how do you keep chili rellenos from falling apart

You can use a little bit of flour to bind the overlapped edges. If a pepper falls apart as you are stuffing it, do the best you can to squeeze the stuffing into a chile-shaped ball inside strips of chile. The batter will help the whole thing hold together.

Battered and Fried

Chile relleno batter is as simple as it gets: eggs and a little flour. How you treat those simple ingredients, though, can have an impact on the texture of the fried batter. Whisk the eggs and flour together and you get something thin and eggy. Beat the whites to stiff peaks and gently fold them into whisked yolks, and you get something gigantically poofy. I like mine somewhere in the middle, which means whipping up the whites until theyre stiff, then whisking in the yolks one at a time, finishing by whisking in just a touch of flour. (One tablespoon per egg is the ratio I use.)

The last tricky step is coating the chiles and getting them into the oil. If your chiles are nice and firm, youre in luck: The easiest method is to hold them by the stems and dip them into the batter. (A couple of toothpicks to hold the seam closed can help during this phase as well.) Most of the time, however, the stem will be too weak to hold up the stuffed chile without falling off, which means going in and getting your hands messy. Start by rolling the chiles in a plate of flour to get the exteriors dry and help the batter cling better. Next, place them one at a time into the bowl of batter and turn them until theyre coated, or you can spoon extra batter over the top.

To fry them, I find it easiest to just use my hands, though a slotted metal fish spatula will also work. I very carefully slip the coated chiles into a pan filled with about half an inch of oil heated to 375°F (190°C), the right temperature to get the chiles golden brown without turning them too greasy or soggy in the process. If there are any bare spots on top, you can patch them up by dolloping a little batter onto them. After browning the first side, I carefully roll them over to brown the second.

That said, chiles rellenos, by their nature, are a little greasy and soggy. Most fried foods come out crisp and light. Not these. The fried batter should be tender and fluffy, almost like a poofy omelette (which is essentially what it is). Just like Japanese tempura served in broth, the beauty of chiles rellenos is the way that soft batter soaks up the soupy salsa.

This is good news if all of this deep-frying and battering has stressed you out. Of all the fried foods in the world, chiles rellenos hold up the best to a reheat. Bake them in the oven on a rack and theyll even crisp up slightly more than they did straight out of the fryer.

At the Cal-Mex and Tex-Mex restaurants where I grew up eating these, theyd come smothered in sauce, with a ton of bright orange shredded cheese. Traditionally, youll find a much more demure presentation, with just a bit of salsa on top, the cheese all hiding inside.

That said, Im not always in a demure mood. You want to get down and dirty with your chiles rellenos? Heres what I suggest: Completely smother them in extra stuffing mixture before baking.

Why is it that every time I make chiles rellenos, I end up with a me relleno instead?

Roasting Chiles

The first step for any chiles rellenos is to roast the chiles, which not only adds flavor and softens them but also allows you to peel off their papery skins. There are a number of ways you can go about this. The best method is over an open flame, either on a hot grill outdoors or directly over a gas flame on an indoor burner. (Ive seen people try to roast chiles directly on an electric coil burner, but it doesnt work so well.) If youve got a torch, that also works great. These methods rapidly char the skin, making it easy to peel the chiles without softening them too much, which allows you to retain a brighter chile flavor.

But there are other things to consider. Most importantly, were also going to be making a salsa ranchera for this recipe, with charred tomatoes, serrano chiles, onion, and garlic. With so many vegetables to char, I find it easiest to just throw them all on a foil-lined baking sheet and toss them under a broiler, turning the chiles until theyre blistered all over.

It takes about 15 minutes total, by which point the salsa ranchera vegetables are also ready to go.

As soon as everything comes out of the broiler, I toss the salsa ingredients into a food processor and process them into a chunky purée, along with some cilantro. Meanwhile, I wrap up the chiles in the same foil from the baking sheet, which helps them to steam and gets their skins to release more easily. You could season the salsa at this stage and call it a day, but I like to subject it to a searing step to really deepen its flavor.

The idea of searing liquids is not common in, say, most European cuisines, but its a crucial step in many Mexican recipes. To do it, I heat up some lard or vegetable oil in a saucepan until its just starting to smoke. I then immediately dump all of the salsa into the pot, giving it a violent sizzle before letting it reduce a bit to further concentrate its flavor.

Some chicken stock ensures that it has the right consistency. Youre looking for something between a soup and a commercial jarred salsa here. Theres going to be plenty of fluffy coating on the chiles to absorb this sauce down the line.

STOP STRUGGLING! | See How I’ve Always Cleaned, Roasted And Peeled Poblano Peppers ❤

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