How to stew dried prunes
When how to stew dried prunes think of Mexican chiles, you likely first conjure up the fresh, spicy green kinds—jalapeños, serranos, and poblanos. Fresh peppers are great for adding color, crunch, and heat to a dish, but it’s the dried versions that offer the most surprising and complex flavors, from smoky to spicy, to citrusy, chocolaty, earthy, and mushroomy. Dried chiles can be roughly organized into two camps: red and dark. To dislodge seeds, snap off the stems or split the flesh lengthwise with a paring knife, then shake or scrape away the seeds.
20 minutes before they can be broken down in a blender to release their full flavor. Red chiles typically have bright colors, tropical fruit flavors, a good amount of acidity, and varying degrees of spice. They pair best with poultry, fish, and other light or lean meats. These are ranked from mildest to hottest. 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.
Guajillos combine well with other chiles and tomatoes without overpowering them with spice or smokiness. Because of their thin but tough skins, they need about 20 to 25 minutes of soaking time in boiling water when reconstituting from dried. Puya: Similar to guajillos but smaller and spicier, earthy, fruity but with some acidity, medium heat. The puya is basically a smaller, spicier version of the guajillo.
They’re bright red with thin but tough skins, and because they’re quite dry, they take well to toasting. Chipotle: Medium sized, tough skinned, smoky, medium heat. The chipotle is actually a smoked, dried version of one of Mexico’s most common fresh chiles, the jalapeño. They’re red because they are picked at the end of the ripening process, but the smoking and drying process can turn some chipotles an ashy, brown-tan color.
Chipotles have a medium heat, and are known for their distinct smokiness and earthy flavor. By simply soaking chipotles in boiling water, then blending with a few tomatillos, you can have a simple, medium-heat salsa to dip your chips in. 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. 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. Morita: Petite, smoky, sweet dried fruit flavors, medium to high heat. Small but substantial chiles that are great to have on hand. They add both smokiness and a decent amount of heat to salsas and sauces. Dark chiles, which can take on tones of deep purple or jet-black, tend to be thicker, chewier, and moister than red chiles, with the sweet ripe flavors of raisins and prunes. Most aren’t that spicy—they’re used more for their color, sweetness, and sometimes smokiness.
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. Mulato: Sweet, lightly smoky, dried fruit flavors. Mulatos, like anchos, are a relative of the poblano chile, and have a similar smoky-sweet profile, especially when charred. However, they are darker than anchos with a brownish-purple tinge. Mulatos are thick, meaty chiles, so they make a great addition to moles, pozoles, and other dishes where they can be blended into adobo or thick paste to add body, intense ripe fruit flavors, and dark colors to a dish.
What it lacks in heat it makes up in strong aromas and an intense fruity sweetness reminiscent of tropical fruit. A great choice for when you want a chile with flavor but not much heat. Ancho: Ripe fruit flavors, lightly smoky, mildly spicy. The ancho is a poblano chile that has been ripened to a deep red, then picked and dried. Its spice level fluctuates depending on the individual chile, but in general, the ancho has mild to moderate heat. Compared to the ancho, the pasilla’s texture is a bit tougher, and its heat more intense.
Get our favorite recipes, stories, and more delivered to your inbox. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service. Typical Iranian main dishes are combinations of rice with meat, vegetables and nuts. Among the writings available from the Middle Persian scripts, the treatise of Khosrow and Ridag, points about stews and foods and the way of using them and how they are obtained in the Sassanid period are found as valid references in compiling the history of cooking in Iran. Ancient Persian philosophers and physicians have influenced the preparation of Iranian foods to follow the rules of the strengthening and weakening characteristics of foods based on the Iranian traditional medicine. 76 years later by a chef for Abbas I.
