Verdolagas, called purslane in English, are a popular edible green in Central Mexico. They’re most commonly stewed with cubes of pork in tomatillo sauce, until the leaves are limp and soft.
I’ve been a bit scared to try them — I’ve met two people so far who absolutely hate verdolagas. (In The Essential Cuisines of Mexico, Diana Kennedy describes verdolagas as “curiously acid” and “very much an acquired taste.”)
But they’re cheap and abundant right now. And they’re much prettier than your average quelite. Verdolagas have these thick, teardrop shaped leaves, jutting out from a tender central stalk.
(Photo from The Kitchn)
No vegetable this beautiful could possibly taste bad. So, a few weekends ago, I bought a kilo at the tianguis. Tore off a raw leaf and ate it when I got home. The leaf tasted acidic and intense, almost minty. But it was not that bad. I wouldn’t put verdolagas in a salad, but I’d most definitely serve them under a blanket of stewed tomatoes.
Marichu had an easy-sounding verdolagas recipe that called for making a boiled tomatillo salsa, frying it, and then adding the greens.
In the end, this seemed like exactly what the verdolagas needed. A fried, liquified tomatillo bath lessened some of the greens’ harshness. In fact, after 20 minutes of cooking, I’d dare call the leaves sweet. They didn’t dissolve under the weight of the salsa, either — the leaves kept their hearty shape and texture.
Served these with leftover alubias and warm tortillas. It was a humble, comforting meal.
I’ll leave you with a few sentences from Ricardo Muñoz Zurita’s Encyclopedic Dicitonary of Mexican food, under the entry for verdolagas. He calls them “meaty and juicy,” which I’m inclined to agree with.
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Portulaca oleracea L. (Portulacáceas). Quelite herbáceo de la familia de las portulcáceas; mide en promedio de 15 a 50 centímetros de largo. Es suave, carnoso, jugoso y de sabor ácido. Se aprecia mucho como verdura, principalmente para elaborar diversos guisos y caldos. Juega un papel importante en la gastronomía del centro del país, donde es especialmente famosa la carne de puerco con verdolagas. Su nombre náhuatl es itzmiquílitl.
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Recipe below.
Verdolagas en Verde
Translated from Mexico en la Cocina de Marichu, c. 1969
Serves 4 to 6
Note: Tomate verde below refers to the larger tomatillos, the size of a small plum. Feel free to use whatever you can find, but the smaller tomatillos tend to taste sweeter.
Ingredients
1 kilo (2.2 pounds) of verdolagas
750 grams tomate verde, husked and rinsed (see note)
3 serrano chiles (less if you don’t like things too spicy)
1 garlic clove
1 small onion
4 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoon cilantro
salt to taste
Heat a pot of water to a slow, roiling boil. Add your tomate verde, serrano chiles, garlic and whole onion. Boil until the tomatoes and chiles have softened and turned a dull green color.
While the vegetables cook, rinse the verdolagas thoroughly and scrub the leaves with your fingers to release any grit. (They’ve got a lot of grit — I rinsed and scrubbed mine three separate times.) Pluck the leaves and tender stems off the thicker stems. Discard the thick stems.
When the tomate verde and chile mixture has finished cooking, remove the garlic and onion to a food processor or blender, and blend until well combined. Then add the tomate and serrano chiles. Add a little water if the mixture looks too thick.
Remove salsa to a frying pan heated with the four tablespoons oil. Fry salsa for a few minutes until warm, and then add the verdolagas and salt to taste. When the verdolagas are limp and tender, add cilantro. Serve with warm corn tortillas and beans.
Variations: Diana Kennedy adds cumin seeds and oregano in her version of this dish, in The Essential Cuisines of Mexico.
I’ve never had verdolagas, but in your photo they sure do look good. And yes, a fried tomato sauce sound tasty!
Question, is the Marichu you mentioned in your post the same one who is author of the recipe book you used in your pan de elote post? I’ve been looking for that book myself. Also wondering if there were other recipes in it that you found to be really good.
