Subtitle: When a Poblano isn’t.
Cooking Mexican food at home can be a bit intimidating at first. There are a lot of unfamiliar ingredients, some of which are unavailable at our local supermarkets. Adding to the confusion is the fact that the same ingredient can have more than one name, which may not match what’s called for in your recipe. Some of the names are incorrect, making you think you’re buying one thing when you’re actually getting something entirely different. This can have some disastrous consequences. I’m going to try to sort through some of the confusion, as it applies to chiles, and hope I can make things a little more understandable.
The confusion can begin with one of the most commonly used chiles, the Poblano, which is used in a great many Mexican recipes. If you go to Whole Foods, you’ll find Poblanos. If you go to Safeway or King Sooper, you won’t. At the latter two stores, Poblanos are called Pasillas, a name they were given at some point in California, which has spread to other states.
So Poblanos are called Pasillas, even though they aren’t Pasillas. The real Pasilla is a dried pepper, not a fresh pepper as is the Poblano. It is the dried form of the Chilaca chile.
Anaheim chiles are often called New Mexico chiles, even though they sort of are but really aren’t. New Mexico chiles are just chiles grown in New Mexico and are most often varieties like the Big Jim, Rio Grande, and Sandia, although they can be Anaheims. The chiles you will usually find being sold as New Mexicos can carry a little more heat than the typically mild Anaheims, although they shouldn’t give you any really unpleasant surprises.
You will often see it inferred that Habaneros and Scotch Bonnets are the same pepper. They aren’t, although they are in the same family. You can treat them the same if you’re cooking with them. Both are EXTREMELY hot, and you should use caution when handling them, taking care not to get their juices in your eyes, nose, or on other sensitive parts of your body. Many people wear latex of vinyl disposable gloves when working with high-heat chiles, and it’s not a bad idea. If you haven’t cooked with these peppers before, you might want to start with about a quarter or half of the called-for amount and see how that suits you. They can be brutal.
I’ve heard people say to use either a Jalapeno or a Serrano, as if they are interchangeable. They aren’t. A Serrano can pack quite a bit more heat than a Jalapeno, although here we get into kind of a dodgy area. Jalapenos vary greatly in size, as we get them in our local markets. There are times when they can be as much as four inches long, are double the size of those I grow at home, which I pick when they’re about two inches long. So, is a honkin’ big grocery store Jalapeno equal to two normal ones in a recipe? I think so. I also grow Serranos, and in cooking I find that the heat from one Serrano is almost equal to that of two regular-sized Jalapenos, if you treat them both the same. By treating them the same I mean whether or not you remove the ribs and seeds, which is where most of the heat is carried.
You might also want to be a little cautious in recipes that call for Chipotle chiles. Chipotles are smoked Jalapenos and can be found in dried form at Whole Foods, but are more commonly purchase canned in Adobo sauce. Because they come whole, coated with sauce, many people don’t treat them the same as they might treat a Jalapeno. Their recipe will call for one or two Chipotles, usually chopped and they’ll just pull them out of the can and chop them up, not thinking about the fact that they are including the ribs and seeds. A dish that calls for two Chipotles can pack a real punch.
Anyway, that’s some of the basics of the misinformation and issues with using chiles. And, now that I’ve mentioned misinformation, I’m sure there are a lot of people who will disagree with some or most of what I’ve said here. There’s more names and opinions about chiles than you can possibly imagine. Here’s a list of the commonly found chiles in our local stores, and some information about them. I’ve surveyed Whole Foods, Safeway, and King Sooper. I haven’t managed to get to Sunflower Market, even though I intended to. When I get there, I’ll do a little editing and add them to the list.
Fresh Chiles:
Whole Foods
Poblano
Anaheim
Habanero
Serrano
Jalapeno
Red Fresno
Safeway
Poblano (called Pasilla)
Anaheim
Jalapeno
Serrano
King Sooper
Poblano (called Pasilla)
Anaheim
Jalapeno
Serrano
Habanero
I didn’t currently find Habaneros at my local Safeway, although I’d swear I’ve seen them there before. I also think I’ve seen Thai Chiles and Bird Chiles at different times. I’m sure there’s some variation in what each of the stores stocks from season to season, but most of the above chiles should be available pretty much year-round.
Some notes about the fresh chiles:
Anaheim: Long, mild green chiles that are often used for chile rellenos. Can be called Chile Verde, California Green Chile, or when mature, California Red Chile. Also called New Mexico or New Mexican, chilacate, chile college, chile Colorado, chile de ristra, Hatch, and pasado.
Habanero: Fruity and extremely hot. Imparts wonderful flavor if used judiciously. Sometimes incorrectly called Scotch Bonnet.
Jalapeno: One of the most popular chiles, with heat that is tolerable to most people. Very flavorful in fresh salsas. Pickled and jarred, they are popularly used in nachos. The pickled variety is less hot, and some are sold as having much of the heat removed, which is pretty wussy, but there you go. Also called acorchado, bola, bolita, candelaria, cauresmeno, gorda, huachinango, jarocho, mora, morita.
