Every year around late September and early October, my family makes this amazingly delicious dish, Chile Rellenos. Chile Relleno is an iconic Mexican dish that means “stuffed chile.” The traditional pepper used in this dish is a poblano, but Anaheim peppers can also be used.
The meal is a part of Mexican identity, representing the tasty mix, or mestizaje, of techniques and foods. The Chile Relleno is the result of these mixed culinary customs from Europe and Latin American. After the introduction, the dish quickly became one of societies’ most requested meals. The History of Mexican Chile Rellenos
The meal takes a lot of time and effort to cook, but there are minimal ingredients and maximum taste. We grow the poblano peppers in our garden specifically for this recipe, that is how worth it, it is! The first bite makes you forget about all the preparation.
Let’s get started on the recipe.
What you’ll need:
-Poblano peppers (bonus points if they are fresh from your garden)
-Cheddar cheese block
-2 eggs
-1 cup of flour
-1 teaspoon of baking soda
-Vegetable oil
Step one: Preheat the oven broiler. Place peppers on a sheet pan and broil until the skins are blistered and blackened (this takes about 10 minutes). You are essentially burning the skin off the peppers. Â
Step two: Put them into a bowl and cover with saran wrap. The peppers need to steam themselves so the skin can easily peel off. All of the outside skin should peel off, if it is difficult to peel, keep them in the bowl covered until they are ready.
Step three: Once they are peeled, it is time to get to the good stuff. Slice open the side of your peppers from the top to the bottom and gut out the seeds. Do not cut through the whole pepper, you just need a big enough opening to fit the cheese.
Step four: Stuff in your cheese. We use cheddar that we slice from the block but use your favorite cheese. Some other popular cheeses to use are queso asadero, queso Oaxaca, or Monterey Jack. Even a mixture of many varieties can be yummy. There is no such thing as too much cheese either. The cheesier the better!
Step five: Next is the batter. This part is very important. You need to separate your egg yolks from the whites. In two separate bowls, mix whisk your egg yolks and then whip your egg whites until they are fluffy. Add baking soda to the egg yolks. After they are mixed on their own, you can start to slowly fold the mixture into each other. It should look like a batter in the end.
Step six: Fill a bowl with flour. Take your peppers one by one and coat them in the flour. Then transfer the pepper and coat them in the batter. Repeat with all peppers and put them on a plate because they are ready to be fried up.
Step seven: Prepare your cast iron pan with vegetable oil. Fry your peppers in the pan until they are lightly brown and crispy. Make sure to flip to crisp up both sides.
Step eight: Place them on a plate and let them cool. Gather your friends and family and enjoy!
My dad only makes these delicious Chile Rellenos once a year, so you must savor each bite. I am so thankful for all the work my dad does in making these. It is an all-day process, but they always turn out so good.
If you need a new recipe to add to your line-up, I definitely recommend trying this delightful, authentic, Mexican meal.