Chiles toreados are a classic Mexican street food in their own right and a well-loved accompaniment to numerous Mexican sandwiches, street tacos, steak quesadillas, fish and more. They are most frequently made with jalapeños but a variety of Mexican chiles can be prepared in the same delectable way.
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Read on for useful tips and for the background of this Chile Toreado recipe.
What Does Toreados mean?
Chile toreado in English means a blistered pepper even though the literal translation does not lead to that meaning directly.
Toreado is an adjective that derives from the word toreador or bullfighter and suggests the notion of someone who looks like they have just come out of a fight – beaten and battered, with a swollen face and broken lips and eyebrows, numerous scratches, bruises etc.
Similarly, with a bit of imagination, a blistered chile looks as if it has participated in a bullfight and is said to be toreado.
Psst. If you use Google Translate to obtain the meaning do not hope for accuracy. You might just get a good laugh instead – last time we checked the result was bullfighting chiles🙂
About This Mexican Blistered Peppers Recipe
The union between the few simple ingredients customarily used to prepare chiles toreados is one that dependably delivers a culinary bliss. We have cross-checked our easy recipe against those of numerous Mexican (as in actually located in the country) taquerias as well as higher end restaurants serving traditional cuisine and even sushi.
A seemingly unlikely Asian ingredient – soy sauce, is inevitably used to prepare Mexican blistered peppers and there is a very good explanation for its inclusion. Rest assured that both the method and the ingredient line-up are completely authentic.
Ingredients for Chile Toreados
Chiles. Any chile can be blistered following this recipe but Mexican jalapeño peppers are most commonly used because of their size, moderate heat and wide availability in Mexico (of all chiles grown in the country they comprise thirty percent). Other traditional chiles prepared toreado style are serrano peppers as well as güeros peppers (a güero chile is pale, yellow and hot and is also known as banana pepper). You can also use a combination.
Cooking oil. A neutral cooking oil works best, such as vegetable oil (most frequently used in Mexico), canola oil or sunflower oil. Olive oil will work too, although it is not traditional to Mexican cuisine.
Onion. A yellow onion, white onion or even red onion all work well. You can substitute with the white parts of spring onions – if you do, do not slice them small, leave them chunky cut in bite-sized pieces. And while you can make a chile toreado without any onion the dish as a whole tastes better with its savory and aromatic contribution. Much better!
Seasonings. Salt and pepper are a given. Additionally, an umami flavored fermented liquid is used to lend complex notes that cannot be obtained from salt alone (see the dish background notes below). Traditionally the umami seasoning is one of these three:
- soy sauce (by far the most popular option),
- salsa inglesa (Worcestershire sauce) or
- jugo Maggi (liquid seasoning with distinct umami taste, frequently used in Michelada)
Lime juice. Added to taste for a much needed mild acidity to balance the dish. Lime works better than lemon here but you can use lemon juice as a substitute – just a bit less of it.
Background of the Chile Toreado Preparation
A chile toreado is a Mexican food condiment that is equally at home in a taqueria or a sushi restaurant due to the distinctly Asian influence in the way it is seasoned.
Blistering peppers in the manner of toreados and finishing them with soy sauce has its roots in Asian cuisine (think the blistered Shishito peppers of Japan for example).
During the rail-road building years of the late nineteenth century many Asians, predominantly Chinese, migrated to Mexico. As they used local ingredients they also gradually impacted Mexican cuisine with their cooking methods as well as the use of soy sauce as a flavoring. Today soy sauce is a much more popular seasoning in Mexico that you would guess.
How to Make Chiles Toreados: Step-by-Step Instructions
The method of preparation is illustrated below. Find a full printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Prep. Wash and dry the chiles of your choice and with a small sharp knife make slits into them to allow steam to escape from their inside as the high heat of the pan begins to char and blister their outsides. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.
Blister. Pour enough cooking oil in the hot pan to cover it about 1/8 inch deep and add the chiles of your choice. Sear them until they char and blister up on all sides, turn them as needed. Once you have some blistering add sliced onions (half moons), stir them around the pan to coat in oil and then push them to one side to soften them, continue to cook the chiles next to them.
Finish cooking and season. When the onions begin to turn golden brown and the chiles are blistered all over and have softened stir them around the skillet. Season with salt and pepper to taste, add the soy sauce (or salsa inglesa or Maggi) and squeeze lime juice over the dish. You are ready to serve!
TIP: You can also halve the chiles of your choice lengthwise before you blister them – be sure to wear kitchen gloves if doing so in case they are too hot. Overall preparing whole ones as shown is easier and has a better visual appeal. Plus, you can always cut them however you want once you have made them. Ideas are listed below.
Are Chiles Toreados Hot?
It depends. The type of pepper is obvioulsy a key factor – serrano chiles are much hotter than jalapeño chiles.
But more importantly, the cooking process alters the heat levels. Pay attention to this – the heat from the hot skillet slowly breaks down the capsaicin molecules responsible for the heat sensation in peppers.
The broken down compounds escape into the pan liquids and into the air through steam. You can start with a super hot chile and significantly tune down its heat level by the time you convert it into a toreado.
