The chile relleno (, literally "stuffed
chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
")
is a dish in
Mexican cuisine
Mexican cuisine consists of the cooking cuisines and traditions of the modern country of Mexico. Its earliest roots lie in Mesoamerican cuisine. Its ingredients and methods begin with the first agricultural communities such as the Olmec and M ...
that originated in the city of
Puebla
Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...
. In 1858, it was described as a "green chile pepper stuffed with minced meat and coated with eggs".
The most common pepper used is Puebla's
poblano
The poblano (''Capsicum annuum'') is a mild chili pepper originating in the state of Puebla, Mexico. Dried, it is called ancho or chile ancho, from the Spanish word ''ancho'' ("wide"). Stuffed fresh and roasted it is popular in '' chiles relle ...
pepper, though
New Mexico chile
New Mexico chile or New Mexican chile (Scientific name: ''Capsicum annuum'' 'New Mexico Group'; es, chile de Nuevo México, ) is a cultivar group of the chile pepper from the US state of New Mexico, first grown by Pueblo and Hispano communitie ...
,
pasilla
The pasilla chile ( ) or chile negro is the dried form of the chilaca chili pepper, a long and narrow member of species ''Capsicum annuum''. Named for its dark, wrinkled skin (literally "little raisin"), it is a mild to hot, rich-flavored chile ...
, or even
jalapeño
The jalapeño ( , , ) is a medium-sized chili pepper pod type cultivar of the species ''Capsicum annuum''. A mature jalapeño chili is long and hangs down with a round, firm, smooth flesh of wide. It can have a range of pungency, with Scovi ...
peppers are popular as well. It is typically stuffed with
melted cheese
Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...
, such as
queso Chihuahua
In Mexico, queso Chihuahua is commonly recognized as a soft white cheese available in braids, balls or rounds and originates in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. In Chihuahua, it is called ''queso menonita'', after the Mennonite communities of nort ...
or
queso Oaxaca
Oaxaca cheese ( es, queso Oaxaca) ( ), also known as quesillo and queso de hebra, is a white, semihard, low-fat cheese that originated in Mexico. It is similar to unaged Monterey Jack, but with a texture similar to mozzarella or string cheese.
H ...
or with
picadillo
Picadillo (, "mince") is a traditional dish in many Latin American countries and the Philippines. It is made with ground meat (most commonly beef), tomatoes (tomato sauce may be used as a substitute), and also raisins, olives, and other ingredien ...
meat made of diced pork, raisins and nuts, seasoned with
canella
''Canella'' is a monospecific genus containing the species ''Canella winterana'', a tree native to the Caribbean from the Florida Keys to Barbados. Its bark is used as a spice similar to cinnamon, giving rise to the common names cinnamon bark, ...
; covered in an egg white
batter, simply corn
masa
''Masa'' (or ''masa de maíz'') (; ) is a maize dough that comes from ground nixtamalization, nixtamalized corn. It is used for making corn tortillas, ''gorditas'', ''tamales'', ''pupusas'', and many other Latin American cuisine, Latin American d ...
flour and
fried, or without any batter at all.
Although it is often served in a tomato sauce, the sauces can vary.
Regional variation
Mexico
Some regional versions in Mexico use rehydrated dry chiles such as
anchos
The poblano (''Capsicum annuum'') is a mild chili pepper originating in the state of Puebla, Mexico. Dried, it is called ancho or chile ancho, from the Spanish word ''ancho'' ("wide"). Stuffed fresh and roasted it is popular in '' chiles relle ...
or
pasillas.
United States
In the United States, chiles rellenos are usually filled with
asadero
Asadero cheese (''queso asadero'' meaning "roastable" or "for grilling," also spelled "azadero") is a white, flat Mexican cheese that is made fresh from goat and cow's milk. "Asadero" is the kind of cheese, and individual pieces of the cheese are ...
or
Monterey Jack
Monterey Jack, sometimes shortened to Jack, is a Californian white, semi-hard cheese made using cow's milk, with a mild flavor and slight sweetness. It has been called "an American original" and "as a vestige of Spanish rule in the early nineteen ...
cheese, but can also be found with
cheddar
Cheddar most often refers to either:
*Cheddar cheese
*Cheddar, Somerset, the village after which Cheddar cheese is named
Cheddar may also refer to:
Places
* Cheddar, Ontario, Canada
* Cheddar Yeo, a river which flows through Cheddar Gorge and t ...
