Chicken Pipian

The pipian is, in essence, a chicken version of the Filipino kare kare. In Mexico, pipian is a sauce thickened with ground toasted pepitas [pumpkin seeds]; in the Philippines, ground toasted rice is used instead. We adapted this dish from the pipian cooked by Rusty Ponce, the resident cook at the Syquia Mansion in Vigan. The main flavoring agent is the epazote, called pasotes in Ilocos. The pasotes plant, found only in Ilocos Sur, was probably transported from Mexico on one of the ga