#dried chiles

[woodandgrains]

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chile colorado

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chile colorado seitan stew

[raleightasty]

Salsas & How to Use Dried Chiles

Pictured: Salsa de Chile Puya. Recipe below.

When most Americans think of salsa, they probably think of the tomato-based salsa “Mexicana” served in a plastic molcajete at a cheap Americanized Mexican restaurant, or the jar of salsa on a grocery store shelf that was probably “made in New York City.” If there’s any spice to it, it probably came from a fresh jalapeño or serrano chile.

Reaching for other types of salsas, we might think of the ubiquitous and dependable salsa verde. And, Tabasco, Texas Pete, and Tapatío hot sauces may even get a nod too—they are salsas after all.

While there’s nothing really wrong with these type of salsas, they are merely a few over-cast characters among an abundance of more exciting, more flavorful all-star sauces from rich heritage of our neighbor to the south.

Upping Your Salsa Game

Stepping up your salsa game is easy, and it starts with learning to use dried chiles!

First, you’ll need a few basic kitchen tools:

Knife or kitchen scissors

Skillet, preferably cast iron

Blender or better yet, an immersion stick blender

Spice grinder or coffee grinder (dedicated to spices/chiles)

Now, while there are some nuances and future lessons to be learned, you really only need to know a few basic things to get started. Once you’re hooked, like I was, you will inevitably dive deeper into this complex world.

Dried Chiles Basics

Each chile, whether dried or fresh, brings its own heat level, flavor characteristics, and history to the game. The fresh version of a chile may differ in heat and flavor to its dried counterpart. And, there may even be more than one dried version of a chile, depending on chile color (e.g. red or green) and drying technique!

For instance, the famous jalapeño has several dried versions. But, the two main versions, both called chipotles, are smoked red jalapeños:

Chipotle Morita

Chipotle Meco (or also known as “típico“)

These two versions are sometimes confused or mislabelled in markets.

The word “chipotle” derives from the Nahuatl word “chilpoctli,” which means “smoked chile pepper.”

Chipotles are the impetus of my obsession. They are “the bacon of spices.” Yes, they are that good.

The Chipotle Morita (meaning “small mulberry”) is the most common, and the most used chipotle pepper. The Chipotle Morita is a slightly smaller, reddish-black, wrinkled chile, with a rich berry-like aroma and a warm, smoky flavor with hints of its fruitiness. They are surprisingly spicy too.

It’s cousin, the Chipotle Meco, is often larger with a brown, cigar-like exterior. The Chipotle Meco are left to ripen on the bush longer (until they almost dry out), and then smoked twice as long as the Morita, giving them an earthy, grass-like flavor complimenting its smokier quality, with less fruitiness. Sadly these are harder to find in the US.

There are many other varieties of chiles. Here’s a short list of my favorite, commonly found chiles:

Chile Guajillo — The second most common chile in Mexico, the Guajillo is a dried Mirasol chile. It has a very rich cherry-like flavor with a mild heat.

Chile Pasilla Negro — One of the “holy trinity” of chiles in Mexico, and is typically found in mole negro. The Pasilla is the dried version of the Chilaca chile. It is long, skinny and greenish-black, with a raisin/prune-like flavor. The heat is medium to medium-hot. This pepper is sometimes confused with the chile ancho in some areas, so the size and shape should help clarify any confusion.

Chile Ancho — Another of the “holy trinity” of chiles, and the most commonly used pepper in Mexico. It is used in mole, adobo, enchilada sauce, soups, etc. The Ancho is a dried red Poblano pepper, so its heat is relatively mild to medium. Its shape is wide and flat, and has a flavor that is rich and berry-like.

Chile Mulato — The last of the “holy trinity” of chiles, and like the Ancho, it is also a dried Poblano (the difference is in the harvesting of the chile). Similarly to the Chipotle Meco, the Mulato is left on the bush to ripen until it turns almost brown. This extra time gives the chile its amazing chocolatey flavor, making it my favorite of the lot.

Chile de Arbol — These small, narrow peppers have a light grassy-like flavor, but you likely won’t notice it much as they pack some intense heat! While you can make them the centerpiece of a salsa, like Alex Stupak’s salsa de chile de arbol, they’re more commonly used as an accent.

