It begins with a little unease at the sight of a black pot
The first time you make Belizean chimole (Chimole / Chirmole), the color of the pot stops your hand. It is a chicken soup with tomato in it, yet the broth is black as ink. When the whites of the boiled eggs float up, it is no longer a familiar chicken-and-egg soup but suddenly a plate that takes you into a Central American kitchen.
What makes this blackness is black recado (recado negro / black recado). In Belize it is sometimes also called Black Dinna, and chicken, potatoes, tomato, and boiled eggs go into the black soup. It varies by household and region: some add ground pork, wrap the egg in meat, make it with a whole chicken, or keep the soup thin.
The trouble elsewhere is that black recado is not at the nearby grocery store. This article keeps the case where you have black recado as the main line, and for days you cannot find it also gives a "black-recado-style" substitute made with annatto, allspice, cumin, oregano, and a little cocoa and soy sauce. It does not claim to be a perfect recreation. But it separates what to keep so that it tastes like chimole from what is dangerous to force in the kitchen.
As a black stew from the Caribbean side, Guyana's pepperpot is also a close entry point. The aroma of chile and warm spices connects it as well to Jamaica's jerk chicken. Chimole is a homey black soup of chicken and egg that lies between them.
What is chimole: Belize's chicken soup simmered with black recado
Chimole is a black soup spoken of in Belize under names such as Chimole, Chirmole, and Black Dinna. It lies in the same culinary sphere as the Yucatán's chilmole and relleno negro, but in Belizean homes it is presented as "chicken soup with black recado dissolved in it," served at Sunday tables and on special days.
Travel Belize explains that the black color of black recado comes from charred tortillas and chiles, and that relleno negro and Black Dinna are similar but differ in whether there is a stuffing. If you want to make the Yucatán stuffed version, go on to how to make relleno negro; this article focuses on chimole as a black chicken soup. The Belize Poultry Association's recipe shows a flow of dissolving black recado in water and simmering over medium heat until the chicken turns black. So the axes that are hard to get wrong with chimole are as follows.
| What to look at | What matters in chimole |
|---|---|
| Local name | Chimole / Chirmole. Also called Black Dinna in English |
| Core of the aroma | Black recado. The aroma of annatto, allspice, cumin, oregano, and chile |
| Main ingredients | Chicken, tomato, onion, garlic, potatoes, boiled eggs |
| How to eat | With corn tortillas, white rice, or warm rice dishes |
| What to keep at home | Dissolve the black broth without scorching it, do not toughen the chicken, and add the eggs last |
Black recado is a style of paste traditionally made by burning chiles and tortillas quite black. Heavily charring chiles sends irritating smoke through the kitchen. This is not work a range hood alone can handle safely, so this article does not adopt a method of burning chiles. Use store-bought black recado, or move the aroma in the right direction only with a home-friendly substitute paste.
Ingredients (serves 4)
This quantity is enough for 4 people with white rice or corn tortillas. Bone-in chicken gives savor to the broth, but it can also be made with boneless thighs. In that case, shorten the simmering time a little and stop before it toughens in step 6.
The substitute paste is not black recado itself. In particular, the aroma of charred chiles does not come through. Even so, combining annatto, allspice, cumin, oregano, a black bitterness, and sourness takes you away from a mere chicken-tomato soup. For the first time, make it with this quantity and put "do not scorch it, and let the chicken absorb the aroma" ahead of blackness.
Black recado and shopping
The only things worth looking for online for chimole are the ingredients that an ordinary grocery store cannot easily replace. Chicken, eggs, potatoes, tomatoes, and onion are enough from nearby. If you can find black recado, it comes first, but you may not be able to find it reliably through every online shop. In that case, getting annatto and allspice ready and adjusting the heat with a pepper sauce at the table is realistic.
| Shopping priority | What to look for online | Role in the dish | What to get nearby |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top | Black recado, or annatto | Color of the broth and Central American aroma | Chicken, eggs, potatoes |
| High | Allspice | Makes the warm aroma of black-recado-style | Cumin and oregano from a grocery store are fine |
| Medium | Scotch bonnet-style pepper sauce | Adds fragrant heat without fresh chiles | Habanero only on days you can get it |
| Low | Corn tortillas | Moves closer to the local way of eating | White rice is enough |
Annatto is an ingredient that builds the base of aroma on days without black recado. Paprika brings only the color closer, but the earthy aroma characteristic of annatto is hard to get.
Allspice appears again and again in the cooking of the Caribbean side, not only chimole. If you plan to branch out to jerk chicken or pepperpot, it is a spice with little downside to keep on hand.
Heat is less likely to go wrong if adjusted at the table rather than in the pot. Simmering a habanero whole gives aroma, but if it splits, the heat comes on all at once. For the first time, putting pepper sauce on the table is the safe approach.
Method: let the chicken absorb the black broth without scorching
Chimole proceeds in this order: season the chicken, boil the eggs, dissolve the black recado, brown the chicken, simmer in the black broth, return the eggs, and serve. Scorching the black paste on the bottom of the pot makes the bitterness harsh, so loosening it first with warm water before adding it is the stable way.
