New Mexico Hatch Chile Pork Chili

New Mexico Hatch Green Chile Pork Chili

It's New Mexico Hatch Green Chile season! Whoo hoo! Hatch Green Chiles are grown in a certain part of New Mexico and they get trucked into California and other states only in August/September. They are great tasting chiles.

I've been to a Hatch Chile roasting in 2010 - see this post. It's a good time and the smell is freaking amazing. Recently, Frieda's Produce sent me a few fresh samples. (Frieda's sell produce to many stores - I'm sure you've purchased something from them in the past).

Hatch Green Chiles can be roasted then frozen to enjoy all year long. You can use them in salsas, chilis, egg dishes and so much more. Frieda's has some recipes here.

There is one more weekend of Hatch Chile Roasting! It is much easier to have them roasted for you in the parking lot. Then you can bring them home and repackage into small freezer bags so you can enjoy them all year. Find a roasting event in California, Texas and some midwest/northeast states here.

If you don't have a roasting event near you, find Hatch Chiles in your local grocery store (I've seen them at Ralphs, Sprouts and Whole Foods in Los Angeles) and roast them yourself at home. You can do this in the oven, but I prefer the gas stove method. Roast until charred, then...

...place the charred chiles in a plastic bag to sweat it out for 15-20 minutes. Then you can easily scrap off the skin. If you wish, you can also remove the seeds because that is where a lot of the heat is located.

Hatch chiles are produced in Mild, Medium and Hot varieties. I usually get the medium and that's plenty spicy for me...I also remove the seeds.

I made a Pork Chile recipe that's based on a dish my Auntie Joy brings each year to our annual Mochi Day.

It's really simply! Brown some pork (I found this package of "Lean Pork Stew Meat" at Sprouts for less than $3.00, but my cousin suggests using a fattier meat such as pork butt or shoulder) and add chopped tomatillos, tomatoes and Hatch Chiles. Cook until softened and enjoy! 

Serve anyway you want...
With tortillas (I love a rolled up corn tortilla)
In a tortilla (dude, it makes a great burrito filling)
Over rice (dude, I'm Asian and this works for all types of food)
With tortilla chips (yes, deep fried anything goes with chili, right?)

Recipe:
New Mexico Hatch Green Chile Pork Chili

Thanks Auntie Joy for the inspiration for this recipe

1/2 pound pork, cut into small pieces (suggestion: pork butt or shoulder)

1 pound tomatillos (about 10 pieces), chopped

1 large or 2 small tomatoes, chopped

2-3 Hatch New Mexico Chiles, charred with skin removed (optional: keep or remove seeds)

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

In a medium pot, heat olive oil and brown pork pieces over high heat.

Toss the tomatillos, tomatoes and chiles into the pot. Lower heat to a simmer.

Simmer for 45-60 minutes, until everything has broken down and it's a hot mess of yumminess.
Enjoy!

Note #1: Freezes very well.
Note #2: Do not add any liquid. The tomatillos and tomatoes express enough liquid for the dish.

What if you don't have Hatch Chiles at your disposal? You can use those canned green chiles but it won't be nearly as delicious. Really. Go out and get the Hatch Chiles, roast & freeze 'em!

Disclosure: Frieda's Produce sent me Hatch New Mexico Chiles to sample (less than 2 pounds). I was not compensated and opinions are my own.

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El Rey Farms Chiles from Hatch, New Mexico

Chiles. Chiles. Chiles.

In September, a big truck of Chiles came rolling into Los Angeles! I went with my cousin to the El Rey Chile distribution in the La Puente High School parking lot. These chiles are grown in New Mexico and trucked out to Southern California each year.

Check out the El Rey Chile company for more information. They have been doing this for years and they have a big following. My cousin's co-worker has been buying chiles from El Rey for over 10 years!

Several families placed orders and we ended up picking up 11 bags of chiles. Each bag is over 30 pounds of the mild, medium, hot or extra hot chiles. Each bag is about $37-38.

Check out those nice green chiles peeking out of the bag! Luckily, there are guys with dollies working for tips that can load your chiles into your vehicle. And since we had so many bags, we borrowed a truck to transport the load - saving our vehicles from smelling like 330 pounds of roasted chiles.

You can pay an outside company to roast your chiles on-site ($14 per bag). It was quite hot that day in La Puente so I don't know how the staff managed to take the heat from these propane roasters.

Once the chiles are roasted, a door opens and they fall to the bottom tray. They go back into your burlap bag (that has been lined with a big trash bag) and the chiles sweat it out so the skins will just fall off.

El Rey Farms has a devoted following of families picking up their New Mexico chiles and chile powder.

Dang. Lotsa chiles! El Rey usually comes out for 4 or 5 deliveries during the months of Aug-Sept.

In the past, this is a long day. You need to wait in the multiple lines (picking up, roasting, powder purchasing), but we got through pretty fast! Our appointment was for 9 am, and the roasting went really fast. Luckily, the high school cheerleading group sets up a food booth with drinks, burritos and tacos. This carne asada burrito with freshly roasted chiles was AWESOME.

Then you have to come home and do something with these chiles! Some will peel them while hot, while others will just take the chiles, toss into a Ziploc bag and save them in the freezer. We peeled some and vacuum sealed lots and lots and lots of chiles!

And what does everyone make? Pork & Tomatillo Chile Chili, Chile rellenos, Salsas, and placing them on everything: eggs, rice, burritos... I'll make my Auntie Joy's Chili soon and post it up!

Interested in next year's truckload? Check out: El Rey Farms

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