Ever Use Dried Chilis?

[Mylegsbig]

Someone said he made a great salsa with chile de arbol.

He said he toasted them then mixed with other stuff blah blah.


ive never used dried chiles, except to grind up to make chile flakes.

When are dried chiles preferable to fresh?

Does anybody have any good ideas or things to use dried arbols, or ancho, etc, etc....

How do you use them technique wise..it seems like the dried skin pieces could be a tough nasty bite..am i wrong???

cheers

[Caine]

Whole dried chiles are normally used to add flavor to recipes, such as Kung Pao chicken for instance. You are expected to just squeeze them between your fingers to crack them before you add them to the dish. Most people make a serious attempt to avoid actually EATING these chiles because they are extremely hot!

[Mylegsbig]

oh i love eating those with the dish.

the ones that come with orange beef and with general tso chicken

[PytnPlace]

I use them. Rick Bayless used them in a lot of his recipes. That's what inspired my inspiration. I use them for salsa. A whole new smoky dimension. People swoon over the salsa when I make it this way. It is time consuming tho. Lately I have been taking short cuts (like toasting chile powder in a skillet).

[Caine]

Here, hold this.

[Fisher's Mom]

I'm with you, leg. Orange beef is my favorite and I love munching on the little chilis. Of course, I have a huge glass of iced tea and a box of kleenex next to me when I do.

[Mylegsbig]

heh

cheers

Pytn what is your go to salsa recipe? I'd like to try it.

Please post it in the original form, the one you said takes alot of work.

[qmax]

I use them to make chili powder. Way better than pre-packaged.

[justplainbill]

To my taste Tien Tsin are one of the best for Asian style foods. For most other purposes I use the long skinny ones. To get the biggest bang for the buck, I reduce most dried herbs / spices to a fine powder in a mortar before adding them to the ingredients being cooked.

[AllenOK]

I concur with PytnPlace. I just got one of Rick Bayless's cookbooks this year, and in many of the recipes, you make a chile sauce (same technique for Mole, as well), by toasting the dry chiles in a skillet, removing the stems and seeds, then soaking in hot water for about 30 minutes. Then they are usually pureed, and if you use a chile with a thicker skin, you usually strain the puree, then proceed with the recipe.