Chile lovers - Rojo Chilhuacle

In Manhattan at Kalustyan’s I ran across this dried chile - rojo chilhuacle. I had never heard of it, but knew it was pretty rare, so picked up a pack.

Tonight I am making cuban style baby back ribs, and a homemade mexican barbecue sauce. I decided to replace the usual cayenne or guajillo with this. Sliced it with the knife and into the pestle. Holy smokes. This stuff is the real deal. It has the sweetness of a sun dried tomato, a little less smokiness than a chipotle, and the heat of a guajillo (fairly mild), but the flavors are so rich. One incredible chile I can’t wait to get into a mole.