Roasted, Peeled, and dried Hatch Green Chile

Chile Pasado is essentially dried roasted Hatch green chile. Although most people In New Mexico freeze their fresh roasted green chile to preserve it, dried chile is a fantastic method if you have a dehydrator. When people think of dried New Mexico chile, they often think of the sun dried red chile pods that are used in carne adovada, tamales, and red chile enchiladas. Dried green chile is very different.

How to rehydrate chile pasado?

Just add water. It is really that simple. Put your chile that you want to use in a small bowl, and add a little water. It rehydrates and is ready to use in a sauce or as a topping withing a minute. Unless you are planning to make chile rellenos, chile pasado is just as good as frozen chile and a lot easier to use too.

Can I use chile pasado in other ways?

Yes you can. Chile pasado is a great thing to blend up and make your own green chile powder. Unlike typical green chile powder, chile pasado is a roasted chile, so it has a nice roasted flavor to it. I love making spice blends using ground up chile pasado, as I think it contains a super New Mexican kick of flavor.

Why isn’t chile pasado more popular?

Beccause most people nowadays don’t even think about drying it. Every New Mexican has a spare freezer at their house, or even at grandma’s house. We all get together at some point during chile season to bag up a few sacks to share among family members. That being said, I will do my best to promote it. I think chile pasado is one of the best products we sell, because it is so simple to cook with. Although it takes a lot of work to make, and costs more than frozen chile, it is entirely worth it.

Benefits of chile pasado

Chile pasado is the ideal gift for someone who doesn’t live in New Mexico. It is lightweight and shelf stable at room temperature. Unlike frozen chile, where it needs to stay cold, chile pasado is still fine even if it gets up to 100 degrees. The fact that is shrinks down when the water-weight is evaporated out means it is easy to ship too. It can be shipped using standard postage and simply bubble mailers. This means that the cost to ship it comes to a small fraction of the cost of frozen green chile.