Enchiladas are a common food in many Mexican households. While they take some time to make, your efforts will be well rewarded.
This Mexican staple is common in nearly every household. Like many Mexican foods, there is a red, a green, and a white version in homage to the flag. Following are recipes for all three sauces. The truly ambitious could make a tray of enchiladas with all three to resemble la bandera.
The word “enchilada” is a derivative of the Spanish word “enchilar” meaning “to add chili to”. Literally, “enchilada” means “in chili” the main flavor component these sauces (except for the salsa blanca a latecomer to the world of enchiladas).
Enchilada Salsa Roja
Ingredients:
- 2 Tablespoons of butter or shortening
- 2 Tablespoons of flour
- 2 Tablespoons of red chili powder
- 2 cups of chicken or beef stock
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- pinch of oregano
- pinch of ground cumin seed
Process:
- Melt butter or shortening in a saucepan. Add flour to create a roux.
- Stir in stock. Add remaining ingredient and cook for 10 minutes until the sauce thickens.
- Alternatively, add a cup of tomato sauce as well. Not traditional, but pretty tasty
Enchilada Salsa Verde
Ingredients:
- 2 anaheim chilies
- 12 oz. chicken broth
- 4 tomatillos
- 1 jalapeño
- 1 clove of garlic
- Small handful of fresh chopped cilantro
- 1/4 cup of crema (or substitute)
Process:
- Char the skin on the chilies over an open flame. To remove the skins, place the chilies in a paper bag for 10 minutes (plastic bags seem to work as well, but there’s a chance the plastic will melt and give the chilies a funny flavor). The skins should easily come off now. You can run water over the peppers to help peel the skins, but you’ll also be washing off a lot of the great flavor you just imparted into the chilies.
- Stem, seed, and roughly chop the chilies and add to a blender with all of the ingredients besides the crema. Whiz smooth.
- Transfer to a bowl and stir in crema.
Enchilada Salsa Blanca
Though this is a savory recipe this sauce could be made with a couple tablespoons of sugar or honey and crema for sweet enchiladas.
Ingredients:
- 2 onions, diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, diced
- 2 cups of crema (or substitute)
- 4 oz. of chicken stock
- salt and pepper to taste (use white pepper to maintain purity of color)
Process:
- Sweat the onion and garlic in a frying pan on low heat. The point is not to brown the vegetables, but just to cut some of the sharpness of flavor.
- Place the vegetables and stock into a blender. Whiz smooth. If you have diced the vegetables finely enough, you can opt to skip this step in the interest of time and doing less dishes.
- Transfer to a bowl and stir in crema.
Once you have a sauce, you're ready to wrap and bake your enchiladas!
See Also:
The copyright of the article Enchilada Sauce Recipes in Mexican Food is owned by Timothy Dzurilla. Permission to republish Enchilada Sauce Recipes in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