Hi Yaya: Yep, it’s the very same Marichu. The book is out of print so I’m not sure how easily you’d be able to find it. So far, these are the only two recipes I’ve made but she has now attained my confianza. She’s got a bunch of different atole recipes — I’d like to try those once Christmas gets a little closer. Will definitely post them if I end up making them!
Lesley, we love verdolagas en salsa verde in our house. My recipe is a bit different though, and I use espinazo de puerco instead of the standard cubed pork because the bone gives off an extra meaty flavor you can’t otherwise achieve with just the meat. I’ll have to post my recipe soon so you can see. Thanks for jogging my memory about it, will have to move it up in my post queue!
yes, please post your recipe! what you describe reminds me of what my mom used to cook when we lived in mexico. having older sisters meant i did the cleaning and not the cooking so i never learned 🙁
I just came home with a bunch of verdolagas, which we eat regularly. I usually cook them in a mixed vegetable medley — onion, cabbage, carrots, bell pepper, poblano chile — whatever is in the fridge. Aside from their slightly sour flavor, which makes a dish of mixed vegetables interesting, their claim to fame is that they contain more omega-3 fatty acids than any other leafy green. Thanks for highlighting this wonderful veggie.
Kathleen
I have a recipe taken from one of those cooking magazines that is like yours except that you add mushrooms cut in quarters, and it’s quite good. It says to simmer the veggies for 15 minutes, but I stop at 10.
Thanks for your reply Leslie. FYI, your blog is certainly motivating me! I already got the book you recommended “My Sweet Mexico” from Amazon. Great book! I need to get cracking on making a recipe or two.
Lesley, great post! I would love to get my hands on the Marichu cookbook… sigh. I’m looking forward to reading more of your blog! -nora
i’ve just started using verdolagas (purslane in my area) and loving it! You can use the stems too…..for pickles, drying and just plain eating…. thanks for your recipes
Thanks for the tip Maureen! I’ll try the stems next time. I’ve had a crazy verdolagas craving lately, especially in salads.
I found wild purslane in my garden when we moved to northern California. Then I found a recipe for a pork tinga with purslane in a newspaper, probably the San Francisco Chronicle. It called for pouring boiling water over the purslane leaves to wilt them, then adding them to the tinga. Worked just fine, we have the dish annually when the purslane comes up in the kitchen garden.
I grew up eating tacos of verso lags. Delicious. Boil verso lags with onion and garlic. Drain. In pan with little oil add onion, minced garlic. Toast it then add blended tomatoes. Simmer for a little then add verdolagas. Mixed and then add cheese. Cook until cheese is melted. I make a bean sauce to pour over the tacos. Sauce. In blender. Add boiled beans with some liquid. In pan add onion garlic cook until your house smells the aroma. Add blended tomatoes about 1 1/2 cup. Simmer, then add beans. Cook through and add cheese. Once cheese is all melted set aside. Fry corn tortillas like you were frying for enchiladas. I use little oil and add as needed. They are ready to assemble. Take a tortilla, place verdolagas mixer and roll. Top with sauce and eat
I absolutely love verdolagas! Only problem is finding them, when in season, in the beautiful northwest, Seattle, that is. When I do find them I will purchase just about all that is available and cook right away. What I don’t prepare I steam or braise and freeze. I’ve not ever had verdolagas with pork, as described above but will certainly give it a try. My recipe is my mothers’ and consists of slow braised beef with onions, garlic, potato and tomato. The purslane is added at the very last and cooked for about fifteen minutes so that their wonderful flavor permeates the dish. Yum! Thanks for sharing Mija!!!
Thank you, Oscar. I love the slow-braised beef idea. It sounds lovely for when it’s colder outside. And cooking and freezing purslane sounds super practical — I think I will steal that one once I start to see it in the farmers markets around here. 🙂 Thank you for sharing!
My Grandmother made verdolagas once then years later a friend made some with green Chile that I thought were the best ever. Just wondering if it as simple as making regular green chile and adding the verdolagas?