11 Dried Mexican Chiles to Know and Love, and How to Use Them

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A beginner’s guide to the pantry workhorse of Mexico. By Stacy Adimando and Gonzalo Guzmán | Published Sep 30, 2019

Ingredients:

Guajillo: Bright red, large and skinny, tough skins, sweet but with some acidity, relatively mild heat.

One of the most common chiles in the Mexican pantry with a crowd-pleasing flavor—a mix of earthy and sweet, and typically little to no heat. They’re large, so a few go a long way to add body to adobos, stews, and sauces.

Chiles de Arbol: Small, nutty, earthy, very spicy.

The árbol is a versatile chile. It goes with everything, and its flavor changes depending on how it is handled—toasting and frying it before soaking it, for example, intensifies its heat and nutty qualities. However you use it, this slender fruit packs a big punch in both spice and earthiness. Look for chiles de árbol with stems (rather than crushed or preground) for the best flavor.
Pequin

Pequin: Tiny, a little smoky, a little fruity, very spicy.

Also called the bird chile, pequins are tiny little chiles that will shock you with their heat. They are great for sharp, spicy salsas and hot sauces, combined with vinegar or tomatoes to tame some of the heat and add sweetness.

Chiles Negros: Large and long, with earthiness, mellow dried fruit flavors (raisins, prunes), mild heat.

This chile is very dark, nearly black, and is used frequently in making mole negros. The chile negro is used and loved more for its color than for its flavor since its taste and heat level are relatively mild. Keep an eye out for aliases: pasillas negros, pasilla chiles, or chiles Oaxacas.

Cascabel: Round, tropical, fruity (dried apricots, dried apples), relatively mild heat.

The cascabel (pronounced “kas-ka-bell”) is a round, hollow chile, and its name comes from the Spanish word for rattle (it is shaped like the end of
a rattlesnake’s tail, and the seeds noisily rattle around inside the dried chile when it is shaken).

Pasilla: Complex, dried fruits (raisins, prunes), medium heat.

The pasilla is named after the word for raisins (pasas) on account of its deeply sweet dried fruit flavors and wrinkly, dark appearance. Compared to the ancho, the pasilla’s texture is a bit tougher, and its heat more intense. They are combined with chiles mulatos and a few dried red chiles in Oaxacan-style moles to create a perfect blend of color, sweetness, and a little spice.


Directions:




Source: https://www.saveur.com/mexican-dried-chile-guide/

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