Recipe: How to Toast Chiles Peppers and How to Make Chile Powder
Herbs and Spices
WHY TOAST DRIED CHILES?
To my tongue, toasted dried chiles have more flavor. Toasting adds complexity, a hint of char and a bit of smokiness, all elements that balance a chile's natural astringency.
Toasting chiles isn't a very exact science; in fact, you could skip it altogether and your dish would come out all right, though a bit less rich. Overtoasting is a greater problem than not toasting at all, since overtoasted chiles have an acrid flavor.
HOW TO TOAST DRIED CHILES:
USING A GRIDDLE:
Many Mexican cooks prefer to toast whole dried pods on their medium-hot comales (griddles), turning them until they're fragrant and slightly browned at the spots the chiles directly touched the hot surface; those cooks break off the stems and shake out the seeds after toasting. I use that method for small chiles like chipote and arbol.
For toasting large chiles (like ancho, pasilla, mulato, guajillo and New Mexico), I feel more comfortable following the lead of a Pueblan cook who first stems and seeds the chiles, tears them into flat pieces, then presses them against the hot surface with a spatula. The toasting seems to be more even, though a bit slower, since you can only work with one or two chiles at a time.
The actual time each chile is on the griddle may surprise you. If you have an even, medium heat under your griddle (or heavy skillet), you'll hear a faint crackle when the chile is pressed flat, skin-side up. In a few seconds, you'll smell a roasty, chile-spiked perfume, and, when you flip the chile, you'll notice it's changed to a mottled tan. Press it down to toast the other side and that's it.
FRYING IN OIL:
Another widely used toasting method is frying in oil. The flavor difference is remarkable-so much so that even a novice can tell the difference in the finished dish. You sense a richer toastiness and texture.
BROILING:
Our restaurant-style chile-toasting method involves a broiler, though only when you've mastered griddle-toasting should you try this. We open the stemmed and seeded chiles fiat on a baking sheet and place them about 6-inches below a commercial salamander heated to its lowest setting (about medium on a home broiler); the chiles begin to move about (it's quite a sight), and within seconds we catch their aroma and see a faint wisp of smoke. That's when we quickly pull them out, flip them over and toast the other side.
HOW TO MAKE CHILE POWDER:
When pulverizing chiles into powder, you can toast them thoroughly on the griddle or bake them in the oven until thoroughly crisp. Oven-crisping is okay for powder (where thorough, dry toasting and crispness is important), though it doesn't add the complexity you get from the direct-surface or oil toasting.
Source: Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen by Rick Bayless
MsgID: 3155080
Shared by: Betsy at Recipelink.com
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