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Chiles Rellenos
Roasted poblanos stuffed with molten cheese, puffed in cloudlike egg batter and fried golden. Worth every step.
The whole recipe in 60 seconds
Chiles Rellenos, in 5 ideas
- Pick heavy, firm poblanos. Thin walled peppers tear when stuffed. You want thick, glossy ones that can hold their shape.
- Do not skip the flour dusting. It gives the batter something to grip. Without it, the coating slides right off in the oil.
- Keep the oil at 350F. Too cool and the rellenos absorb grease. Too hot and the batter burns before the cheese melts. A thermometer is worth it here.
- Toothpicks are insurance. If a pepper splits during stuffing, pin it closed. Remove them before serving, and warn your guests just in case.
- The sauce should be simple. It is a bright backdrop, not the star. Let the pepper and the puffy batter shine.
What you need
Ingredients
- 6 large poblano peppers
- 12 oz Oaxaca or Monterey Jack cheese, cut into thick strips
- 4 large eggs, separated
- 1/3 cup flour, plus more for dusting
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Vegetable oil, for frying (about 2 cups)
- For the tomato sauce: 1 (14 oz) can crushed tomatoes, 1/2 white onion, 2 cloves garlic, 1/2 tsp Mexican oregano
- Salt and black pepper
How to make it
Directions
- Char the poblanos directly over a gas flame or under the broiler, turning, until blackened all over, about 8 minutes. Seal in a bowl covered with plastic wrap for 15 minutes, then peel off the skins. Do not rinse or you wash away flavor.
- Make a small slit down one side of each pepper and carefully pull out the seeds, keeping the pepper intact. Stuff each with cheese strips. If a pepper tears a little, a toothpick through the slit holds it closed.
- For the sauce, blend the tomatoes, onion, garlic, and oregano until smooth. Simmer in a saucepan for 10 minutes until slightly thickened. Season with salt.
- Heat the oil in a deep skillet to 350F. Dust each stuffed pepper lightly with flour, shaking off excess.
- Beat the egg whites with the salt to stiff glossy peaks. Lightly beat the yolks and fold them in gently. Fold in the 1/3 cup flour just until combined. Work quickly; the batter deflates as it sits.
- Coat each pepper generously in the puffy batter and lower into the hot oil. Fry 2 to 3 minutes per side until deeply golden. Drain on a rack, not paper towels, so the bottoms stay crisp.
- Serve over a pool of the warm tomato sauce.
The batter waits for nothing. Whip the egg whites at the last possible moment and fry immediately. Every minute the batter sits, it loses lift.