The basic idea is to
blister the skin by exposure to heat, which makes it
easy to
peel off. This is useful for large chiles having tough skins,
such as
bell peppers,
poblanos, or
Anaheim peppers.
Blistering
Method 1: Open flame.
This is the best method, in my opinion. Use a
charcoal fire or
the flame on a
gas stove. Place a
chile close enough to the flame that
the skin blisters (you will hear a popping sound) within a few seconds.
Use
tongs to keep turning the chile. Don't let it get too blackened in
one spot, but try to make sure every part of the surface, including
crevices, is blistered if possible. Once that part is done, make sure
there are no glowing
embers (e.g., the stem!) on the chile and pop it into
a
plastic bag to
steam. Set aside, and blister your remaining chiles.
Method 2: Electric oven.
If you don't have an open flame handy, you can get by with the broiler in
an electric oven. This is less satisfactory, because you risk cooking the
flesh of the chile too much. The broiler should be really hot -- keep the
door cracked a bit so the heating element won't go off, resulting in a
cooler temperature. Place a few chiles on the top rack as close to the
heating element as possible. Keep watching, and turn them as they
blister. When a chile is completely blistered, stick it into a plastic
bag as in Method 1.
Let the chiles sit in the plastic bag with their hot, steaming cohorts
until they have cooled off enough that they can be handled.
Peeling
At this point, the skin should peel right off. If it's really charred,
you can use a
knife to scrape it off and then
rinse the exterior with
water. If there's a stubborn spot with the skin still attached (this
happens alot inside
dimples and
crevices), you can often slip the tip of
the knife underneath to get that bit of skin off.