How do you feel about Poblano peppers, are you a fan? They are my favourite mild chile and definitely high on the favourites list of foods to cook and eat. They pack an amazing flavour that no other peppers have, and since their heat tends to be on the mild side, even people that don’t normally eat chilies will throughly enjoy Poblano peppers. Another great thing about these glistening long green fruits is that they are insanely versatile in not only Mexican dishes but all sorts of international ones too.
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One of Mexican cuisine’s most popular dish is chiles rellenos or stuffed peppers, and of course it is Poblano peppers that are used to prepare the dish. Other dishes that use Poblanos are chiles en nogada (chiles with walnut sauce), rajas poblanas (strips of Poblanos cooked in a creamy sauce along with corn and onion), fajitas, tacos, enchiladas, soups, plus there are countless sauces prepared with Poblano peppers.
If you love the authentic and traditional flavours of Mexican cuisine then you simply must learn how to prepare Poblano peppers — trust me the work really pays off. Today I am going to show you a simple way to roast these peppers, which is always the first step when cooking any dish that uses Poblanos. There are many different techniques (some I will share at a later time) and this is my preferred way of doing it.
Why You Should be Charring Poblano Peppers on an Open Flame
The simplest answer is flavour. When raw, Poblanos do have a fantastic scent and taste, but when roasted on an open flame their flavours really come alive. It is in that step that they develop a deep rich smokiness and that gives Poblanos that magical flavour that no other chile has.
Selecting and Preparing the Peppers
To choose Poblanos always pick ones that feel firm, have a strong fresh pepper scent, are free of bruising and blemishes, and ones whose skin is shiny and dark green. Make sure that you look at the tips of the peppers too because sometimes they may look perfect everywhere else but be bruised and blackened in the tips.
It is important to throughly rinse the peppers and to pay close attention to the stem part for any trapped dirt. Once they are clean gently dry them with a paper towel or clean kitchen towel.
Roasting or Charring Poblano Peppers on the Stovetop
For this you’ll need some throughly cleaned and dried Poblano peppers (obviously) , a gas stove, and some metal tongs. You’ll also need a plate or tray to lay the charred peppers on.
Step 1: Turn your stove on to a medium-high flame, carefully place one or two (or even 3, depending on size) of the peppers directly on the the burner and over the flame. You’ll want to use the tongs to help arrange the peppers so that they don’t fall off and to help ensure even heat/flame on each one. Slowly the Poblanos will get little blisters that will darken and make a little popping sound. You’ll have to use the tongs to keep turning them so that the entire pepper is evenly charred on all sides. Do not leave them unattended because you want the other skin just to darken like in the pictures and not burn entirely and turn to ash. This step takes the longest and will require your patience. Continue turning each chile until it’s charred all over then remove it from the flame and continue the same step until each pepper has been roasted on the flame. You’ll also notice that the chile’s flesh will feel soft, you want to make sure that it feels this way throughout.
Tip: Poblanos that are nearly flat are much easier and quicker to roast over an open flame. So when you are selecting the peppers at the store try to get those. When Poblanos are curvier you may have to hold them directly over the flame with your tongs in order to get into all of the little nooks and crannies.
Something else you may notice are little bits of the charred skin floating around the burner as you cook, don’t worry this “mess” quickly wipes off once the burner has cooled down.
Sweating and Peeling the Charred Peppers
This step is very important because it will help with handling the chiles and prepping them to use in all sorts of dishes. For this step you’ll need a plate (I sometimes use a small baking sheet) and some plastic wrap, or a container with a lid, or a large plastic sandwich baggie. Additionally you may want to grab some latex gloves to prevent chile burns — even though they are mild occasionally a spicy one will show up and believe me you don’t want that chile burn on your hands! Lastly you will also need a butter knife or any other small knife and a little bit of water.
Step 2: After you have charred (or roasted) all of the peppers place them on the plate and cover with plastic wrap or put them in a container with a lid, or put them inside of a plastic sandwich bag and seal. Now leave the chiles aside for at least 8 minutes. Whilst they are inside any of these sealed containers they begin to release their heat as well as some natural liquid, this is what we call “sweating the chiles”. The purpose of this step is so that all of those little bits of charred skin will easily peel away from the pepper.
Step 3: Next you can place a “sweated” chile on a cutting board or plate and use a knife to gently scrape away the charred skin. Alternatively, you can use your (glove covered) hand to hold the pepper and with your other hand use your fingers to carefully pull away the charred skin. Either way works great, pick which ever is easiest for you.
Sometimes if the charred and sweated peppers are still too hot to handle I like to place them in a little bit of slightly cool water to help me hold them better without burning my fingers. I then also dip the knife or my fingers in there to help remove any of the built up charred bits from them. Some people say that dipping the peppers in the water takes away some of their natural flavours, but I do this occasionally and still find the chiles just as delicious.
Step 4: Use a paper towel or running water to remove any of the excess charred bits from the peppers.
How to Devein and Prep Roasted Poblano Peppers
After step number 4 how you continue will depend on what you’ll be using the peppers for. Check out the tips below for further preparation.
