DRIED CHILES

Whats the Difference?

by Becca Wright

Deciding on an entre, you come across Topped with an ancho-guajillo chile sauce. These are dried chiles,
of course, but you cant quite remember the variances. What is a guajillo chile anyway? You ask your fellow
diners, and everyone looks at one another and shrugs with a similar failure-to-recall expression.
To minimize surreptitious under-the-table Google searches, we set out to Airline Boulevard and stocked
up on dried chiles from Flores Spice & Trading Co. and Canino Produce Co. and also made a pit stop at
Penzeys Spices. Weve done the research, so you can stop asking, What is the difference?

THE HEAT KEY

MILD

MEDIUM

HOT

de arbol
puya

new
mexico
(hatch)

guajillo
One of the most popular
dried chiles in Mexican
cuisine, these little gourds
(the seeds inside rattle)
are dried mirasol chiles.
Celebrity chef Rick
Bayless describes them as
workhorse chiles with a lot
of dazzle. Its pronounced
wah-HEE-yoh.

The puya (say POOyuh) is similar to the

more common guajillo,
but its a bit smaller and
packs more complex
heat. (It is also referred
to as a pulla chile.)
Substitute a guajillo for
a puya chile when you
want a fruiter flavor.

The name translates to

tree-like and is a reference
to the chiles woody stem.
They are searingly hot and
have grassy undertones.
Use a chile de arbol in
place of cayenne as the heat
levels are similar, but the
de arbol adds more flavor.
Often used in decorative
wreaths.
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JUNE JULY 2015

This deep red chile,

also known as a
chile colorado, is
often seen woven
into wreath-like ristras
for sale at roadside
stands across New
Mexico. Their mild,
fruity flavor works well
with chocolate.

chipotle

mulato

ancho
The fleshy heart-shaped
ancho is the most
commonly used dried
chile in Mexican cooking.
It is a dried poblano pepper
(native of the state of
Puebla) and adds a
plum-raisin flavor to
red chili, tamales, salsa
and many moles.

pequin

meco

Like the ancho, a mulato

is also a dried poblano;
for a mulato, however,
poblanos are left to ripen
to a rich brown color
before being picked
and dried. They are
smoky sweet with hints of
chocolate, licorice, cherries
and coffee.

A chipotle (chi-POHT-lay)
is a smoked and dried green
jalapeo. The morita
chipotle (shown here) is
smoked for less time than
the meco, resulting in a
softer and fruitier dried
chile. Re-hydrate chipotles
in hot water for 20 minutes
for easy chopping.

As a rule, the smaller the

chile, the more heat it packs.
Only two or three pequins
(each about a half-inch long)
are needed to spice an entire
pot of beans. Nicknamed the
bird chile, it is enjoyed by
birds that like its underlying
fruitiness and are immune to
its spiciness.

Head to Penzeys Spices for a

bag of dried cascabel chiles.
Resembling a large, plump
cherry, the cascabel has the
same name both fresh and
dried. It has a nutty flavor
with smoky undertones and
pairs well with tomatoes and
tomatillos. Sometimes called
chile bola.

pasilla

general rule
The
is the bigger the
chile, the less
heat it has.
BOBBY FLAY

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JUNE JULY 2015

The meco, or brown

chipotle, is a smoked and
dried jalapeo that was fully
ripened to red. It is smoked
for a longer time than the
morito, until the chile is
medium ashy brown. Toast
the chile before grinding
for an even smokier ground
chipotle powder.

cascabel

The pasilla (pah-SEE-yah) is a part

of the holy trinity of Mexican
chiles used in moles along with the
ancho and mulato chiles. It is also
known as chile negro. The pasilla is
regarded as having one of the more
sophisticated flavor profiles.