The Road to Enchilada

Saucyman, Enchilada Sauce: Tell me about it. What makes for a good, authentic enchilada sauce?

I can answer the good, but authentic is always a hard classification. The nation-state of Mexico is a rather new concept dating from 1810, 1821, 1824, 1867 or 1910-1913 depending on how you want to do the math. In any case, a national cuisine wasn’t adopted along with the federal(e) constitution. Geographical diversity ranging from coastal tropics to the high dessert, distinct indigenous cultures, the lingering remnants of two separate empires and the addition of the European crops of the conquerors, all have a stake in shaping Mexican cuisine.

Even with all the anthropological caveats about what is real, the Saucykitchens enchilada is far from genuine. I actually bake my enchiladas like a casserole (You can take the person out of the Midwest but you can’t take the Midwest out of the person). And the sauce is dangerously close to Tex-Mex cuisine, sans lard* and ultimately resembles a quickie mole sauce rather than a true enchilada sauce.

For what this enchilada sauce lacks in pedigree it is much better than what comes out of a can and like Saucyman himself, it is quick and easy. Dried red chilies, onion and garlic are all orthodox enchilada ingredients – Thickening the sauce with the addition of a slice of fried bread is far from the norm.

1/3 cup oil
8 dried Ancho chilies

6-8 cloves garlic
2 small onions – diced

1 slice of bread – about an inch thick

1 diced tomato or ½ cup salsa
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 t. oregano
2 cloves of well, clove – smashed with the side of a knife.
Black pepper to taste

6 cups stock or water. 

Heat oil in a small heavy pan. Like baking, 325-350 is a good temperature for cooking. A thermometer, a properly calibrated thermometer is the best way to nail the temp. Short of using a very helpful kitchen tool – one that is way more necessary and cheaper than your olive wood gnocchi rollers or even your industrial strength zester - the oil is ready when you can drop a cube of bread in the oil and the oil bubbles excitedly around the bread. This would be an occasion where numbers are way better than adverbs. And I really like adverbs, really.

While oil is heating up remove stem end from chilies and shake out seeds. Add peppers to oil, 4 at a time. They will puff up, flip them over and when both sides are brown and leathery, shake off excess oil and set aside on a plate.

Add onions and garlic to oil. Sauté until onions start to take on brown highlights. Remove from oil – add to the plate with chilies.

Reduce heat to medium and toast bread in pan. The bread should turn a pretty golden brown on both sides.

Transfer all ingredients to a small stockpot and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes. Puree in blender/food processor, adjust seasonings and it is enchilada sauce.

Traditionally the sauce is served over fried corn tortillas filled with little goodies – cooked meat, cactus, beans, sautéed veg, rice – cheese is sprinkled over the top before it is served, occasionally with sliced radishes. But you know sometimes traditional is just that. Bring on blended margaritas, guacamole and sour cream.

*Lard is a hard sell as an ingredient. Nascent vegetarians and fatphobes are two of the usual suspects. Even if it were a little more acceptable to cook with lard, I don’t think I could go through the smallest package of lard before its expiration date. Oil works fine, although it is usually not recommended for frying, olive oil lends itself pretty well to the taste of the food.