enchilada sauce

Buenos dias. Pictured above are enchiladas held over from yesterday refreshed and moistened with a new red sauce all their own just for them. So now these enchiladas are doubly sauced up, doubly enchilenated. This sauce is specific to enchiladas but I can imagine it accompanying tamales, burritos, chile rellenos, tacos, huevos rancheros, pretty much anything. There is a green version too made with tomatillos and different chiles, but this one is red. 

Ancho means broad, wide, width, roomy, capacious, breadth, deep, loose, etc., you get the idea. Arbol means tree, a plant with a woody stem that branches outward. Frankly, if you ask me, anchos could just as easily been named arbols, and arbols do look remarkably like Japonese or any of the other small long red chiles. In my view there is very little difference between the small long skinny red ones especially when you take into account cross fertilization, hybridization, and the ever important terroir. At any rate, these two chiles are red. 

The anchos look black, I know, but they are actually a deep red.

The chiles are rinsed, rehydrated, torn open and de-seeded. They are patted dry and toasted in a hot pan, turned continuously for about five minutes to completely soften and to excite their molecules. You should get a nice big whiff up your nose, and this will tell you that you are right on track. 

Take care they do not burn. 

The usual suspects. This is Mexican oregano ↓ and whole cumin seeds. Right off the bat we are presented with something of a paradox. Oregano, ore, mountain, gano, joy, Greek for "joy of the mountain," so by stating Mexican oregano one is literally saying Mexican Greek joy of the mountain, and that's ridiculous. Here's how that silliness came about.  When the Spanish arrived and began checking out all the herbs and spices the New World had to offer, they encountered many plants that reminded them botanically of the plants with which they were familiar. So a lot of things are botanically misclassified, basils that are not basils, oreganos that are not oreganos. Mexican oregano is stronger than Greek oregano and I prefer it. Real Mexican oregano looks like tiny florets.  Have a look-see. 

A couple of small tomatoes, not shown. 

Six cups of water and cooked for about 15 minutes until fully softened. Then blended.

Do not skip this step ↓, the straining contributes significantly to the mouth-feel.

Strained back into the pot and cooked another 15 minutes to completely wed the  flavors into a single united entity. At this point, the hot viscus liquid is a dangerous sputtering fumarole of molten magmata spitting its lava in every direction onto all surrounding surfaces. A lid, at least of aluminum foil, is required for safety. 

Salt, of course, to taste. I added Celtic sea salt because I appreciate its high mineral content, which displaces sodium. I think. So the sodium is slightly lower. Plus there is no obvious iodine taste, although iodine itself is present. 

At this point I questioned, "How can this possibly be any good when it is just dried chiles and a few alliums? Huh? How?" Surely it would need more acid than just a few small tomatoes, and that must be counterbalanced with something sweet. I got myself ready to add something with alcohol, possibly something completely unMexican.  I was prepared to make adjustments.

Nope. It can not be improved. I like it just as it is and so will you. The anchos, originating as they do from Poblano chiles have hardly any heat at all. They are two steps hotter than bell peppers on the Scoville scale but they possess outstanding flavor, concentrated by dehydration. The heat comes from the much smaller and fewer arbol chiles. They could easily be doubled with no ill effect. In fact, a touch of habanero wouldn't hurt either. But this sauce is fantastic just the way it is. I do not understand where its own sweetness comes from nor its own tartness, but those characteristics are there. I marvel. I will freeze a portion for reserve, and keep another portion refrigerated in a small jar. This sauce is well worth the effort.