Nopales con Chile Colorado Sonorense

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide clay cazuela or 12-inch heavy skillet
• •Cast iron comal or dry skillet for toasting chiles
• •High-powered blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Sharp paring knife for cleaning the nopales

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean the nopales

   Lay each paddle flat on a cutting board. Hold it by the base with a towel and shave off the spines and the small black eyes with a sharp knife, working away from your hand. Trim the thick rim. Rinse and cut the paddles into half-inch strips, then crosswise into half-inch squares. The smaller the cut, the faster the slime, the baba, releases and washes away later. Asi se hace y punto.

   If your fingers are not used to nopales, hold each paddle with kitchen tongs while you shave the spines. The thorns are fine and they hide. The senoras at the mercado in Hermosillo will clean them for you in seconds. At home, take your time.
2. 2

   Boil the nopales

   Bring a large pot of water to a gentle boil. Add the cut nopales, the half onion left whole, the two whole garlic cloves, the tomatillos if using, and a tablespoon of salt. Boil uncovered for 10 to 12 minutes. The nopales will go from bright green to a duller olive green and the water will turn cloudy and viscous. That cloudiness is the baba leaving. Drain in a colander and rinse thoroughly under cold water until the water runs clear and the strips no longer feel slick. Set aside. Discard the onion, garlic, and tomatillo.

   Some Sonoran cooks skip the boiling and saute the raw nopales directly in lard until the slime cooks off in the pan. That works for small quantities. For a stew where the nopales sit in sauce, boil and rinse first. The sauce stays clean.
3. 3

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal or heavy skillet over medium heat. Toast the California, guajillo, and ancho chiles separately, pressing each one flat with a spatula for about 20 seconds per side. They should puff slightly and turn fragrant, never blacken. The chile California is the soul of this sauce. It is sweet, deep red, mild. Sonora cooks call it chile colorado and it is what gives the dish its name. Burned chile is bitter chile. There is no recovering from it.

4. 4

   Soak and blend the sauce

   Place the toasted chiles in a heatproof bowl and cover with hot tap water, not boiling. Let them soften for 20 minutes until pliable. Drain and transfer to a blender with the three garlic cloves, the oregano, cumin, black pepper, a teaspoon of salt, and 1 1/2 cups warm water or vegetable broth. Blend on high for at least two minutes until the sauce is completely smooth and a deep brick red. Pour through a fine-mesh strainer, pressing on the solids. Discard the skins. You want a clean, velvety chile colorado base.

5. 5

   Fry the chile sauce

   In a wide cazuela or heavy skillet, melt the manteca over medium heat until it shimmers. Add the diced onion and cook for three to four minutes until soft and translucent. Add the minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Pour in the strained chile puree. It will sputter, this is the moment. Cook for five to seven minutes, stirring often, until the sauce darkens, thickens, and the fat starts to bead at the edges of the pan. La manteca es el sabor. This step is the difference between a sauce that tastes like raw chile and one that tastes like a Sonoran rancho kitchen.

6. 6

   Simmer the nopales in the sauce

   Add the drained nopales to the chile colorado. Stir to coat every piece. The sauce should hug the nopales without drowning them. If it is too thick, add a splash of warm water. Lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The nopales will absorb the chile and turn a deep rust color. Taste for salt now. The sauce should be assertive, slightly tangy from the nopales themselves, with the sweet depth of the California chile carrying everything.

7. 7

   Serve at the table

   Spoon into a wide clay platter or directly from the cazuela. Serve with warm flour tortillas, the way they do in Sonora, not corn. The flour tortilla is northern Mexican territory and this dish belongs to that territory. A scatter of crumbled queso fresco or queso menonita on top, lime wedges on the side, and you are done. Cada estado, su propia cocina.

Chef Tips

• •Buy nopales already cleaned only as a last resort. The pre-cleaned, pre-cut nopales at the grocery store have lost their freshness and they leak more baba than a freshly cleaned paddle. If you can find young paddles in spring, clean them yourself. It takes ten minutes.
• •Chile California and chile guajillo look similar but they are not the same chile. The California is shorter, broader, deeper red, and noticeably sweeter. If you cannot find true California, lean harder on guajillo and add an extra ancho for body. It is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •Oregano sonorense, the wild oregano of the northern desert, has a sharper, more resinous flavor than the Mexican oregano sold elsewhere. If your spice vendor stocks it, use it. It is the herb that makes a Sonoran dish smell Sonoran.
• •This dish is naturally vegan if you swap the lard for a good vegetable shortening. But know what you are giving up. La manteca es el sabor and the lard version tastes like a rancho kitchen. The shortening version tastes clean. Both are honest. Choose.

Advance Preparation

• •The chile colorado base can be made up to three days ahead and refrigerated. The flavor deepens. Reheat with a splash of water before adding the nopales.
• •Boiled and rinsed nopales hold in the refrigerator for two days. Boil them ahead, drain well, and store in a covered container so they do not pick up other flavors.
• •The finished dish keeps for three days refrigerated and reheats well in a covered cazuela over low heat. Add a small splash of water if the sauce tightens.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 240g)