Cax is the Maya word for the hen. Caldo cax is the chicken soup we make from a yard bird, the way it is made all through the Maya country, in the north of Belize and across in the Yucatan and down in Toledo. A whole hen in the pot, achiote for color, the squash and the plantain going in near the end. You eat it hot, with lime and a piece of habanero, even on a day that is already hot.
What is caldo cax?
Caldo cax is a Mayan chicken caldo, a clear chicken soup colored with achiote and filled out with squash, potato, and plantain. The bird simmers with onion, garlic, and herbs until the broth is rich, and it is served with rice, lime, avocado, and a charred habanero on the side. In Spanish it is caldo de pollo. Cax is the Maya name for the chicken.
Where caldo cax comes from
This is an everyday pot and a special one both. In the Maya towns you eat caldo regardless of the weather. A steaming bowl on a ninety-degree day is normal. It is the same soup in the Yucatan and in the Maya villages of Toledo, in the south of Belize. A good bird makes it. A yard hen, older, with some fat and some toughness, gives a broth that a young supermarket chicken cannot.
The achiote is what marks it as ours. A little recado rojo in the pot, or rubbed on the bird, and the broth goes the color of the Maya kitchen.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken, about 4 lbs, cut in pieces (a hen if you can get one)
- 12 cups water
- 1 tablespoon red recado (achiote paste), or a teaspoon of achiote
- 1/2 white onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 carrot, in chunks
- 1 stalk celery
- A few sprigs culantro
- A few sprigs fresh mint
- 1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano
- 2 potatoes, peeled and quartered
- 1 chayote (choco) or a piece of squash, in chunks
- 1 ripe plantain, in quarters
- Salt
To serve:
- Cooked white rice
- Limes
- Avocado
- Chopped cilantro
- Charred habanero
- Tostadas, toasted hard
Instructions
- Put the chicken in a big pot with the water and salt. Bring it to a boil and skim off the foam that rises.
- Dissolve the recado in a little of the hot broth, then stir it in. Add the onion, garlic, carrot, celery, culantro, mint, and oregano.
- Lower it to a simmer. Cook until the bird is tender, about 45 minutes for chicken, longer for a hen. Already the broth is golden from the achiote.
- Add the potatoes and the chayote. Cook 10 minutes.
- Add the plantain for the last 10 minutes. It only needs that long. Too long and it falls apart.
- Taste for salt. Take out the celery and the tired herbs.
- Serve the broth and a piece of the bird in a deep bowl, with rice spooned in. Everyone adds lime, avocado, cilantro, and habanero. A tostada crumbled on top is the Maya crouton.
Tips and variations
- The bird matters. A yard hen makes the real broth. If you only have a young chicken, it works, but simmer the bones longer for depth.
- The charred way. Some cook the bird in the broth, then rub the pieces with recado rojo and char them in a pan before they go back in the bowl. The broth stays clear and the chicken carries the achiote.
- The plantain goes last. Ripe, sweet, ten minutes only. It is the sweet note against the lime and the habanero.
- Choco. The squash here is chayote, what we call choco. A piece of pumpkin or other squash stands in.
Serving
Serve it hot, always hot, with rice in the bowl and the lime and habanero on the table. A pile of hard tostadas to crumble in. It is a full meal in one bowl, the Sunday pot and the sick-day pot at once.
Shop This Recipe
El Yucateco Achiote Paste
The red recado that gives the cull its color and most of its flavor, the shortcut when you are not grinding your own.
Chef's Knife
The 8-inch workhorse behind the chopping every Belizean pot starts with: onion, garlic, habanero, squash. It holds an edge for years.
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Frequently asked questions
What is caldo cax?
Caldo cax is a Mayan chicken caldo, a chicken soup colored with achiote and filled with squash, potato, and plantain, served with rice, lime, avocado, and habanero. Cax is the Maya word for chicken; in Spanish the dish is caldo de pollo.
What does cax mean?
Cax is the Yucatec Maya word for the hen or chicken. Caldo cax is simply the chicken caldo.
What squash goes in caldo cax?
Chayote, called choco in Belize, is the usual squash. A piece of pumpkin or other firm squash can stand in.
What makes a Mayan chicken caldo different from regular chicken soup?
The achiote that colors the broth, the herbs like culantro and mint, and the squash, potato, and plantain cooked in it. It is served with lime, avocado, habanero, and crumbled tostadas.
What do you serve with caldo cax?
White rice spooned into the bowl, lime, avocado, chopped cilantro, charred habanero, and hard tostadas to crumble in.
Can you make caldo cax ahead of time?
Yes. Make the broth and bird ahead, but add the plantain only when you reheat so it does not fall apart. Ripe plantain needs only ten minutes, and it goes in last.
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.
