Chipotle Sauce. Mexican staple sauce. Sauce Recipe

 

What is Chipotle?

Chipotle is a classic ingredient of Mexican gastronomy; It is a type of chili whose name comes from the Nahuatl (Aztec-Mexican) Chilpoctli, which means smoked chili pepper, and is that this chili is smoke-dried instead of being air-dried like other varieties of jalapeños.

The smoked chipotle peppers are left to ripen on the plant until they turn bright red.  Then, they are removed and left to dry by smoking for several days.  With this procedure, the water content of the pepper is eliminated, and they are then sold whole or in powder.

When an authentic Chipotle Sauce is prepared, it will turn out to be a dark red color, more similar to brown or wine color.  It will never be an intense bright red color -as some that are marketed under the name of “chipotle” sauce - This dark color is characteristic, precisely because that is the color these peppers acquire when they are dried by smoking them.

Chipotle sauce is used to enhance the flavor of foods, such as meats, soups and stews.  So, you must be careful with the amount to apply, considering the degree of piquancy that distinguishes it and, the sensitivity to pungency of the future diners.

Degree of Pungency of Chipotle Sauce:

The Scoville Scale is used to measure the level of pungency.  It measures the level of heat of chili peppers -or other foods-, by the concentration of capsaicin they contain. Capsaicin is that substance responsible for giving chili peppers their spicy flavor. But it is also attributed to a large number of health benefits, due to its analgesic, anti-obesity, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and neuroprotective properties, among others. Even the pharmaceutical industry has included it as a component of some pain treatments. However, it is also responsible for the irritation in the mouth, throat and stomach that its consumption can produce in people not used to it, even causing sweating, tears and skin irritation.

The spiciness level of a Chipotle would be between 5,000 SHU and 8,000 SHU ... That is, as a reference, the Chipotle can be spicier than a jalapeño (!)
 

What do you eat Chipotle Sauce with?

Being this a sauce of Mexican origin, you can enjoy it with some crunchy nachos or a delicious taco. However, you can also use it as a "secret" ingredient to season your dishes, or why not? perhaps to give a special boost of flavor to a sandwich you are preparing or to a delicious “beef empanada”.
 

Ingredients for an authentic Chipotle Sauce:

 

 

Chile Chipotle                     100%             40 gr

Salt                                           8%                3 gr

Garlic                                     40%              16 gr

Black Pepper                          3%                1 gr

Oregano                                  3%                1 gr

Piloncillo *                           100%            40 gr

White vinegar                     275%          110 gr

Vegetable oil                       25%              10 gr

Water (720 mill.)                875%          350 gr

* “Panela” or “papelón”

 

 

How is Chipotle Sauce Prepared?

1. Cook the chilies together with the piloncillo in a pot with 2/3 of the water until the chilies are soft. If you do not have piloncillo, you can use a tablespoon of brown sugar. Then drain and reserve the chilies and the cooking water separately.
2. Discard the tips of the chipotle peppers and grind the rest together with the cooking water, spices and a pinch of salt. This step is to taste, you can blend until you get a liquid paste or sauce or, on the contrary, leave small pieces of chili.
3. Pour the sauce back into the pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Then, add the remaining water along with the oil and vinegar, without moving from the heat until it boils again.

Tips and Tricks to prepare the Chipotle Sauce.

• Boiling process: you want to have the chipotle chilies soft and rehydrate. Depending on the peppers you’ll use, it might need more water during the initial boiling. Feel free to add more water as needed. Keep in mind you want to finish with just the needed liquid for not to make caramel with the piloncillo, but also not too much water so when blend you obtain a paste.
  
• Variants and twists: With the initial paste obtained after blending the chilies and spices, you could use it as a base and have a dairy spice chipotle sauce: try adding heavy cream or crema Mexicana. You could also use natural yogurt (without sweetener) or for a wonderful Chipotle Mayo, mixed with an aioli sauce.

How to preserve the Chipotle Sauce or Chipotle paste without refrigeration?

When preparing the chipotle sauce, you might want to save some for another day. You could save some of the chipotle paste obtained once you blend the chipotles peppers so you could make some variants in the future. So here a tip that works great.
1) To preserve the chipotle sauce safely, pour the sauce into one or more glass jars, leaving at least one centimeter of it free, to achieve the vacuum.
2) Close the jar with its lid, thigh well.
3) Sterilize the product by immersing it in boiling water for 20 minutes. 
4) Let it cool to room temperature.
Preserving the sauce in this way will last up to 8 months. Store in a cool, dry, dark place. Once the product is opened, it needs refrigeration.
 

Tips for handling Chili

1) Do you feel burning as if your hands were roasting when you wash / cut chili peppers?

As a food safety measure, we recommend using disposable gloves, which will help you avoid getting in contact with the chilies.

Nevertheless, understanding the need to reduce waste, and that you apply other safety measures when preparing food, keep in mind not all chili peppers have the same concentration of capsaicin, nor do all people have the same skin sensitivity... Keep in mind these tips if you touch the chilies with your hands:

a.  Alcohol The first way to remove chili sting is to rub alcohol on your hands to remove the capsaicin. Chili oil and capsaicin are more soluble in alcohol than in water, and you can even use heavy-duty alcohol like vodka.

b.    Vegetable Oil or Olive oil, because it helps dissolve hot pepper oils. In fact, some people rub their hands with just a touch of oil before cutting the chili, to prevent their hands from burning.

c.     Dishwashing soap: Many dish soaps can effectively dissolve oils.

d.  Whole milk or yogurt soak your hands in the milk or yogurt until the burning sensation stops.

2) Chili in the eyes?

Immediately after handling the peppers, wash your hands and nails with soap very well. But, if you accidentally touched your eyes and chili came to them (ouch !!) then:

a.  Water. It is the easiest and available at all times. Rinse your eyes with plenty of fresh water!

b.     Serum. Try rinsing your eyes with saline solution.

3) Are you "enchilado"?

Even if someone tells you “it’s not hot” / “it is not too hot”, we all have a different “threshold to spicy food”. If by mistake you exceeded your own threshold, or made the wrong packaging and ended up “enchilado”, perhaps to the point of crying, our suggestions are:

*We don’t advise drinking water, it makes it worse! Because capsaicin is an oil and does not dissolve in water, but rather helps to spread it more and increase the burning sensation. Therefore, the correct options are:

a.   Milk or its derivatives (yogurt, cream, ice cream): A dairy protein called casein “neutralizes” the spiciness.

b.   Acidic foods (lemon, tomato, pineapple) because they help to dissolve the oils of the chili (capsaicin is an oleoresin).

c.   Tortilla or Bread the carbohydrates of the cereals they contain help to mitigate the sensation of itching.

d.     Banana neutralizes the effects of chili in the mouth.

e.  Honey for some, "Grandma's recipe" but it works, just like a little sugar on the tongue and let it dissolve little by little.

f.    Milk Chocolate thanks to the casein protein in the milk added to the fact that all cocoa derivatives, being acidic, neutralize and help mitigate pungency will help by sweeten the spicy moment.

g.    Alcohol Does not work with all alcoholic beverages. Try a sip of plain tequila.

We hope that our Tips are useful for you every time you go to handle chili. May you enjoy preparing this Chipotle Sauce Recipe and even more, all the creations in which you will apply it!