Chili Rojo
In reverence of Mexico's most underrated sauce.
Like most culture's cuisine, Mexican food is a food of regions. Regions can be states, neighborhoods, street corners or households. They can be bound by markets, regional tastes, societal bonds and family ties. So it is no surprise that Chili Rojo is argued about, fussed over, and in some cases kept secret from outsiders.
If you look Chili Rojo up on a search engine, you will find thousands of listings with names indicating chili rojos variations, uses and specificities. The internet cannot seem to agree on what chili rojo is, so for the casual cook, it can be little daunting to get to a simple truth. Chili Rojo, and its many other names, is one of *the foundations of Regional Mexican Cuisine.
Chili Rojo, literally translates to Red Chili, and once you make it its easy to see why, Depending on the chilies you use, and the variations are dizzying, the color can be a bright, rich red or dark, pureed, chestnut brown. Mine is the latter because I use Guajillo and Ancho chilies, and add a Pasila to add some sweetness and further complexity. The guajillo when pureed come alive with color. It’s truly beautiful.
The flavor is a combination of sweet, spicy (not to be confused with picana), fruity, and complex. The chilies bring acidity and the garlic brings the structure. Speaking of garlic, there’s so much. But there are few ingredients that go so perfectly with chili’s that once you begin tinkering with chili salsas you’ll find yourself getting BOLD with the garlic.
You can use this sauce for almost anything you can imagine within the Mexican and even New Mexican culinary pantheon. But aa few rock solid uses are: Enchilladas, Chili Colorado, anything in the style “ranchero”, and as a braise for the proteins inside Tamales. But don’t stop there. Once in Mexico City, at the famous Contramar, I had a Ceviche that was cured and then served with a silken spoonful of Chili Rojo over the top, and it was literally a flavor like nothing I’ve ever experienced. This is a sauce that begs you to be creative with it. Put it in soups, add it to braises, blend it with mayonnaise for tortas, or use it as a taco sauce. It. Has. No. Boundaries.
