Chile Chipotle

This brownish, wrinkled chile is a smoke-dried version of the chile jalapeño. Smoke-dried chiles (as opposed to air-dried or oven-dried ones) develop a complex, haunting flavor. The kind that is really preferred in Oaxaca is not chipotle but the chile pasilla de Oaxaca, but it can be hard to find whereas chipotles are readily available.

When I call for chipotles I usually mean the plain smoke-dried version. These chiles are also sold in cans in a thick, pungent adobo (spice-paste sauce), and occasionally I suggest the canned chipotles in a recipe.