Stop skipping the toasting step on your dried chiles

I used to just toss dried guajillo chiles straight into the pot for my grandma's red sauce and wondered why it tasted flat. Last month in Tucson, my aunt saw me doing it and made me toast each one for 45 seconds in a dry comal until they puffed and smelled like smoke. Has anyone else noticed a huge flavor change after doing this simple step?

2 comments

2 Comments

blair_gibson7824d ago

Used to skip it myself but that first toast changed everything.

jake_dixon25d ago

You ever screw up a recipe so bad it made you mad at yourself for a week? My first time doing this was with ancho chiles, didn't toast em, and ended up trying to salvage the sauce with cumin and sugar. It was still garbage. Now I live by the 45 second rule, but my dumb ass always manages to burn at least one and it goes from smoky to bitter real fast. Still worth it though, the difference is night and day.