Chiles Capones Michoacanos

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Comal de hierro or clay comal for roasting the chiles and jitomates
• •Tongs and a small spoon for peeling and capando the chiles
• •Blender or volcanic stone molcajete for the salsa
• •Wide cazuela de barro, preferably Michoacán loza de barro from Capula or Tzintzuntzan

Instructions

1. 1

   Char the poblanos

   Heat a comal over medium-high, preferably over leña if you have that kind of kitchen. Roast the chile poblano, turning often, until the skins blister and blacken in patches. You are loosening the skin, not cooking the chile into collapse. The flesh should still hold its shape because these chiles have to carry the filling.

   Use poblanos, not bell peppers, not Anaheim chiles. Chile ancho is the dried form of poblano and it will not work here. Queréndaro knows its chile. Respect that.
2. 2

   Rest and peel

   Put the roasted chiles in a covered bowl for 12 minutes. Peel away the loosened skin with your fingers or a towel. Do not rinse them under the faucet. Water washes away the roasted flavor you worked to build on the comal.

3. 3

   Capar the chiles

   Cut one careful slit down the side of each chile, leaving the stem attached. With a small spoon, remove the seeds and venas without tearing the flesh. This is why they are called capones, capados of what gives the chile most of its heat. Not all Mexican food is hot. Sometimes the chile is there for perfume, flesh, and structure.

4. 4

   Mix the requesón

   Finely chop half of the white onion. Mix it with the drained requesón, 1 teaspoon of the orégano de monte, and 3/4 teaspoon of salt. Taste it. It should be bright from the onion and fragrant from the oregano, not salty like botana. The filling is quiet, because the chile and salsa are going to speak.

5. 5

   Roast the salsa

   On the same comal, roast the jitomates, the unpeeled garlic cloves, and one quarter of the onion until the tomato skins are blistered and the garlic softens. Peel the garlic. Blend the roasted jitomates, roasted onion, peeled garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the water or vegetable broth until smooth. This is a salsa de jitomate, not ketchup with ideas.

6. 6

   Fry the salsa

   Thinly slice the remaining quarter of the onion. Heat the aceite de maíz in a wide cazuela over medium. Fry the sliced onion until it softens and turns translucent at the edges. Pour in the blended salsa. It will sputter. Cook 15 to 18 minutes, stirring often, until the salsa deepens to brick red and a thin orange oil sheen gathers at the edge. Stir in the remaining 1/2 teaspoon orégano de monte and taste for salt.

   Some Michoacán kitchens fry this salsa in manteca de cerdo. That version has its place, but it is not vegetarian. For this table, use aceite de maíz and do the frying properly. The technique still matters.
7. 7

   Fill the chiles

   Spoon the requesón filling into the capados chiles, dividing it evenly. Close each chile gently with your hands. Do not overfill. A chile that bursts open in the cazuela tells everyone you were showing off instead of cooking.

8. 8

   Warm in salsa

   Nestle the filled chiles into the fried jitomate salsa, slit side up. Spoon salsa over the tops without drowning the openings completely. Cover and cook over low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, just until the requesón warms through and the chile relaxes into the sauce. Do not boil hard. Requesón is delicate and a furious pot makes it grainy.

9. 9

   Serve from cazuela

   Rest the cazuela off the heat for 5 minutes so the salsa clings to the chiles. Serve family-style with warm corn tortillas from the comal. This dish is milpa and monte: chile, jitomate, maize, oregano. No flour tortillas. Cada estado, su propia cocina.

Chef Tips

• •Buy heavy, dark green poblanos with broad shoulders. Thin chiles tear when you capar them. If the poblanos at the market are limp, do not make this today. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado.
• •Requesón should taste milky and clean, not sour. If you cannot find Mexican requesón, drain whole-milk ricotta overnight and salt it properly. That is a compromise, not an upgrade. Do not use cream cheese.
• •Use Mexican orégano de monte, not Italian oregano. Mexican oregano is sharper and more resinous. It belongs with chile and jitomate in a way Italian oregano does not.
• •These are capones, not chiles rellenos capeados. The word capón is about removing the seeds and venas. If you dip them in egg batter, you have made another dish.
• •The salsa must be fried. Raw blender jitomate tastes green and unfinished. The moment the salsa darkens and the oil gathers at the edge, it becomes food instead of puree. Así se hace y punto.

Advance Preparation

• •The salsa can be roasted, blended, fried, and refrigerated up to 2 days ahead. Reheat it gently before adding the filled chiles.
• •The poblanos can be roasted, peeled, and capados 1 day ahead. Keep them covered in the refrigerator with their roasted juices. Do not rinse them.
• •The requesón filling can be mixed 1 day ahead. Stir it before filling because the onion releases liquid as it sits.
• •Do not freeze the finished chiles. The requesón turns watery and the poblano flesh loses its structure.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 290g)