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 that originated in the city of Puebla. 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 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 north ...

or queso Oaxaca 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 nixtamalized corn. It is used for making corn tortillas, '' gorditas'', ''tamales'', '' pupusas'', and many other Latin American dishes. It is dried and powdered into ...

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 ...

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 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 stea ...

" * In a casserole 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 for " 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 fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

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

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 al ...

", 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

References