If you have ever swiped left when a recipe calls for rehydrating dried chilies then you need to read this. The process of drying chili peppers not only allows their flavors to fully develop, but it also keeps them useable for several years.
Dried chili peppers can be ground into a powder, blended into a paste or rehydrated and used in so many flavorful recipes.
There is only one step in rehydrating dried chili peppers – soaking them in hot liquid – but you have a few choices when it comes to both the flavor you get out of that liquid and just how much heat you extract from the chili peppers.
Let’s get started…
First, let’s discuss the heat.
There are many different kinds of chili peppers with all levels of heat, but as a general rule, the big ones are more mild and the small ones have more of a kick. Ancho, guajillo and japones are my favorites and all have mild to medium heat levels with lots of warm, fruity flavors.
The heat in a chili pepper is in the inner membrane. It is often white and what connects the seeds to the flesh of the pepper. The actual flesh of the chili pepper is where the flavor is and although seed removal is often suggested, the actual seeds do not carry a lot of heat. So if you want to reduce the heat in your chili peppers, be sure to remove all of the inner membrane.
Once you have removed the stems, seeds and any membrane you want to remove, submerge the dried chili peppers in hot liquid until they are plump and softened. This usually takes about 30 minutes.
Boiling water is the most common liquid used to rehydrate dried chilies, but it is not your only option. If you plan to use the rehydrating liquid in your recipe, I suggest using chicken, beef or vegetable stock instead to add the most flavor to your recipe.
Once the chilies are pliable, you can chop them up in a salsa, grind them with some garlic and herbs or blend them into a beautiful sauce for al pastor, chilaquiles or many other fabulous latin inspired dishes.
