Enchilada Sauce w/ Thai Dragon Peppers
This Thai Dragon Enchilada Sauce is a mixing of seemingly disparate flavor profiles in a delicious blend of a classic Latin American favorite. I make this enchilada sauce every year. It's incredibly simple to toss together. Just roast whatever your favorite peppers that you have on hand, blend with tomatoes, garlic, onion, cumin, salt, pepper, and enough water to combine. Then, simmer until the desired consistency is reached. I like mine a little bit on the thinner side because I use it almost like a hot sauce substitute. Although you can certainly simmer it down to a thicker consistency in no time at all!
Equipment
- Air Fryer (or roasting method of choice)
- Food Processor
- Large Pot
- Stovetop
Ingredients
- 20 Thai dragons (or small pepper of choice)
- 3 tomatoes quartered
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1/2 red onion halved
- 1 tsp. cumin
- dash salt
- dash pepper
- 3 c. water (divided 2 c. + 1 c.)
Instructions
Roast Produce
- Place the peppers, tomatoes, garlic, and onion in the air fryer. It can help to cut the tomatoes and onion in half and cut the stems off of the chilis so that they don't burst while cooking.Depending on the size of your air fryer, you may need to break this up into multiple batches. I cooked the peppers and the rest of the fruits and vegetables separately. You can also substitute any other roasting method of choice. An oven or BBQ would do just fine. It's more to get a char flavor than explicitly necessary.
- Cook at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 5-7 minutes, or until lightly charred. The skin should begin to brown, but not entirely blacken or shrivel. You're trying to roast them, not dry them!
Blend
- Once the produce is cool, add to a food processor with 2 cups of the water. Blend until pureed completely.In my Vitamix or Cuisinart Food Processor this takes about 15-20 seconds. In another blender, this might take a minute or two.Just be careful not to inhale the mixture when you open the lid! It's quite spicy.
Cook
- Add the blended produce, spices, and the remaining 1 cup of water (all of the ingredients) to a pot.
- Bring to a boil over high heat and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 30-40 minutes, or until thickened. Make sure to stir occasionally.If the mixture reduces too quickly, reduce the heat or add more water 1 tbsp at a time until the desired consistency is reached. Stir constantly during this time.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate. With so many hot peppers, this enchilada sauce will last a good while in the refrigerator.
Tips, Tricks, & Notes
- If you do air fry the vegetables for too long, don't fret too much. You'll still end up boiling the ingredients and they will re-hydrate. You're pretty much okay with any amount of char as long as you don't seriously burn them.
- You can substitute any kind of pepper of choice. Even dried peppers will re-hydrate as you simmer them. If you don't have fresh chilis or other peppers and want to use dried ones, just skip the roasting step and go straight to the cooking stage.
- A Vitamix also blends pretty smoothly. If you are using a type of blender that doesn’t liquify, you can strain the mixture to remove any leftover chunks. Generally, more liquid will result in a smoother consistency, but this isn’t guaranteed and can result in a watered down flavor. Although you can potentially add more liquid to blend and then cook longer to simmer down afterwards.