Chile Relleno
What You Need
Ingredients
Preparation
In this classic vegetarian Mexican dish, fresh poblano chiles are charred, stuffed with cheese, battered and fried. They’re served in a mild tomato sauce. Any mild, white cheese, like panela or Monterey Jack can be used – we like queso Oaxaca for its meltability.
*This recipe originally ran in Mexico on HexClad.mx.
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Roast peppers directly over a gas flame or under a preheated broiler, turning, until charred all over, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and cover with a kitchen towel to steam for 30 minutes. Peel peppers, discarding skins. Cut a slit in the side of each pepper and carefully remove all seeds. Season the insides with salt and stuff with cheese, approximately 3 Tbsp/45 grams in each pepper. Side aside until ready to fry.
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In a blender, blend tomatoes, garlic, onion, cumin, 2 teaspoons salt and ½ cup/120 ml water until smooth. In a HexClad 3 QT/3 L Hybrid Saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add tomato sauce and bring to a simmer with epazote. Cook for 20 minutes until just slightly reduced; season with salt if needed. Keep warm.
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In the HexClad 10"/25 cm Hybrid Fry Pan, heat ¼ inch/½ cm oil over medium-low heat to 325°F/162°C. Set a rack in a baking sheet.
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Place egg whites in a medium bowl. Place flour in a shallow bowl. With an electric mixer, whip egg whites to medium peaks, then whisk in yolks to combine. Dredge each pepper in flour, shaking off all excess and carefully dip in whipped egg mixture. One at a time, fry each pepper on both sides until puffy and golden; use a spatula to press the foaming egg white to the pepper, carefully turning pepper in the oil, about 5 minutes. Transfer chile relleno to prepared rack and let drain as you fry the other peppers.
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Spoon warm tomato sauce onto plates and set chile rellenos on top. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.
Note
You want the peppers to be dry when you dredge them so just the faintest dusting of flour coats them all over, making it easy for the whipped egg whites to adhere properly.
