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Recipes with dried guajillo chile

8 recipes that use dried guajillo chile, with photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Pescado zarandeado, takes 50 minutes. It is most often cooked with garlic, white onion and dried ancho chile.

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Pescado zarandeadoGrilled marinated whole fish

On the beaches of Nayarit, from San Blas to the island of Mexcaltitán, cooks clamp butterflied snapper in a hinged grill basket and shake it over mangrove charcoal; 'zarandear' means to shake. The flesh is brushed with a paste of guajillo and chipotle chiles, citrus and a little mayonnaise, which chars at the edges while the fish stays moist. Bring it to the table whole and let everyone pull off pieces into tortillas with lime, red onion and cucumber. You can ask the fishmonger to take the head off. Chef's tip: oil the grill basket well, or the skin sticks.

50 minMexicanFishGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pipián rojoChicken in red pumpkin seed sauce

At family fiestas in Tlaxcala and the Puebla countryside, pipián rojo is the brick-red cousin of the green version, thick with toasted pumpkin seeds and sesame and coloured with guajillo and ancho chiles. Chicken pieces are poached first, and their broth loosens the sauce so it clings like velvet. It tastes earthy, nutty and only gently hot, and is served with red rice and stacks of tortillas. Chef's tip: toast the seeds and sesame separately, because sesame burns in half the time.

75 minMexicanChickenGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mole coloraditoRed mole

Among Oaxaca's famous seven moles, coloradito is the one served at weddings, baptisms and the Guelaguetza feasts in the Central Valleys, poured over chicken and eaten with tortillas and rice. Ancho and guajillo give it a brick-red colour, while fried plantain, bread, almonds, sesame and a little Oaxacan chocolate make it sweet-savoury and glossy. It takes an afternoon and is even better the next day. Chef's tip: fry the blended paste in hot oil until it darkens and thickens like jam; this 'searing' of the mole builds most of its depth.

150 minMexicanChicken
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mole de ollaBeef and vegetable mole soup

Despite its name, mole de olla is not a thick mole but a brick-red soup, made in big clay pots on chilly days in Mexico City, Hidalgo and Morelos. Beef shank simmers until soft, then a guajillo-ancho broth carries chunks of corn on the cob, chayote, courgette, green beans and potatoes, finished with a sprig of epazote. It is served in deep bowls with chopped onion, chiles and lime, and tortillas for dunking. Chef's tip: keep the marrow bones in the pot; they enrich the broth and are a cook's treat on toast.

140 minMexicanSoupsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mole rosaPink beetroot mole

Mole rosa comes from Taxco, the silver-mining town in the hills of Guerrero, where it is served on special occasions over poached chicken. Cooked beetroot gives the shocking pink colour, while pine nuts, almonds and a little white chocolate make it creamy, gently sweet and only faintly warm from one mild guajillo chile. It looks festive with toasted pine nuts on top and white rice alongside. Chef's tip: simmer the sauce only briefly, because long cooking turns the pink brownish.

70 minMexicanChickenGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Enchiladas potosinasRed chile cheese enchiladas

Unlike the sauced enchiladas of Mexico City, the enchiladas of San Luis Potosí are small turnovers of masa kneaded with red chile paste, filled with fresh cheese and onion, cooked on the comal and quickly fried. In the city's plaza they are sold by the dozen with crema, shredded lettuce and pickled vegetables, and they're a favourite for Sunday family suppers. For a fully vegetarian plate, swap the usual animal-rennet queso fresco for a vegetarian fresh cheese or a mild microbial-rennet feta. Chef's tip: let the chile paste cool before kneading it into the masa, or the dough turns sticky.

60 minMexicanVegetarianGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Barbacoa de borregoSlow-cooked lamb

In Actopan and the towns of Hidalgo, Sunday starts with barbacoa: lamb wrapped in maguey leaves and cooked overnight in an earth pit, with a pot underneath catching the juices for a rich consommé of chickpeas, rice and guajillo. This home version wraps lamb shoulder in banana leaves and cooks it low and slow in the oven over the consommé. The meat is pulled into tacos with onion, cilantro and salsa, and the broth is sipped alongside. Chef's tip: seal the pot well with foil under the lid so no steam escapes; the lamb should cook in its own vapour.

450 minMexicanMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Chileajo de verdurasVegetables in guajillo garlic sauce

Chileajo is a cold dish of the Mixteca and the Oaxaca valley markets, sold from big clay bowls on Sundays and during Lent, and piled onto crisp tostadas at family fiestas. Potatoes, green beans, carrots, chayote, cauliflower and peas are cooked just tender and folded into a brick-red sauce of guajillo chiles, plenty of garlic, cloves and vinegar, then left to soak up its tangy, smoky heat. It keeps for days and improves as it sits. The usual mistake is overcooking the vegetables before they meet the sauce, so they turn mushy once mixed; they should still have a little bite. Chef's tip: toast the chiles only until they smell fragrant and blister, a few seconds a side; burnt chiles make the whole sauce bitter.

60 minMexicanVegetarianVeganGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Goes well with dried guajillo chile