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Appetizers » Salsa de Chile Chilaca

Salsa de Chile Chilaca

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salsa, fresh salsa

Salsa de Chile Chilaca

I have been attending Sunday Mass with my Sister at her Home Parish since we moved back from Edinburg, Texas.  After mass I head over to a small Mercado to pick up a few items for the week.   Stocked up for the week I head over to their small produce selection.  I always find somethng new.  Yesterday I ran across these bright green Chilaca peppers and scooped up the few they had left.  Hard to find chilaca peppers are popular in Guanajuato and often eaten as rajas or stuffed (chile rellano).

Bright green, long, flat and curvy these peppers are often confused with a New Mexican chile or poblano.  As they ripen they become a rich deep brown chocolate color (like mole) and their flavor becomes a little meatier, stronger.   When dried a chilaca becomes a pasilla pepper.

 

Chilacas pepper

The deep brown color of this chile is termed “achocolatado” in Spanish, meaning “chocolate colored”.

The name Chilaca is derived from the Nahuatl acatl meaning “gray hair” or “old”, an appropriate description of this bent and wrinkled chile.

Pasilla (pronounced pah-SEE-yah; literally “little raisin”)

 

 

 

 

 

salsa, fresh salsa
Print
Salsa de Chile Chilaca
Author: Vianney Rodriguez
Ingredients
  • 6 fresh chilacas
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • ½ medium onion
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Water
Instructions
  1. Place the chilacas, garlic and onion on a baking sheet.
  2. Place under broiler, until charred. 5 to 7 minutes.
  3. Be sure to watch the garlic, it will char quickly.
  4. Remove from broiler cover with dish towel and allow to steam for about 5 minutes.
  5. Remove charred skin, stem and seeds.
  6. Remove skin from garlic and onion.
  7. Place chilacas, garlic, onion and oregano into a molcajete or blender along with a splash of water.
  8. Puree until smooth.
  9. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

 

 

 

 

Appetizers// Salsas & Dips// Spicy Favorites6 Comments

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Comments

  1. Jill says

    August 4, 2013 at 12:23 pm

    I live in California, too. Pasilla peppers sold here are actually poblano peppers. Poblano are much wider that true pasillas.

    Reply
  2. Lori Lynn says

    March 29, 2013 at 3:47 pm

    You always make the best salsas. Strangely enough fresh pasillas are marketed in California, I wonder if it is the same as the chilaca?
    LL

    Reply
  3. Heather @girlichef says

    March 25, 2013 at 1:24 pm

    I don’t think I’ve ever seen chilacas around here! I love pasillas, though and hope to try their fresh version one day. This salsa sounds awesome.

    Reply
  4. Rosa says

    March 25, 2013 at 9:31 am

    Flavorful! This salsa must taste great in sandwiches.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    Reply

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Welcome to Sweet Life.

I'm Vianney, an Award-Winning Food Blogger, Recipe Developer and the Author of The Tex-Mex Slow Cooker and Latin Twist. Here in South Texas, we love to entertain and spend time in the company of good people. Sweet Life is a celebration of that connection and the vibrant, unique culture of South Texas.

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