or other cheeses, as well as ground or minced meat. Typically the chile is then dipped in an egg white batter and either pan-fried or deep-fried. Chiles rellenos are a popular cuisine in the U.S. state of New Mexico, where the
Hatch chile
New Mexico chile or New Mexican chile (Scientific name: ''Capsicum annuum'' 'New Mexico Group'; es, chile de Nuevo México, ) is a cultivar group of the chile pepper from the US state of New Mexico, first grown by Pueblo and Hispano communitie ...
is revered for its slender (rather than round) shape and medium-to-hot flavor. In the contiguous U.S., rellenos are typically served with red or green chile sauce or
mole
Mole (or Molé) may refer to:
Animals
* Mole (animal) or "true mole", mammals in the family Talpidae, found in Eurasia and North America
* Golden moles, southern African mammals in the family Chrysochloridae, similar to but unrelated to Talpida ...
.
Variations, which can be seen based on regional tastes or experimentation, include:
*
Chiles en nogada
''Chiles en nogada'' is a Mexican dish of poblano chiles stuffed with ''picadillo'' (a mixture usually containing shredded meat, aromatics, fruits and spices) topped with a walnut-based cream sauce called ''nogada'', pomegranate seeds and pars ...
[
* Pecan-encrusted
* Crab-filled]
* Inside of a "chile relleno burrito
A burrito (, ) is a dish in Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine that took form in Ciudad Juárez, consisting of a flour tortilla wrapped into a sealed cylindrical shape around various ingredients. The tortilla is sometimes lightly grilled or steamed ...
"
* In a casserole
A casserole ( French: diminutive of , from Provençal 'pan') is a normally large deep pan or bowl a casserole is anything in a casserole pan. Hot or cold
History
Baked dishes have existed for thousands of years. Early casserole recipes ...
form (which can be more practical for serving groups of people)
* Tuna filled[
* ]Squash blossom
Squash blossoms (called courgette flowers in Great Britain) are the edible flowers of ''Cucurbita'' species, particularly ''Cucurbita pepo'', the species that produces zucchini (courgette), marrow, spaghetti squash, and many other types of squ ...
stuffed[
* Mushroom stuffed][
* Shrimp stuffed][
A recipe from 1914 (as "chili reinas") is published in a period guidebook to ]San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
restaurants.
Guatemala
In Guatemala, the pimiento pepper is stuffed with shredded pork and vegetables. Like the Mexican version, it is covered with egg batter and fried. It is served with tomato sauce or inside a bread bun.
Gallery
Image:Breaded-Chile-Rellenos.jpg, A variation on the classic recipe using egg batter rather than dipping in masa
''Masa'' (or ''masa de maíz'') (; ) is a maize dough that comes from ground nixtamalization, nixtamalized corn. It is used for making corn tortillas, ''gorditas'', ''tamales'', ''pupusas'', and many other Latin American cuisine, Latin American d ...
flour
File:Jalapeños.jpg, Jalapeño "poppers
Popper is a slang term given broadly to drugs of the chemical class called alkyl nitrites that are inhaled. Most widely sold products include the original isoamyl nitrite or isopentyl nitrite, and isopropyl nitrite. Isobutyl nitrite is also ...
", another form of chiles rellenos
File:Chile Relleno casserole.jpg, A Mexican-American variation which has chiles stuffed with monterey jack cheese and an egg batter, baked in a casserole dish
See also
* ''Chiles en nogada
''Chiles en nogada'' is a Mexican dish of poblano chiles stuffed with ''picadillo'' (a mixture usually containing shredded meat, aromatics, fruits and spices) topped with a walnut-based cream sauce called ''nogada'', pomegranate seeds and pars ...
''
* Jalapeño popper
Jalapeño poppers, or jalapeño bites, are jalapeño peppers that have been hollowed out, stuffed with a mixture of cheese, spices, and sometimes ground meat, and breaded and deep fried. They are a common dish on appetizer menus in chain restaur ...
* Dinamita
''Dinamita'' (also known simply as dynamite) is a deep-fried Filipino snack consisting of stuffed ''siling haba'' (long green chili peppers) wrapped in a thin egg crêpe. The stuffing is usually ''giniling'' (ground beef or pork), cheese, o ...
* Mirchi bada
* List of Mexican dishes
The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire occurred in the 16th century. The basic staples since then remain native foods such as corn, beans, squash and chili peppers, but the Europeans introduced many other foods, the most important of which were ...
References
Mexican cuisine
New Mexican cuisine
Stuffed vegetable dishes
American vegetable dishes
{{Mexico-cuisine-stub