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Guatemalan · Central American

Kak'ik

Non-vegetarian

A brick-red Maya turkey soup from Alta Verapaz, spiced with dried chiles, achiote and charred tomatoes and fragrant with cilantro and mint.

Kak'ik is a Guatemalan soup, ready in about 2 hours and made with turkey, dried whole chillies and achiote paste. It serves 6 and is rated intermediate to cook.

Start cooking
Clay bowl of kak'ik, spiced red turkey soup, served with rice
Photo: Hermann Luyken / Wikimedia Commons · CC-BY-SA-3.0
Prep
20 min
Cook
1 h 40 min
Total
2 h
Serves
6
Level
Intermediate
Calories
292

Ingredients

6 servings

To serve

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Put the turkey (opens in a new tab), water and 1 tsp salt in a large pot, bring to the boil, skim and simmer for 1 hour.

  2. Step 2

    Char the tomatoes (opens in a new tab), tomatillos (opens in a new tab), pepper (opens in a new tab), onion (opens in a new tab) and garlic (opens in a new tab) in a dry pan. Toast the chiles briefly.

  3. Step 3

    Blend the charred vegetables and chiles with the achiote (opens in a new tab), peppercorns and some broth until smooth.

  4. Step 4

    Stir the sauce into the pot with the remaining salt, the cilantro (opens in a new tab) and mint (opens in a new tab) stems tied in a bundle. Simmer until the turkey (opens in a new tab) is very tender, about 30 minutes more.

    • 30 min
    • low heat

    Food safety: Turkey must reach 74 °C.

  5. Step 5

    Remove the herb bundle, scatter fresh leaves on top and serve in bowls with rice and tamalitos or tortillas.

    • 2 min
    Fresh herbs scattered over a finished dish
    How it looks · Photo: Klaus Nielsen on Pexels

About this dish

Origin
Alta Verapaz (Q'eqchi' Maya), Guatemala · Well documentedMore food from Guatemala
Dish
Lunch · Dinner · Soups · Main courses
Cooking method
Simmered, Toasted, Blended
Taste
spicy (chilli heat), smoky, herby, savoury
Diet
No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · No nut ingredients · Low-carb · High-protein
All labelsNon-vegetarian · No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Low-carb · High-protein · Low-fat · Calorie-conscious
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
Festive & celebration · One-pot
Cook more with
Turkey · Dried whole chillies · Achiote paste · Tomato · Tomatillo · Red bell pepper
Techniques
Toasting · Boiling · Simmering · Slow-cooked gravy · Spice roasting (dry-roasting)

Allergens

None of the 14 major allergens appear in the listed ingredients.

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

292 kcal per serving

Estimated

1 serving ≈ 794 g · recipe makes 6

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 66%
  • Carbohydrate 18%
  • Fat 16%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy292 kcal37 kcal
Protein47.9 g6 g
Carbohydrate13.1 g1.6 g
Net carbohydrate8.7 g1.1 g
Sugars5.6 g0.7 g
Added sugars0 g0 g
Fibre4.4 g0.5 g
Fat5 g0.6 g
Saturated fat1.1 g0.1 g
Trans fat0 g0 g
Cholesterol134 mg17 mg
Sodium1034 mg130 mg
Salt equivalent2.6 g0.3 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
1020 mg
Calcium
102 mg
Iron
3.5 mg
Magnesium
94 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
208 µg
Vitamin C
46 mg
Vitamin D
0.4 µg
Vitamin B12
2.5 µg
Folate (DFE)
51 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
  • Optional ingredients are not included: long-grain white rice.
  • Achiote paste: Ground paprika (FDC 171329) used as a stand-in: achiote paste is ground annatto seed with spices, garlic and vinegar.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Food safety

  • Simmer until the turkey reaches 74 °C and is tender; cool and refrigerate within 2 hours.

Storage

  • Refrigerate up to 3 days; freeze up to 2 months.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Built from the recipe’s own sections. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Used in steps 1, 2

Masalas in this recipe

Make the masala first, then come back to finish the dish.

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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