One of my all-time favorite Mexican dishes, ever!
Chile Colorado
Equipment
Ingredients
Simple Savory Soy Curls
- 1 ⅓ cup water (11 oz)
- ¼ tsp celery salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- 4 oz Soy Curls
- ¼ medium white onion, shredded or petite diced (another ¼ for the sauce, ½ onion total)
Chile Colorado Red Sauce
- 4 cups water
- 12 New Mexico chiles (de-seeded and de-stemmed (or use guajillo for more heat)
- ¼ medium white onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 tsp cumin
- ¼+⅛ tsp granulated garlic
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ½ tsp salt
- ⅓ large tomato, grated or 1 Roma tomato
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- ½ tsp Mexican oregano (plus more to taste)
Instructions
Soy Curls
- Simmer water & celery salt. Add soy curls, cook until dry. Dry sauté with onions and black pepper until lightly browned.
- Optionally, bake at 225°F or continue sautéing on very low heat to concentrate flavor.
- Optionally, deglaze the skillet with a bit of water before adding red sauce
Red Sauce
- Rinse chiles. Simmer in a saucepan with ¼ onion and garlic cloves in 4 cups water until soft.
- Blend with half the broth and cumin, granulated garlic, pepper, and salt until smooth like tomato sauce. Adjust consistency with remaining broth or water.
- Optionally, strain through a fine mesh strainer for a smoother sauce.
Chile Colorado
- Combine red sauce, Mexican oregano, tomato, and tomato paste with soy curls. Cover, simmer very lightly 5-15 mins.
- Season with salt and Mexican oregano to taste.
To Reheat
- Add water, stir on medium until creamy.
Notes
Tomato note:
- Consider blending canned diced tomatoes for a simpler version in the future.
Soy curls note:
- Soya chunks or a hearty, unseasoned bean can substitute for soy curls.
Changelog:
- 2024/04/19: Fix -> Moved the black pepper from the rehydrate stage to the dry sauté stage.
An Older Recipe
The first Chile Colorado recipe I made is from 2004 listed on Epicurious by an unnamed cook. Side note, come on Condé Nast/Epicurious… give credit where it’s due. That lack of credit would never fly in the academic or scientific world. I see a notice on their site that the “Kitchen’s Closing” at Epicurious, but you can get my old printed out recipe here, complete with cooking stains:
Interestingly, most of the Chile Colorado recipes I’ve seen or tried are very, very similar, which indicates a core simplicity to the dish and not so many people feeling like they need to add a pinch of something odd like cocoa powder or instant coffee just to call it their own.
That said, when making the spicier version with the infamous guajillo pepper, adding a teaspoon of maple syrup and possibly a couple of teaspoons of Sherry vinegar will provide balance to that spicy/savory flavor profile.
