Buck's Spices

Spice Barista Corner

Spice Barista

From the Spice Barista

How should I cook with whole dried Chilhuacle Negro Chiles?

A real customer question, curated into a useful guide for cooking, product use, and finding just the right thing.

Use Chilhuacle Negro Chile — Dried, Whole the way you would use an important dried chile for sauce work: wipe clean, remove the stem, shake out some or all of the seeds, then toast very briefly on a dry pan until fragrant. Do not scorch it; burnt chile turns harsh fast.

After toasting, soak the chile in hot water until pliable, then blend it into mole negro, chichilo-style sauces, adobo, beans, slow-braised pork, turkey, chicken, mushrooms, or dark chile marinades. It is usually mild to moderate in heat, so the value is flavor first: dried fruit, tobacco, earth, smoke, and dark-chocolate bitterness.