In addition the combination of prolonged cooking with a liquid acidic component such as lime juice in this instance further aids the reduction of heat (spicy flavor) you can experience from a chile.
So the bottom line is – the longer you cook the chiles, the milder they will taste vis-a-vis their starting state.
What Can You Use Toreados For?
You can enjoy chiles toreados in a number of ways. They are excellent as a snack on their own, sometimes drizzled with melted cheese. Add a chelada and you need nothing else on a hot summer afternoon.
The prepared chiles are also a fabulous side dish or a single accompaniment to a great number of Mexican meal favorites:
- tortilla chips
- tortas
- tacos
- quesadillas
- empanadas
- enchiladas
- burritos
- carnitas
- nachos – slice them in thin rings and sprinkle them all over the tortilla chips
Additionally, you can prepare various dips and spreads using these Mexican blistered peppers. A couple of examples are:
- queso dip – you can dice them and use them in a queso dip instead of store bought green chiles.
- hummus – blend rinsed canned chickpeas, a bit of tahini, a clove or garlic, some olive oil and lemon juice and water to make hummus (all to taste and according to your texture preference). Then work in the finely chopped chiles toreados along with the onions for a delectable hummus dip with a distinct Mexican twist. Place a chile toreado on top of the hummus and drizzle a bit of the pan juices for an attractive garnish.
- sour cream dip – simply chop up the toreado chiles and fold them into sour cream along with the pan juices. Delectable dip!
TIP: It is not neccessary to remove the blistered skins of chiles toreados. They are full of flavor and very thin.
Storage
Chiles toreados taste best when just made and by extension it is advisable to make a batch that is just enough to be immediately consumed, while they are still warm.
That being said any leftovers will keep well for a couple of days if refrigerated in an airtight container. Reheating can be done in a medium-hot pan with just a little oil.
Have Too Many Jalapeños?
If you find yourself amidst an abundance of jalapeños you can always make chiles toreados. Jalapeños are by far the most common chile prepared in this manner precisely because they are so abundant.
If you make several large jalapeño toreado batches you can simply allow them to cool down, vacuum seal them in appropriately sized bags (aim for about 10 peppers per each) and then freeze them for easy snacking later on.
To reheat frozen chiles toreados first thaw them overnight in the fridge, then warm them through in a skillet. You might need to add a tad bit fresh lime juice. Again, they will not taste as good as just made fresh ones but will still be delicious.
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Chiles Toreados (Mexican Blistered Peppers)
Chiles toreados are blistered peppers (most commonly jalapeños or serranos) blisfully seasoned with soy sauce or other similar umami flavored liquid seasoning, salt, pepper and lime juice. They are almost always prepared with sauteed onion and are enjoyed as a condiment or a snack in their own right. You can serve them alongside all of your favorite Mexican dishes - from tortas and skirt steak tacos to birria.
Ingredients
- 3-4 tbsp vegetable oil*
- 1 lb chille peppers (jalapeños or serranos or güeros banana peppers)
- 1 large onion (yellow, white, or red)
- pinch of salt and pinch of pepper (adjust to taste)
- 1/4 cup soy sauce**
- 1 lime, juice of (add to taste)***
Instructions
- Wash and dry the chiles then carefully cut slits into them to allow steam to escape during cooking. Slice the onion. Heat a cast iron skillet or other heavy bottomed pan over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the oil to the skillet and then place the chiles inside. As they begin to char and blister, turn them over as needed to get all the sides to blister up. About 3 to 5 minutes depending on size.
- Lower the heat to medium and add the onion. Mix around to coat it in oil. Seperate chiles on one side of the pan and onion on the other. Continue to cook until the chiles are fullly blistered**** and softened all around and the onion has started to turn golden brown.
- Turn off the heat. While the skillet is still on the stove mix chiles and onion, season with salt and pepper, add the soy sauce and finally squeeze the lime juice all over. Give it all a final stir and serve!
Notes
Be sure to read the post above this recipe card. It contains useful tips and information about chiles toreados, and workflow images.
*Could be a bit more or a bit less, depending on the size of your cast iron skillet. A ten inch is perfect for this recipe.
**You can substitute 1:1 with Worcestershire sauce or liquid Maggi seasoning.
***If you only have a lemon on hand use a bit less as its flavor is stronger. Basically add acidity according to your preference.
****If you are working with small chiles they will cook fast and you should temporarily remove them from the skillet while the onion cooks through and then add them back once you turn of the heat and season the mixture.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 417Total Fat: 41gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 36gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 912mgCarbohydrates: 12gFiber: 2gSugar: 5gProtein: 3g
Rena says
Absolutely amazed! Cooked up 8 relatively large jalapeno peppers following the recipe exactly and with soy sauce. They were only slightly hot and incredibly delicious! I was testing how to make chiles toreados for a side dish for cinco de mayo and devoured four of them in record time, lol, they were still warm. Will be making a huge batch, a couple of pounds this Friday for the Mexican food fiesta/potluck! Thank you for the recipe.