The poblano pepper is named for Puebla, the state Chef Tony Campos comes from. It is a big, dark green chile with thick walls and a mild heat that varies from one pepper to the next. Dried, the same pepper becomes the chile ancho, the base of countless red sauces. Fresh, it is the pepper Mexican cooks reach for when they want something to stuff.
A chile relleno is just that, a stuffed chile. Across Mexico you’ll find them filled with cheese, with picadillo (ground meat cooked with tomato and spices), with beans or seafood, some served plain and some sitting in a thin tomato broth. In Puebla the classic is picadillo in that tomato broth. The version most people picture, and the one we make, is capeado: the stuffed pepper is coated in egg batter and fried until the coating puffs and turns gold.
How it’s made
A raw poblano has a tough, waxy skin, so the first job is getting it off. We roast the peppers in our kitchen until the skin blisters and darkens, then peel them. Underneath is soft green flesh with a little smoke from the roasting. A peeled poblano is usually slit along one side and seeded, which leaves a pocket for the filling. Tear it along the way and the filling leaks out in the pan, so it pays to go slowly.
Capear means to coat something in batter, and for chiles rellenos that batter is egg. In the classic method the whites are beaten until stiff and the yolks folded back in, and the stuffed pepper gets a dusting of flour so the egg will cling. Then it goes into hot oil. Done well, the coating is light and soft, closer to an omelet wrapped around the pepper than to a crunchy fried crust. It also soaks up sauce, which is the point.
How we serve it
At Hacienda Campos you pick the filling: Monterey Jack cheese or chicken. The battered chile is topped with ranchero sauce, which we make in house, and finished with shredded cheese. It’s on the Tradicional page of our menu, with the enmoladas and the enchiladas verdes.
Ranchero sauce wants something cold beside it. A Modelo Especial from the draft list works, and so does a lime margarita from the bar.
Come by
We’re at 102 McLean Boulevard, Paterson, NJ. Hours are Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday, noon to 11 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, noon to midnight. We’re closed Mondays.
Reservations are by phone at (973) 345-1255, for groups of any size, and walk-ins are always welcome. To eat at home, order the chile relleno for pickup on Toast.