Where it is easy to go wrong
The failures of chimole happen when you rush to make it black. Black recado is a strongly aromatic paste, so if it sticks to the bottom over high heat, the bitterness of scorching comes forward. When it is not black enough, rather than raising the heat, adding a little more dissolved paste is easier to recover from.
| State | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Strong bitterness | The black recado scorched on the bottom, or too much cocoa in the substitute paste | Do not scrape the scorch; move it to another pot and thin with 100 ml water and 1 tsp lime juice |
| Tough chicken | It kept boiling hard, or boneless meat was cooked too long | Drop to a low 85 to 95°C. For boneless meat, check step 6 at about 18 minutes |
| Pale color | Too little black recado, or a weak color in the substitute paste | Add 2 tsp dissolved black recado or 1/2 tsp annatto |
| Too hot | The habanero split, or too much pepper sauce went in the pot | Take out the chile, add 100 ml water and half a potato's worth, and simmer 10 minutes |
| Eggs break up | They went in early and cooked too long, or were stirred hard | Add the eggs in step 7 and only spoon the broth over them |
In the local way of making it in Belize, there are examples of thickening slightly with bread or corn-based ingredients. However, thickening too much from the first try makes the bottom of the pot scorch easily. A thin broth for pouring over white rice, or about 5 minutes of reducing over low heat at the end if you want it to cling to tortillas, is easy to handle.
How it is eaten on location and connecting it to a menu
For all its black look, chimole is eaten in a homey way. Pick up chicken with a corn tortilla and scoop the black broth. Pour it over white rice. Break a boiled egg and let a little yolk melt into the black broth. By then, the comfort of a chicken soup comes forward ahead of the surprise of the color.
To connect it with other tables of the Caribbean side, a sweetly caramelized rice dish, pelau (in Japanese: /recipes/south-america/trinidad/pelau), the black meat stew pepperpot, and the strongly spiced jerk chicken make close comparisons. Seen as a Central American recado culture, placing it beside Guatemala's kak'ik and Mexico's mole poblano shows the range of chile, spices, and black sauces.
| Menu | Suited to | How to pair |
|---|---|---|
| Chimole, white rice, lime | A weekday dinner | Finish the broth thin and ladle it over rice |
| Chimole, corn tortillas, avocado salad | A weekend Central American menu | Add heat at the table and pick up chicken with the tortillas |
| Chimole, pelau, pickled cucumber | A day for comparing the Caribbean side | Serve small portions of the black soup and the sweet rice |
| Chimole, grilled corn, bean salad | A day children eat too | Leave out the habanero and put pepper sauce only on the adults' plates |
Storage and reheating
Chimole contains chicken and egg, so cool it promptly once the heat is off. Divide it into shallow storage containers, and once the steam has settled after about 30 minutes, put it in the refrigerator. The guide is 2 days refrigerated, and 3 weeks frozen without the eggs. Frozen eggs spoil the texture of the whites, so it is better to take out the eggs from what you freeze.
To reheat, put one serving and 2 tbsp water in a pot and warm over low heat for 6 to 8 minutes. It is enough when the edge of the broth bubbles and the center of the chicken is hot. In a microwave, heat at 600 W for 2 minutes, stir once, and add 1 more minute. To avoid bursting, heat the eggs in halves and heat them briefly while checking.
The next day, the color of the broth settles a little and the aroma gets into the chicken. If the saltiness feels strong, add 50 ml water, warm over low heat for 5 minutes, and add a few drops of lime. If you want more heat, using the pepper sauce on the plate rather than in the pot is easier to recover from.
Frequently asked questions
Can I make it without black recado?
You can, but strictly it is chimole-style. The aroma of charred chiles and tortillas characteristic of black recado cannot be reproduced. The substitute paste in this article is to move the direction closer with annatto, allspice, cumin, oregano, bitterness, and sourness. If you like it, the order for next time is to look for black recado.
Is it lacking without habanero?
You can make it without. The star is the aroma of black recado more than heat. In households that dislike spicy food, rather than putting it in the pot, adding a few drops of a scotch bonnet-style pepper sauce at the table is safer.
Should the eggs go in whole or halved?
Either works. Whole, the whites resist breaking; halved, the yolk blends into the black broth. For the first time, halve them and warm briefly in step 7 for easy eating.
How is it different from versions with ground pork?
Belizean Black Dinna and relleno negro have versions that add a stuffing of ground pork or beef and egg. This article leans toward a chicken-and-egg chimole that is easy to make even in a weekday kitchen. If you add a meat stuffing, cook it thoroughly in a separate step and take care with the core temperature and storage.
Does it need thickening?
It is not essential. The Belize Poultry Association's recipe also introduces a method of returning bread to the soup to thicken it. To avoid scorching, the first time make it thin, and only if you want it thicker, reduce over low heat for 5 minutes at the end.
Can I make it for children?
Yes. Leave out the habanero and use a mild black recado in a smaller amount. If you make the substitute paste, reduce the black pepper to 1/4 tsp and put pepper sauce only on the adults' plates.
Local and English-language sources consulted
- Travel Belize, Indulge in the Rich Flavours of Recado with these Belizean Soups: consulted for black recado, the differences between Relleno Negro and Black Dinna, and the explanation of charred tortillas and chiles.
- Belize Poultry Association, Chilmole: The Yucatecán "black mole": consulted for the flow of dissolving black recado in water and simmering the chicken over medium heat, and the step of preparing the chicken with lime.
- BelizeHub, How To Make Belizean Chimole or Black Dinna: checked for the range of ingredients in chimole and eating it with potatoes, tomato, eggs, and corn tortillas.
- Aunt Sadie's Belize, Black Dinna: consulted for the name Black Dinna, black recado, and the context of eating it with eggs and rice or tortillas.
- The Takeout, You Can Make This Chicken Stew With Store-Bought Spice Paste: consulted for the ventilation risk of making black recado at home, the realistic choice of store-bought paste, and the idea of adjusting heat at the table.
