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Gallina pinta

· Lunch

A Sonoran broth of pinto beans, nixtamal corn, and beef short rib, with no hen at all despite its name.

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Gallina pinta: A Sonoran broth of pinto beans, nixtamal corn, and beef short rib, with no hen at all despite its name.
Photo: Alejandra Mendoza Santillan · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia CommonsPhoto resized, converted to WebP and cropped for display.
⏱ 630 min🍽 6 servings📊 Intermediate🏷 Commonly associated
Preparation
20 min
Cooking
130 min
Waiting and resting
480 min

History

In Alamos, a colonial jewel of southern Sonora, this broth is a local emblem. It is said to have been born of the need to stretch a meal for large families and ranch laborers, uniting beans and corn of Indigenous roots with the beef of the cattle-raising north. Its name plays on the mottled tones the grains take on as they cook; it is sometimes called 'the poor man's pozole.'

Ingredients

Adjust quantities

Only numeric quantities at the start of an ingredient are adjusted. Descriptive quantities, seasoning to taste and timings remain unchanged; check them when changing servings.

Preparation

  1. 1

    Soak the pinto beans overnight and drain them.

  2. 2

    In a large pot, cook the short rib with half an onion and the garlic until it releases its flavor.

  3. 3

    Add the beans and cook over medium heat until they begin to soften.

  4. 4

    Stir in the nixtamal corn and keep cooking until beans and corn are tender and the broth takes on body.

  5. 5

    Adjust the salt, add the green chiles if using, and let it boil a few more minutes.

  6. 6

    Serve piping hot with cilantro, chopped onion, and flour tortillas.

Cooking tips

  • Raw and precooked corn need different cooking times; this version works best with already cooked hominy.

References to consult

References provide information about the dish, its context or a technique. Quantities in this version may differ from those in the source.

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