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Chojín (Guatemalan Radish and Chicharrón Salad)
Finely chopped radishes, tomato, onion and fresh mint dressed with sour orange and lime, tossed at the last moment with crisp crumbled pork rinds and eaten on tostadas or tortillas.
Guatemalan · easy · serves 4
prep 20 min · cook 0 min
~442 cal · 37g protein · 27g carbs · 20g fat · 3g fiber · 4g sugars · 7g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Chojín is a Guatemalan salad of radishes, mint and chicharrones, fried pork rinds. It is a version of picado de rábano, the radish salad found all over the country, with the pork rinds folded in for salt and crunch. In Guatemala City and Antigua it is served as an appetizer or on the side, with tostadas, warm tortillas, carnitas or sandwiches, and it turns up at street stalls and parties.
The dressing is sour orange, naranja agria, or a mix of orange and lime juice, and the herb is hierba buena, mint, which Guatemalan cooks use far more than their neighbours do. Some add a little cilantro and chile. Chopped fine, the radishes go faintly pink as they sit in the citrus.
It is made just before it is eaten, because the chicharrón should still crunch. Leave the pork rinds out and you have picado de rábano, the everyday version.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, nut- and egg-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
- 16 (about 2 bunches) radishes, trimmed and finely chopped
- 1 ripe plum tomato, seeded and finely chopped
- 1/2 white onion, finely chopped
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped, optional
- 1/4 cup fresh mint (hierba buena) leaves, chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1/4 cup sour orange juice, or 3 tbsp orange juice and 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups chicharrones (fried pork rinds), roughly crumbled
- 8 corn tostadas or warm corn tortillas, to serve
Instructions
- 1Put the radishes, tomato, onion and jalapeño, if using, in a bowl.
- 2Add the sour orange juice, lime juice and salt and toss. Leave for 5 to 10 minutes so the citrus softens the onion and the radishes turn faintly pink.
- 3Just before serving, stir in the mint and cilantro, taste for salt and citrus, then fold in the crumbled chicharrones.✎ Chef’s noteAdd the mint and pork rinds at the last moment: the mint darkens and the chicharrón goes soft if they sit in the dressing.
- 4Serve at once, piled on tostadas or with warm tortillas.
Guatemalan tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Guatemala City. Shuco carts still stand on corners all over the capital, feeding people after school and after work, and every Guatemalan has a favourite. The same filling folded into a soft corn tortilla is a mixta.
🗺️
Guatemala. Corn is still worked by hand in a great many kitchens. The piedra de moler, a sloped grinding stone worked with a stone roller, sits in the corner and does what a machine does elsewhere, and tortillas are patted out and cooked on a comal to order rather than bought in packets. Black beans go with almost everything, whole or fried down to a paste.
🌍
North America. The most consequential technique on this continent is nixtamalisation, cooking maize with lime or wood ash. It loosens the skins, makes the dough that becomes tortillas and tamales, and frees up niacin the body cannot otherwise absorb, which is why maize spread around the world without the technique and took pellagra with it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Guatemala
Pepián de PolloChicken in a deep, toasty sauce of charred tomatoes, chiles, and ground seeds, Guatemala’s Mayan-rooted national stew.
Desayuno ChapínThe full Guatemalan breakfast plate: eggs, soupy black beans, fried sweet plantain, fresh cream, and warm corn tortillas.
Tostadas GuatemaltecasCrisp fried tortillas topped three ways, with guacamole, tomato salsa, or black beans, a light Guatemalan street lunch.
Browse all Guatemala recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Best assembled just before serving. Prep the components ahead and dress at the last moment so it stays crisp.
Make it a Guatemala meal
Atol de EloteDrink
Rellenitos de PlátanoDessert
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Chojín (Guatemalan Radish and Chicharrón Salad)?
Finely chopped radishes, tomato, onion and fresh mint dressed with sour orange and lime, tossed at the last moment with crisp crumbled pork rinds and eaten on tostadas or tortillas.
Where does Chojín (Guatemalan Radish and Chicharrón Salad) come from?
Chojín (Guatemalan Radish and Chicharrón Salad) is a Guatemalan dish from Guatemala City, Guatemala.
Can Chojín (Guatemalan Radish and Chicharrón Salad) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Chojín (Guatemalan Radish and Chicharrón Salad) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Chojín (Guatemalan Radish and Chicharrón Salad) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Chojín (Guatemalan Radish and Chicharrón Salad) take to make?
About 20 minutes total (20 minutes prep, 0 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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