Chile Puya — A slightly spicier chile than the Guajillo with a similar cherry-like aroma and flavor. It’s origination is a point of contention on whether it is a hybrid of the chile de Arbol or the Guajillo/Mirasol.

Working with Dried Chiles

There a only a handful of basic concepts when choosing and working with dried chiles.

Choose good dried chiles

Wear gloves when handling chiles. Seriously, wear gloves!

There are two basic ways to use a dried chile: grind or reconstitute.

Add more dimension to your salsa with common spices.

Salsa de Chile Puya Recipe

Makes about 8 oz

Ingredients

5-6 Chile Puya

1 Chile Morita

1 Half of a White Onion

2 Garlic Cloves

1/4 tsp Cumin

1 Clove

1 Allspice Berry

1/4 tsp Oregano

1 Tbsp Pumpkin Seeds

Salt to taste

Directions

Following the basic methods for using a dried chile, destem, deseed, toast and reconstituted the chiles. While they’re soaking, char the onion half and roast the garlic cloves. Set them aside. While they’re cooling, lightly toast the spices (except the oregano). Set the spices aside. Toast the pumpkin seeds and set aside too.

Next, grind the spices, oregano, and pumpkin seeds in a spice grinder.

Remove the chiles from the bowl and reserve the liquid. Add to a blender with the half of the blended spices, add about 1/2 cup of the reserved liquid, and blend until smooth. Add more of the reserved liquid if needed to achieve a good consistency.

Taste and season with salt and more blended spices until it tastes good to you. It’s ok if you didn’t use all of the spices—we’re winging it.

The salsa should store for about a week in an air-tight jar in the fridge.

Addendum

Mexican Salsas Reign Supreme

Threadbare salsas, like salsa Mexicana, may be part of the reason why real Mexican food and its plethora of more complex sauces is often seen as pedestrian or unsophisticated in the culinary world, especially when compared to French food and its celebrated “mother sauces.”

However, I’d argue that Mexican cuisine is more sophisticated even though it may seem rustic. Some Mexican sauces, like mole negro for instance, are even more laborious than any French sauce out there. Hands down. And, their importance to their respective cuisine is arguably as essential if not more so.

Thankfully, chefs like Enrique Olvera of Pujol are providing Mexican cuisine with the credit it deserves on the world stage.

[raleightasty]

A Brief History of My Chile Obsession

My fascination with dried chiles started with my quest for making real, taqueria-style tacos at home. So, I bought Alex Stupak’s book, “Tacos: Recipes and Provocations.” Flipping through his book, I was intrigued by his “salsa negra” recipe. I had never heard of chipotle chile “moritas” before, nor had I heard of a “black salsa.”

This inspired me to go to the Latino market in search of these so-called “moritas.” When I found the chiles, I could almost do nothing but stand there, nose pressed to the plastic bags of 60 or more chile moritas, inhaling as much of their smokey, spicy, berry-like fragrance as possible. Then, the final salsa had me hooked. Obsessed, really. My wife had the same reaction. There was no going back. I can’t even keep the salsa in the fridge long enough—she eats it on everything!

I had to learn more about this mysterious world of chiles; a world I had been missing my whole life. So I did a ton of research online about chiles. I wanted to know what fresh chiles corresponded to what dried chiles. The more I read, the more I learned that this was a rather complex topic. So complex that apparently some naïve produce clerks incorrectly label dried chiles, and some well-intentioned authors contribute to the misinformation about chiles in books and online.

I also realized, at this point, that salsas could be made almost entirely of chiles (or even dried chiles) without the addition of tomatoes or tomatillos. In fact, they usually were. Chiles should be the star of salsas, not just some way to add a touch of spiciness! Before this revelation, though, I thought salsa primarily meant “a tomato dipping sauce for tortilla chips.”

Soon after the success of the salsa negra, I tried another one of Alex’s recipes—his chile de arbol salsa. This next salsa allowed me to understand the basic steps of making salsas; steps that lessened the intimidation factor for me.

My horizons broadened.

With every recipe, I craved more varieties of chiles—collecting an assortment in jars in my kitchen. While I use them mainly for cooking, of course, I find delite in just opening a jar to smell them. People think I’m crazy, but that’s ok.

