Chipotle: Elevate Your Food Recipes With This Spicy And Distinctive Smoky Flavor
Updated: Oct 21, 2022
A chipotle is a smoke-dried ripe jalapeño chili pepper used for seasoning. They are spicy and have a distinctive smoky flavor. The flesh is thick, so the chilis are usually used in a slow-cooked dish rather than raw. The name comes from the Nahuatl word chīlpoctli, meaning 'smoked chili'. This form of chili was most likely encountered by Christopher Columbus on his trip to the New World, and brought back to Spain, where it later spread to Europe, India and beyond.
Chipotle is used primarily in Mexican and Mexican-inspired cuisines, such as Tex-Mex and Southwestern United States dishes. Mexico produces two different varieties of the spice:
Morita: Commonly found in the United States, it is typically darker in color with a reddish-purple exterior. They are smoked for less time, and in many cultures considered inferior to the meco.
Meco: Used domestically, meco also known as chili ahumado or típico, is grayish tan in color with a dusty looking surface; some say it resembles a cigar butt. This variation of the pepper tends to be smokier in taste, and are the preferred chipotle of many natives. They are sometimes referred to as chili navideño because they are reconstituted and stuffed to make a very traditional dish that is most popular at Christmas time amongst Mexican locals.
When it comes to elevating recipes, sauces and seasonings are key. Chipotles impart a relatively mild but earthy spiciness to many dishes in Mexican cuisine. Chipotles are purchased in numerous forms: chipotle powder, chipotle flakes, chipotle pods, canned chipotles in adobo sauce, concentrated chipotle base and wet chipotle meat marinade.
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The canned adobo sauce is the most common form found in the United States, though the marinade or food preservative form of it originated in Spain. The adobo is a velvety, tangy, and sweet sauce made from dried chili peppers. Together, chipotles and adobo make for a zesty, spicy, ridiculously flavorful pair, which is why they’re sold in jars that way.
And when it comes to Mexican-inspired recipes, it’s hard to beat chipotle sauce for that creamy, spicy, addictive flavor. Chipotle sauce is an easy way to add smokiness, heat, and zesty flavor to any dish. It can be drizzled over tacos or turned into a creamy dip. Either way, this recipe is incredibly easy to make with the help of just a few pantry staples. And this page shows that how to make chipotle sauce at home easily.
And important that may rise for vegans that is chipotle sauce vegan? The answer is: sometimes as it simply depends on which type of chipotle sauce you’re talking about.