Chiles Rellenos is a very special dish that we seem to reserve for guests. Now that the kids are older, I should make them more often for just us, because family are the best people to share your best dishes with!
A Very Delicious Stuffed Pepper
Almost every culture has some sort of stuffed pepper, but Chiles Rellenos are very special here along the border. The preparation is rather lengthy, but then they stuffed peppers have to be fried right before serving in a light airy egg batter. Very delicate and very worth the extra effort!
Fresh chile poblano are the types of chiles you will need for making Chiles Rellenos. Freshly roasted Hatch chiles or Anaheim chiles are acceptable substitutes, but you definitely can’t use canned chiles for this dish. Bell peppers are not a great substitute as they have so much moisture.
If you are wondering if poblano chiles are spicy, I can’t really answer that question. Each harvest has a different level of spiciness, sor of like a chile roulette! You never know what you will get! Chile poblano can occasionally be outrageously spicy, but lately all the chiles I have purchased have been on the mild side. There is no way to tell how spicy they are until you take that first bite!
Cheese or Beef?
The cheese filled ones seem to be the most popular, so that is the recipe I am featuring here. But you can easily make beef filled Chiles Rellenos by using leftover beef picadillo, a beef stew made from ground meat.
Also, I love to roast both the chile poblano and tomatoes and spicy chile serrano for the sauce all at the same time for convenience. The vegetables will roast at different rates, so make sure you remove wach one when it reaches its full level of roastiness!
Chiles Rellenos
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Ingredients
Vegetables for roasting:
2 lbs. fresh chile poblano (about 8–10 chiles- 1kg)
1 lb. fresh tomatoes (500g)
1–2 fresh chile serrano
For the Sauce:
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp. olive oil (30ml)
Salt and pepper to taste
For the stuffed chiles:
1 lb. white cheese, such as Monterrey Jack or Oaxaca cheese (500g)
1 cup all-purpose flour (125g)
Salt and pepper to taste
5 eggs, separated
Vegetable oil for frying
Garnishes:
Sliced avocado
Crumbled queso fresco
Sliced onions
Sliced radishes
Instructions
Rinse the chile poblano, chile serrano and tomatoes under running water. Place all of chiles, and tomatoes on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Place them under a preheated electric broiler and allow to roast until the vegetables are blistered and slightly blackened. Remove the vegetables from the broiler as they become fully roasted.
Place chile poblano in a clean kitchen towel and wrap into a bundle. Place the bundle in a paper bag and allow the chile poblano to sweat for at least 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the fresh tomato sauce by removing the seeds from the roasted tomatoes. Place the tomatoes in a blender along with the roasted chile serrano, 2 cups of water and a clove of garlic. Purée until smooth. Heat the olive oil in an 9” (22cm) skillet and carefully pour in fresh sauce. Sauté the sauce until reduced, about five minutes. Set aside
Returning to the chile poblano, remove them from the paper bag and the towel bundle. Scrape away the loosened outer skin with a dinner knife and slit vertically. Do not remove the stem. Turn the chilies inside out to remove the seed core. Rinse the chiles in running water to remove any bits of skin and seeds. Fill each chile with 1-2 oz (28g-56g)of cheese as desired and close with a toothpick.
Pour the flour into a shallow dish. Season the flour lightly with salt and pepper. Dredge each prepared chile in the flour. Set aside.
In a separate clean bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. In a separate bowl, whip the egg yolks until they are smooth and lemon colored. Fold the yolks into the whites.
Add vegetable oil to a 10” (25cm) skillet and heat to 350°F (176°C). Using two forks, dip each chile in the egg batter and place in the hot vegetable oil. Fry the chiles on each side for 1-2 minutes until they are golden brown.
Remove each chile from the frying oil and drain on paper towels (you will have to fry the chiles in batches.) Hold the chiles in a warm oven until you are ready to serve.
To serve the chiles, place a small amount of the fresh tomato sauce on a platter or individual plate. Place the fried filled chile on top of the sauce. Garnish with queso fresco, cilantro, sliced onions and chopped radishes.
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