Rellenos or Stuffed: If you are going to be stuffing the roasted Poblanos simply use a knife to make an incision going lengthwise. Very carefully (you may want to use those latex gloves again) use a small knife to cut away the seeds from inside the chile. Now the Poblano may be stuffed with cheese, beans, veggies or anything else you want to use.
Strips for Fajitas or Rajas Poblanas, etc.: Grab one charred pepper cut it lengthwise and in half, use the knife to cut away the seeds, stems and any attached membranes. Then slice the halves into long strips cutting either along the width or length of each half.
Sauces: I suggest using the strips method above for better blending and incorporating.
Now Your Roasted Poblano Peppers are Ready to Cook as Desired!
That’s it, you are now ready to stuff or sauté those strips and enjoy all of that hard work — it really isn’t difficult at all. Once you go through the process of charring Poblanos you’ll see that each and every step is absolutely worth it and you’ll never want to skip this step again.
If you have extra charred peppers, or want to same yourself some time on your next meal, then you can freeze them. Both whole or in strips, the roasted and frozen Poblanos keep quite well in the freezer.
However it is that you cook up your roasted Poblano chiles, do enjoy them!
P.S.
Stay tuned I’ll be sharing a super special recipe for using roasted Poblanos. 😃
- Poblano peppers
- gas stove
- metal tongs
- plate
- plastic wrap or a container with a lid or a plastic sandwich bag
- knife
- latex gloves (highly recommended for preventing chile burns)
- Throughly rinse each pepper to make sure to remove any dirt, use a paper towel or clean kitchen towel to pat dry each pepper.
- Turn your stove on to a medium-high flame, carefully place one or two (or even 3, depending on size) of the peppers directly on the the burner and over the flame. You’ll want to use the tongs to help arrange the peppers so that they don’t fall off and to help ensure even heat/flame on each one. Slowly the Poblanos will get little blisters that will darken and make a little popping sound. You’ll have to use the tongs to keep turning them so that the entire pepper is evenly charred on all sides. Do not leave them unattended because you want the other skin just to darken like in the pictures and not burn entirely and turn to ash. This step takes the longest and will require your patience. Continue turning each chile until it’s charred all over then remove it from the flame and continue the same step until each pepper has been roasted on the flame. You’ll also notice that the chile’s flesh will feel soft, you want to make sure that it feels this way throughout.
- After you have charred (or roasted) all of the peppers place them on the plate and cover with plastic wrap or put them in a container with a lid, or put them inside of a plastic sandwich bag and seal. Now leave the chiles aside for at least 8 minutes. Whilst they are inside any of these sealed containers they begin to release their heat as well as some natural liquid, this is what we call “sweating the chiles”. The purpose of this step is so that all of those little bits of charred skin will easily peel away from the pepper.
- Next you can place a “sweated” chile on a cutting board or plate and use a knife to gently scrape away the charred skin. Alternatively, you can use your (glove covered) hands to hold the pepper and with your other hand use your fingers to carefully pull away the charred skin. Either way works great, pick which ever is easiest for you.
- Sometimes if the charred and sweated peppers are still too hot to handle I like to place them in a little bit of warmish water to help me hold them better without burning my fingers. I then also dip the knife or my fingers in there to help remove any of the built up charred bits from them. Some people say that dipping the peppers in the water takes away some of their natural flavours, but I do this occasionally and still find the chiles just as delicious.
- Use a paper towel or running water to remove any of the excess charred bits from the peppers.
- After step number 6 now you continue will depend on what you’ll be using the peppers for. Check out the tips below for further preparation.
- Rellenos or Stuffed: If you are going to be stuffing the roasted Poblanos simply use a knife to make an incision going lengthwise. Very carefully (you may want to use those latex gloves again) use a small knife to cut away the seeds from inside the chile. Now the Poblano may be stuffed with cheese, beans, veggies or anything else you want to use.
- Strips for Fajitas or Rajas Poblanas, etc.: Grab one charred pepper cut it lengthwise and in half, use the knife to cut away the seeds, stems and any attached membranes. Then slice the halves into long strips cutting either along the width or length of each half.
- Sauces: I suggest using the strips method above for better blending and incorporating.
- Now Your Roasted Poblano Peppers Are Ready To Cook As Desired!
Something else you may notice are little bits of the charred skin floating around the burner as you cook, don’t worry this “mess” quickly wipes off once the burner has cooled down.
Frank says
What an excellent tutorial, Nancy. I’ve bookmarked this for future reference! Even though I’m pretty familiar with the process (Italians roast peppers in much the same way) I still learned a lot. Interesting that you endorse rinsing with water—it makes life so much easier, but I always felt “guilty” because so many sources tell you not to…
Nancy says
Thank you so much Frank, I really appreciate it. I don’t always do the rinsing in water, but when I do it is for the larger peppers that just have so much charred or extra skin on them. Maybe if I noticed a huge difference in flavours I wouldn’t do it, but I haven’t so far. I really don’t think there is a reason to feel guilty because after all we do want to make the cooking process easier on ourselves, right? 🙂
John/Kitchen Riffs says
Yup, gotta roast your chilies on an open flame! I use a grill — that way I can do a whole batch at once (and freeze what I’m not going to use right away. Fun post — thanks.
Nancy says
That’s awesome, John and glad to hear it. I need to do mine on the grill too because sometimes the open flame just takes too long. 🙂