Name: Ancho-Arbol Chile Pepper Salsa
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 12 Tablespoons
Ingredients: 1 Ancho Pepper; 10 Arbol Pepper; 1 Garlic Clove; 1 tbsp vegetable oil; 1/2 tsp salt

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This Ancho-Arbol Chile Pepper Salsa is excellent for those that love spicy sauces. You can adjust the spiciness by adding more Ancho peppers and reducing the amount of Arbol peppers. It is an easy recipe, and it lasts up to 4 days in your fridge. This salsa freezes very well, too.

Enjoy this amazingly easy Ancho-Arbol Chile Pepper salsa

Sometimes, when we work with dried peppers, we wonder what to do or cook with them, but you should think of them as a meal enhancer, especially Ancho chile peppers.

Ancho chile peppers are one of the most practical peppers in the Mexican cuisine, they are actually dried Poblano Peppers; they are used to give flavor and also color to dishes. They are also known in some regions as Chile Color because Ancho chile peppers are not hot or spicy but add a lot of color to salsas and stew.

What does an Ancho Chile Pepper look like?

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Ancho chile peppers are soft and with a dark brown reddish color and a slightly sweet flavor, if you don’t find Ancho peppers a good substitute is Mulato Peppers. Mulato peppers are a little similar to ancho peppers, they are the same variety of pepper but with a darker color, with some spiciness and chocolate flavor.

Serve your tasty Ancho-Arbol Chile Pepper Salsa in a Ceramic or a colorful bowl.

Besides making this Ancho-Arbol Chile pepper salsa, there are many uses for ancho pepper in the Mexican Cuisine, like the ancho-guajillo pepper salsa for red enchiladas, in the recipe for Pozole, Menudo, Tamales, and many other delicious meals.

I want you to know that cooking with dried peppers render impressive results not only in Mexican dishes and that many of them are not hot at all. You will need to add the dried hot peppers to a sauce to make it spicy. Like this Ancho-Arbol Chile Salsa that can be used on grilled meats, for tacos, over fried eggs, or any other dish you want to add some spiciness.

One last note about the Ancho chile peppers. When buying Ancho or Mulato peppers, make sure they look clean, soft, with a shiny and pliable skin. That tells you that the peppers are of good quality.

INSTRUCTION TO MAKE YOUR ANCHO-ARBOL CHILE PEPPER SALSA:

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Be careful when toasting the peppers, this step takes just a matter of seconds.

Place the peppers in a warm skillet, make sure the heat is at medium high. Slightly toast them turning one for about 45 seconds. Allow them to release their aroma. If you place the chile peppers in a very hot skillet, the peppers will burn, and your salsa will have a bitter taste.
Soak peppers in a bowl with 1-1/2 cup of hot water for about 25 minutes or until they are soft.
Once the peppers are soft, drain the water and place into the blender; add the garlic clove and 2/3 cup of water. Process until you have a very smooth salsa, I use a Vitamix, and this step takes about a minute.
Heat the vegetable oil in s medium-size frying pan at and pour the sauce. Sometimes, blenders do not process dried peppers to a very fine texture, in that case, use a strainer to pour the sauce into the saucepan. Reduce heat once it starts boiling and cook for 5 minutes.
Just before serving, season with salt and enjoy your Ancho-Arbol Chile Pepper salsa.