New Mexican Style Red Chile Sauce straight out of The Land of Enchantment – enchilada sauce doesn’t get better than this!
There are altogether too many recipes floating around the internet for enchilada sauces that contain no red chiles. I know this is gate-keeping, and I know I should be better than this, but I just cringe whenever I see some tomato-based concoction smothering enchiladas. It makes me sad to think that people don’t think it can get any better than that. It really, really does.
This is my mom’s recipe straight out of New Mexico- one of the last American bastions of chile-based, truly excellent Mexican food. Of all the varying regional types of Mexican food out there (Tex-mex, Californian, Colorado, and so on) New Mexican is by far my favorite, and what I mainly grew up eating.
Sometimes you will see the chiles called for in this recipe as chile colorado, or dried New Mexico red chiles. This is a specific type of chile, which you can find more information about HERE. They are matured and dried Hatch green chiles and there is no substitute for them in this recipe. If you live in the American southwest or adjacent states, these should be available in most grocery stores in the fall as well as at local pop-up sellers throughout your area. As you move away from these areas, they get much harder to find and you may need to grab them online.
Don’t let the relative simplicity of this recipe fool you. New Mexican red chiles don’t need a lot of love and extra ingredients to be good. If you don’t love spicy food, this is probably not the recipe for you. It’s difficult to control the heat because you are entirely subject to the spiciness of the chiles you have. If you’re trying to manage it a little, dump out all the seeds when you break off the stems. If you’re really trying to go for it, though, leave those suckers in.
Although making New Mexican Style Red Chile Sauce doesn’t necessarily require any special equipment, I have added a picture (above) of one thing that can make this project easier. Commonly sold as a fish turner, I use this as a flat whisk to gently stir the bottom of the pot of sauce while leaving the top undisturbed. The reason you do this is to let the reddish foam that develops on top cook into the sauce; once the foam disappears on its own you know the sauce has cooked long enough and the flavors have really developed. You don’t want to fool yourself by stirring it in and ending up with sub-par enchilada sauce! This process usually takes about an hour.
Looking for more recipes from the American Southwest? Try my New Mexican Style Green Chile Sauce, Trading Post Beans and Stacked Enchiladas recipes!
New Mexican Style Red Chile Sauce
Ingredients
- 20 dried New Mexico red chiles
- 10 cups water
- 1 tbsp salted butter
- 1 tbsp flour
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Break off the stems of each chile. Dump out as many seeds as you would like, depending on your heat preference.
- Bring red chiles and water to boil in a large pot. Boil for about 10 minutes, until bright red and soft.
- Turn off the heat and let the pot cool for five or so minutes. Don't throw out the water just yet!
- Transfer red chiles + 2 cups of reserved water into a large blender. Blend thoroughly until smooth. If you have a smaller blender (like I do!), you're going to have to do this in batches; start with half the chiles and half the water. Have a bowl handy to pour the blended mixture into before starting on the second batch.
- Once all of your chiles have been blended together, add 2 more cups of reserved chile water to the mixture. You can throw out the remaining water now.
- Rinse and dry your large pot. Over medium heat, whisk together butter and flour to form a roux. Let cook, stirring often, for about a minute.
- Add your pureed chile mixture to the pot and whisk together thoroughly with cumin, oregano, garlic powder and salt.
- Lower heat to a simmer. Let simmer for another hour or so, stirring occasionally. When stirring, try to disturb the light yellowish-red foam that builds on top as little as possible; instead keeping the motion more focused on scraping up the bottom of the pot. When all the foam on top disappears, your sauce is done.
Currently Listening: Gordon Lightfoot – Summertime Dream
