References

Description

Relleno negro is one of the defining stews of Yucatán, and in Mérida it is routinely sold as a taco filling. The meat, usually shredded turkey, sometimes pork or chicken, is cooked in a dark sauce whose color comes from chiles, spices and tortillas toasted until they are carbonized. Por Esto! lists it among the tacos that most tempt people in Yucatán, describing a filling of turkey or pork with boiled egg and black recado, served on fresh tortillas with red onion.

Its Maya name, boox but', joins the words for black and for filling or stuffing, according to Spanish-language Wikipedia.

Recado negro and the buut'

The base of the dish is recado negro, also called chilmole, one of the family of Yucatecan seasoning pastes known as recados (xa'ak in Maya). Spanish-language Wikipedia lists ancho chile, black pepper and allspice, cloves, cumin, achiote, burnt tortillas, sour orange juice, garlic, oregano and salt among its components. Many home cooks buy it as a concentrated commercial paste, which writer Whitney Moeller identifies in Dig In! as the reason the labor-intensive dish is available every day of the week in Mérida.

The second element is the buut', a garlicky ground-pork mixture formed around hard-boiled egg and stained black by the sauce. Traditionally it is stuffed into a whole turkey that simmers in the stew; in restaurants it is often cooked alongside the meat. Sliced, it ends up on top of the tacos together with more egg.

Tradition and serving

The stew is closely tied to Janal Pixán, the Yucatecan observance of the days of the dead in early November, when it is prepared as a celebratory dish. In everyday practice, however, it appears on market and restaurant menus year round. Moeller describes the version at a taco stand in Mérida's Santiago market: shredded turkey under an ashy black paste, topped with egg and accompanied by a little cup of smoky broth for sipping or spooning over.

Some cooks still finish the stew in a píib, the Maya earth oven, which adds a layer of smoke.

Recipe

Makes About 16 tacos · Time: 30 minutes prep; 2 hours cooking

Ingredients

  • 1.2 kg turkey thighs or bone-in chicken thighs
  • 100 g recado negro paste
  • Juice of 2 sour oranges (or 1/2 cup orange juice plus 2 tablespoons lime juice)
  • 2 tomatoes, chopped
  • 1/2 white onion, chopped
  • 1 small sweet pepper, chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 sprigs epazote
  • Salt
  • For the buut': 300 g ground pork, 2 garlic cloves minced, 1 tablespoon recado negro, 2 tablespoons sour orange juice, salt
  • 5 hard-boiled eggs
  • 2 tablespoons masa harina or corn tortilla crumbs (to thicken)
  • 16 corn tortillas
  • Thinly sliced red onion

Steps

  1. Dissolve the recado negro in the sour orange juice and 2 cups of water.
  2. Put the turkey in a large pot with the tomato, onion, sweet pepper, garlic, epazote and the recado mixture. Add water to cover and salt to taste. Simmer, covered, for 1 1/2 hours.
  3. Meanwhile, mix the ground pork with the garlic, recado, juice and salt. Chop 2 of the eggs and mix them in. Shape into a log around 1 whole egg and wrap in banana leaf or foil with holes poked in it.
  4. Add the pork log to the pot for the last 40 minutes.
  5. Lift out the turkey and pork log. Shred the turkey; slice the log.
  6. Thicken the broth with the masa dissolved in a little water and simmer 5 minutes. Return the turkey to coat it.
  7. Fill warm tortillas with turkey, a slice of the buut' and egg. Top with red onion and serve with a cup of the broth.

Recado negro is sold in Mexican groceries and online. It is intensely colored and stains wooden spoons and cutting boards.

Where to try it

Reviews

Reviews and tips open at launch. Readers will be able to share where they found the best version of this and how they make it at home.

See also

References

  1. "Relleno negro". Wikipedia (Spanish). Retrieved 2026-10-10.
  2. "Relleno Negro, Sleeper Hit of the Yucatán". Dig In! (Substack). Retrieved 2026-10-10.
  3. "Día del Taco 2026: estos son los que más antojo provocan en Yucatán". Por Esto!. Retrieved 2026-10-10.
Categories: Day of the Dead foods Stewed tacos Taco types Turkey tacos Yucatecan cuisine