Huevos motuleños come from Motul, a town in the Yucatán. It is a breakfast built in layers. A fried tortilla, black beans spread on top, fried eggs over that, and then a tomato sauce with ham and peas poured on. Fried plantain on the side, cheese on top. You eat it on both sides of the border now, but the name keeps the town.
What are huevos motuleños?
Huevos motuleños are a Yucatecan breakfast of fried eggs on a corn tortilla spread with refried black beans, covered in a tomato sauce with diced ham and green peas, and served with fried sweet plantain and crumbled cheese. The dish comes from the town of Motul.
Where huevos motuleños come from
The dish was made in Motul in the early nineteen hundreds, the story goes, for a governor passing through, and it carried his name out of the town and through the whole peninsula. It is a built plate, every part cooked on its own and then stacked. That is the work of it. None of the parts is hard. You just make several at once and put them together fast so the egg is still hot.
It is a cousin to huevos rancheros, but it is not the same. The beans, the ham and peas in the sauce, the sweet plantain, those are what make it motuleño.
Ingredients
- 4 corn tortillas
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups black beans, blended and strained (frijol colado)
- Oil or lard for frying
- 1 ripe plantain, sliced on the bias
- Epazote, a sprig for the beans
For the chiltomate sauce:
- 4 roma tomatoes
- 1/4 white onion
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 habanero
- 1 tablespoon oil
- Salt
To top:
- 1/2 cup diced ham
- 1/2 cup green peas, cooked
- Queso fresco, crumbled
Instructions
- Make the chiltomate first. Blend the tomatoes, onion, garlic, and habanero. Fry it in the oil a few minutes until it tightens. Salt to taste. Keep it warm. Warm the ham and the peas separately.
- Warm the black beans with the epazote until they are thick and spreadable. Keep them warm.
- Fry the plantain slices in a little oil until gold on both sides and soft inside. Set them aside.
- Fry the tortillas quick in oil so they firm up but do not turn hard. Drain them.
- Fry the eggs, soft, the yolk still loose.
- Now build, fast. Tortilla down. A spread of black beans. Two fried eggs on top. Pour the chiltomate over the eggs. Scatter the ham, the peas, and crumbled cheese on top. Put the fried plantain at the side.
- Serve right away, while the egg is hot and the yolk still runs.
Tips and variations
- Build fast. Have everything ready and hot before you fry the eggs. A motuleño that sits goes cold and the tortilla gets heavy.
- Two tortillas. Some stack two tortillas with beans between, then the eggs on top. Heartier that way.
- The plantain matters. Use it ripe, the skin gone dark. The sweet against the salt is the point.
- Heat. A little habanero or a charred chile on the side for those who want it.
Serving
One plate per person, the plantain at the edge, served hot the moment it is built. Coffee with it. It is a full breakfast and it holds you through a morning of work.
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Dried Epazote
The herb that goes in the pot with beans and broth across the Yucatec Maya kitchen. Dried epazote keeps when the fresh leaf is impossible to find.
Masa Harina (Maseca)
Nixtamalized yellow corn flour for the masa that thickens the cull and wraps the tamale. The diaspora staple when fresh masa is out of reach.
Marie Sharp's Season-All
The Belizean seasoning blend home cooks reach for when a dish needs the country flavor without building a recado from scratch.
Black Beans
Goya black beans for the frijol colado under the eggs. Blend and strain them with epazote for the smooth Yucatec base.
Queso Fresco
Crumbled queso fresco over the top. Cacique is the brand the diaspora kitchen keeps for huevos motulenos.
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Frequently asked questions
What are huevos motuleños?
A Yucatecan breakfast of fried eggs on a corn tortilla spread with refried black beans, topped with a tomato sauce of ham and peas, with fried plantain and crumbled cheese. From the town of Motul.
What is the difference between huevos motuleños and huevos rancheros?
Huevos rancheros are eggs on a tortilla with a chile-tomato salsa. Motuleños add refried black beans under the eggs, ham and peas in the sauce, fried plantain, and cheese. Motuleños are the bigger, layered plate.
What cheese goes on huevos motuleños?
Queso fresco, crumbled over the top. Any mild fresh crumbling cheese works.
Where do huevos motuleños come from?
From Motul, a town in the Yucatán, where the dish was first made in the early twentieth century and named for the town.
Can you make huevos motuleños ahead?
Make the sauce, beans, and plantain ahead and keep them warm. Fry the eggs and build the plate at the last minute so it is hot.
Can you use a different cheese instead of queso fresco?
Yes. Queso fresco is the traditional choice, but any mild fresh crumbling cheese works in its place over the top.
About Fili Post
Fili Post is from Xaibe in the Corozal District of Belize. She is Mayan. She grew up eating game from the bush — gibnut, deer, chachalaca, iguana — and she has been making her own recado from hand-ground spices for as long as her family can remember. She sold spices at a stall in the Corozal market. She still sources locally and grinds her own blends. Her recado is known to locals as the best they can get. She raised yard birds, guinea fowl, and the occasional pig. She writes for the Belize News Post.
