These moderately hot chiles are smooth, shiny, and reddish-brown. They have a
tough skin, so they need to be soaked longer than other chiles. Substitutes:
cascabels (rounder and shorter) OR New Mexico chiles OR California chiles
(milder).
Pasilla Chilies
This is the dried version of the chilaca chile. It's long, black, and wrinkled,
and a standard ingredient in mole sauces. Ancho chiles are sometimes mislabeled
as pasillas. Substitutes: ancho chile (sweeter) OR mulato chile (stronger,
earthier flavor).
Pit Fire Spicy Chicken Soup
6 dried pasilla chiles
6 dried guajillo chiles
10 C. water, divided
2 onions
6 cloves garlic
1 t. pepper
2 T. dried Mexican oregano, divided
1 (4 3/4-pound) chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 (29-ounce) can white hominy, drained
1/2 t. salt
Shredded red cabbage, radish slices, diced onion, lime wedges, avocado slices,
for garnish
Remove the stems and seeds from the pasilla and guajillo chiles and discard.
Place the chiles in a saucepan and cover them with 4 cups of water. Bring to a
boil, then remove the pan from the heat and set it aside for the chiles to
soften.
Dice 1 onion and set it aside. Cut the second onion in half and dice half of it.
Cut the remaining half lengthwise into slices.
Working in batches, pour the chiles and their cooking liquid, 1 1/2 diced
onions, the garlic, pepper and 1 tablespoon of oregano into a blender and puree
until smooth.
Add the remaining 6 cups of water to the chile puree and strain through a fine
mesh sieve, using a spoon to push all of the chile juice into a large stock pot.
Throw away the solids.
Add the chicken pieces, hominy and onion slices to the pot and bring to a boil.
Simmer until the chicken is tender and comes off the bone easily, about 1 hour.
Add the remaining oregano and salt to the soup. Remove the chicken from the pot.
Remove the meat from the bones, return it to the soup and heat through,
discarding the bones. Skim the fat from the top of the soup before serving.
Garnish with the cabbage, radish slices, onion, lime wedges and avocado.