[raleightasty]

Choosing Good Dried Chiles

When you’re selecting chiles, you want to make sure they’re clean, somewhat pliable, and as untorn as possible. They should smell nice too, of course.

With smaller chiles that have thin walls, like the chile de arbol, it’s ok for them to not be pliable.

It is also important, in the case of unpacked chiles or where the grocer has packed their own chiles, to look for signs of the Indian Mealmoth. This would typically be small tannish moths, their white larvae or their silk webs. It will be rather obvious if the chile or the bag of chiles is infested—so don’t freak out. I usually shake the bag a little and turn it around, looking at all sides for signs of them.

I also keep my chiles in an air-tight jar at home, so there’s no possible chance of the infestation spreading.

If do I find a chile or a jar at home that has become infested, I take them right outside and throw them into my compost.

Next, How to Use a Dried Chile

Note: this post is part of a larger post on Salsas & How to Use Dried Chiles.

[haciendalife]

Mongo Chili

I’ve been making chili for years - decades! And each time it’s a little different. My husband is a traditionalist when it comes to chili - ground beef with kidney beans, over rice. I’ve ventured into chicken chili, stew meat chili, veggie chili, throw-the-whole-pantry-in chili, etc ad nauseam.

But this chili is it. This chili is the culmination of all the years and lessons and flavors, and actually incorporates a healthy balance between my favorite recipes and the Mister’s. We call it Mongolian Chili - or Mongo Chili for short. It’s a purist version of chili, in that there aren’t any beans in it. This chili recipe is great to sit down with some tortilla chips, spooned over rice or potatoes, or however you want to enjoy. Oh ya, and it’s won a local chili contest two years running. This chili is the ONE!

To start, as any good chili does, you need to select your chile peppers. Most of the time I use a couple guajillos for base flavor, then add an ancho and pasilla for richness, and a chipotle and/or dried habanero for heat.

Grind your chiles up - we have a designated coffee bean grinder for this, although some people enjoy a kick of heat with their morning cup;) Add other seasonings to the ground chile powder - and you have your base seasoning mixture.

Now start cooking. Being on the FODMAP diet, I have to take it easy on the onion and garlic - but this chili recipe has so much flavor from other places, I haven’t missed it yet. Use however much you like. I usually start off with the beef, then remove from the pan and cook the onions, add seasonings - and eventually add the meat back in to simmer. Some people might swear the order matters - go ahead and follow your own chili routine.

You’ll notice there is chocolate in there. It’s okay, I meant to do that. The chocolate and cinnamon are my husband’s influence -- and the “Mongolian” part comes from the additions of cinnamon and coriander - in healthy doses.

While there is tomato in this chili recipe, there is far more beef stock. I only add one big can of tomato to 1.3 lbs of beef. Then I add 2c-4c of beef stock to thin it out and cook it down, and help develop it’s flavor. This step started as a “fix” after I put too much chile powder in. I had just started working with dried chiles and didn’t know how much powder they produce when ground up - or how chile powder can act as a thickener. My chili ended up grainy, gritty and SUPER concentrated. I ended up adding a whole quart of beef stock, and cooked it for an extra few hours. The fix not only worked, but made the chili even better!

Sometimes this chili has a bitter tone to it -- when this happens, I just add some brown sugar to bring it back. I used to add honey - but that’s a FODMAP no-no. Feel free to add whatever sweetener you like - maple syrup, agave syrup, etc.

This really is my go-to chili -- and I try to make it a house rule to always have some in the freezer. Good luck, godspeed, and have fun putting your own spin on it!

INGREDIENTS

1+ pound of ground beef

1/2 med onion, chopped

Garlic olive oil

2 gaujillo, 1 ancho, 1 pasilla, 1 dried chipotle, 1 dried habanero chiles

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp paprika

1-2 tsp salt (to taste)

1-2 oz dark chocolate

2 T brown sugar (or other sweetener, to taste)

1 large can crushed tomato

1 qt beef stock (or broth) -- start with 2c and add more if needed.

[pasta-dot-com]

Guajillo Chile Spaghetti Guajillo chiles, found dried in supermarkets, add a deep red color and kick, but are medium-low range in the heat index and okay even for wimpier eaters.

- Easy recipe at: http://www.pasta.com/recipe/guajillo-chile-spaghetti