Salsa Recipes

Chile Chipotle

Chipotle Characteristics
Pronounced: chuh-POT-lay
Scoville Units: 10,000
Chile Chipotle is a light brown (dull tan to coffee brown), wrinkled, dried smoked jalapeno chile. They are are approximately 2 to 4 inches in length and about 1 inch wide. Traditionally, fresh, ripe jalapeno chiles are slowly smoked over the dried foliage of the chile plant. It is reported that as much as 20% of the Mexican jalapeno crop is used to make chile chipotle.

Varieties You will often see chipotles classified as "brown" or "red/morita". Chile ahumado, also referred to as tipico and chile meco, is greyish tan in color with a very rich smoky, rich flavor. Green jalapeno chiles are smoked and dried to produce the "brown" chipolte. This type of chipotle is typically the "authentic" preferred chipotle.

Chile morita means "little blackberry" in Spanish. A Chile morita is a dark reddish-purple color. Often the morita is referred to a smoked serrano chile, but this is inaccurate. Both the tipico and the morita are smoked jalapenos -- the difference is that the morita is often made from a smaller variety of ripe red jalapeno and it is not smoked nearly as long as the tipico. The morita remains very leathery and pliable.

Chipotle Grande is a smoked, dried Chile Huachinango, a name for a variety of large red jalapeno.

Chipotle en Adobe Chile Chipotle is popular as "chipotle en adobe" which is the chipolte canned in a red vinegary sauce. Adobo is a dark red sauce made with garlic, onions, tomato, oil, bay leaves and vinegar.