Mexican
Dzotobichay
A Yucatecan steamed tamal wrapped in chaya or Swiss chard leaves rather than corn husks, filled with ground toasted pumpkin seeds and hard-cooked egg. The double use of pumpkin seeds — both unhulled and hulled — builds a nutty, earthy depth that anchors the mild egg and the bright tomato sauce served alongside. This is old Yucatecan household cooking: modest ingredients handled with precision to produce something genuinely distinctive.
‹Swipe for the next dish›
One in town · eight not yet within reach.
How the 9 are reached
- In town
- 1 · sea salt, to taste
- Not yet within reach
- 8 · raw unhulled pumpkin seeds, raw hulled pumpkin seeds (green pepitas), hard-cooked eggs, each cut into 6 lengthwise wedges, prepared corn tortilla masa, lard, chaya leaves OR 8 large Swiss chard leaves, salsa de jitomate Yucateca, to serve, extra ground toasted pumpkin seeds, to serve
I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
½ cup
raw unhulled pumpkin seeds
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¼ cup
raw hulled pumpkin seeds (green pepitas)
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3
hard-cooked eggs, each cut into 6 lengthwise wedges
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Sea salt, to taste
¾ lb (340 g)
prepared corn tortilla masa
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4 oz (113 g)
lard
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16
chaya leaves OR 8 large Swiss chard leaves
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1 cup
salsa de jitomate Yucateca, to serve
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Extra ground toasted pumpkin seeds, to serve
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Within reach counts in town, delivered, shipped and the nearest city. A staple counts once it has a local seller. Charted from each shop's own pages; not yet vouched by a cook who shops here.
The larder of Langley →Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Toast seeds. In a dry skillet over medium heat, toast unhulled and hulled pumpkin seeds separately, stirring constantly, until lightly browned and fragrant. Cool completely, then grind together to a coarse-fine powder. Set aside, reserving a portion for serving.
2
Beat the masa. Combine masa, lard, and salt. Beat vigorously by hand or with a mixer until the lard is fully incorporated and the dough is cohesive. Divide into 8 equal balls.
3
Prepare leaves. If using chaya: blanch with gloves on in boiling water 3–4 minutes; drain and pat dry. If using Swiss chard: wilt in boiling water 20–30 seconds; drain and pat dry. Leaves must be pliable and dry.
4
Assemble. Working one at a time, press a masa ball into a thin, even round on a prepared leaf. Sprinkle generously with ground seeds. Lay 2–3 egg wedges across the center. Roll firmly jelly-roll style, then fold the leaf ends over to enclose completely.
5
Steam. Arrange packages in a steamer basket seam-side down, not crowded. Steam over steadily boiling water for 1 hour, replenishing water at 30 minutes if needed.
6
Serve. Unwrap at the table. Spoon tomato sauce over the top and pass extra ground seeds alongside.
III
Sensory Tests
◇Press the unwrapped tamal gently at its thickest point: properly cooked masa should spring back with a slight resistance and release cleanly from the leaf without tearing or sticking — wet, collapsing masa means undercooking; a dry, cracked surface means the steamer ran dry or steaming time was excessive.
◇Taste the pumpkin seed filling before assembling: it should carry a pronounced toasted, slightly bitter nuttiness with a gritty-coarse texture from the unhulled seeds — if the filling tastes flat or purely sweet, the pepitas were not toasted long enough on the comal, and no amount of additional seasoning will recover that depth.
◇Smell the wrapper before serving: chaya that has been correctly blanched and then steamed releases a green, faintly vegetal aroma with a mild herbal edge — an absence of this smell, or an odour of boiled cabbage, suggests either the leaf was over-blanched before steaming or Swiss chard has been substituted without acknowledgment.
◇Where it lives or dies. The dish lives or dies at the moment the pepitas are toasted: both the hulled and unhulled seeds must reach a deep golden colour with an audible faint crackle before grinding, because that Maillard development is the only source of complexity in a filling that contains nothing else to hide behind. Pull them a minute early and the dzotobichay tastes of nothing; push a minute too far and bitterness overtakes everything the egg and sauce are meant to balance.
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V
What to Pour
The pairing
Agave spirit
From British Columbia
Beer
Without alcohol
Americano — Burundi Kayanza (Gatukuza Women Group)
Gatukuza Women Group
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Coffee
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The whole pairingPillar VI
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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The working kitchen
Sourced through Provenance