The Chile Pasilla or chilaca, a chili with a double personality
The pasilla chili is a dry, wrinkled chili with reddish-brown to almost black skin, and is usually quite meaty. It belongs to the same family as serrano peppers. It normally measures between 15 and 30 cm, is semicircular, elongated, thin and wavy.
Among its properties it has vitamin C, it is helpful in the prevention of respiratory diseases, it helps to better assimilate iron and improve the appearance of the skin. So now you know, let's eat pasilla chili!
30% of the pasilla chili is grown in the State of Chihuahua, but also in other states such as Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacán, Nayarit and Zacatecas. In addition, it is grown in other countries such as Venezuela. It is usually grown in mountains, although not exclusively. The plant of this chili usually blooms two months after being planted, its flowers are white and tend to fall two days after leaving, with which its chillies give rise to the formation of the chili.
Some of the chiles that are commonly consumed in Mexico can be consumed fresh and/or dried and are known by a different name based on this. The pasilla chili is called that when it is dry, but when it is fresh it is known as “chilaca”.
According to the region where it is grown, it also receives different names such as: black, prieto, cuernillo or to shred. Now, don't get confused, in some regions such as Colima they usually call the poblano chili and the chile ancho “pasilla”.
According to the Scoville hotness scale, its level of intensity is moderate (1000 to 2000 units), which is why it is usually used more to cook a variety of typical Mexican cuisine recipes. As well as for moles, marinades and sauces.
Some of the popular dishes that are prepared with pasilla chili are: steak or chop in pasilla chili, stuffed pasilla chili, tortilla soup with pasilla chili, pot mole, pasilla chili broth with mushrooms or drunk sauce, among others. many others.
The pasilla chili is also part of the trio of most famous dried chili peppers in Mexican cuisine, along with the chile ancho and the guajillo chili. Its flavor is very distinctive compared to other chili peppers, so it can be easily purchased. Of course, at Don Zabor you will always find it available and with its aromatic notes intact, thanks to the high conservation of its products.
“Chili that has to be peeled, let it soak” (popular phrase)