Poblano: Poblanos are large, fairly mild chiles, although every once in a while one will surprise you. The skin is fairly thick and can be a little unpleasant to eat raw, so they are often roasted first and the skin removed. They are commonly used in Mexican recipes and are often stuffed or cooked with an egg batter. As noted, they can be called Pasillas, and are sometimes called Anchos, which is also incorrect, as the Ancho is the dried form of the Poblano. Also called chile para rellenar, joto, mulato.
Red Fresno: The red version of the Fresno can be slightly hotter than a Jalapeno. They have thinner walls than Jalapenos, so can be very good in fresh salsas. Also known as “hot chile.”
Serrano: Thin walled, so they can be used without peeling or charring. Serranos have a wide range of heat, so should be used with a little caution. Very good in sauces and salsas. Also known as Balin, chile verde, cora, serrannito, tipico. You will notice that the Anaheim is also called “chile verde,” so it would be a good idea to be sure which pepper is being called for if that term is used in your recipe as there is a very large difference in the heat level of the two chiles.
Thai and Bird Chiles: We get into a pretty confusing area with these chiles. Thai chiles can also be known as Bird Chiles, Bird Peppers, Prik Chi Fa, and Thai Jalapenos. Cayenne peppers can also be called Bird Peppers. The hottest form of the Thai is supposed to be the Bird’s Eye. Given the labeling conventions at some of our stores, I would assume that any Thai or Bird pepper is going to be pretty darned hot. I’ve included a wide range for them in the head index table below to reflect what you might expect, given the range of peppers that can be called by these names.
Dried Chiles:
Whole Foods
Ancho
Chipotle
Chile de Arbol
Habanero
Guajillo
Safeway
Japoneshontonka
Dried California
Dried Hontaka
Chile de Arbol
Whole Chile Pequin
Chile de Ristra
King Sooper
Chile de Arbol
Whole Chile Pequin
Chile de Ristra
Some notes about the dried chiles:
Ancho: The Ancho is the dried Poblano and as such will be mild to medium-hot. Other names for it are Chile Colorado, mulato, and (incorrectly) pasilla.
California, Dried: The only chile I find that is referred to as a “California” is the Anaheim, so these may be dried Anaheims. Not sure.
Chile de Arbol: Hot! Sometimes called alfilerillo, bravo, cola de rata, cuauhchilli, ginnie pepper, pico de pajaro.
Chile de Ristra: I’m confused on this one. A ristra is the decorative string of red chiles you often see in illustrations for homes in the southwest, restaurants, etc. The most common chile used in ristras are Anaheims, which are very mild, but the packages of dried chiles called chile de ristra in our stores are marked “HOT” so I’m not sure what is in these bags.
Chipotle: A smoked jalapeno.
Guajillo: A dried Mirasol pepper. Fairly hot. Also can be called a cascabel, puya, pullia, travieso, trompa, costeno, and chilhuacle.
Habanero: Dried habanero. Danger. Use with caution.
Hontaka, Dried: A dried Hawk’s Bill chili. Typically grown in Japan. Used in many cuisines. Hot.
Japoneshontonka: Despite the spelling, I’m going to assume that this is the Japones Hontaka. The word Japones refers to the fact that these are commonly grown in Japan. Used in Mexican, Chinese, Caribbean, Latin American and a number of other cuisines. These can be smokin’ hot little hombres.
Whole Chile Pequin: HOT. Used in sauces, soups, vinegars. Also known as the bird pepper, pinhead pepper, chile petin, piquin, chiltepin, and chile mosquito.
I’ve put this information together in the hope that it will clear up some (certainly not all) of the confusion related to the chiles sold in our area. A lot of research has gone into this, but I have to say that there is so much conflicting information, so many people who will tell you with great vehemence that what you just heard from the guy standing next to them is totally wrong, that I am not sure about much of it. I’ll make changes to this as I become aware of errors – maybe. On the other hand, I may never look at it again, since it’s kind of made my head hurt.
Despite the confusion, it’s important to that chiles have great flavor, are wonderful to eat and to cook with, and are there for our enjoyment every day of the year. Eat ‘em up. They’re terrific, even if they do eat your face once in a while.
Scoville heat index for chiles commonly sold in Fort Collins/Windsor stores
Chile Type |
Scoville “Heat” Index |
Fresh chiles: |
|
Poblano (Pasilla) |
1,000-2,000 |
Anaheim |
500-2,500 |
Jalapeno |
2,500-8,000 |
Serrano |
8,000-22,000 |
Red Fresno |
5000-10,000 |
Habanero |
150,000-300,000 |
Thai chiles, Bird chiles |
30,000-100,000 |
Birds Eye |
100,000-225,000 |
|
|
|
|
Dried chiles: |
|
Ancho |
1,000-2,000 |
Chipotle |
5,000-8,000 |
Chile de Arbol |
15,000-30,000 |
Habanero |
150,000-325,000 |
Guajillo |
2,500-5,000 |
Birds Eye |
100,000-225,,000 |
Dried California |
500-2,500 |
Dried Hontaka |
50,000-100,000 |
Japoneshantonka |
35,000-100,000 |
Whole Chile Pequin |
40,000-100,000 |
Chile de Ristra |
? |
|
|
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