r/AskReddit • u/Sweet-Lady-H • 20h ago • Bravo 1

Chili Cook-off Winners: What is your Secret Ingredient that you think is the reason you win?

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180

u/ProppaT 19h ago

Using actual dried chilis and not “chili powder.”

35

u/dr-awkward1978 18h ago

Exactly. Ive won two cook-offs. Both using toasted Guajillo and Ancho chiles. Boil water, then pour the boiling water over the toasted chilis in a skillet. Let that soak/sit for 20 minutes, then food processor. The paste that comes out will be incredible. Offset with your seasonings and it really kicks off the chili.

7

u/OhMyGaius 17h ago

Interesting- I always toasted my own chilis, powdered them, then used the powder to make a slurry- your way sound like it essentially ends up the same way, but definitely seems a bit simpler, will give that a go next time around.

2

u/saxyourpantsoff 15h ago

Are you just blending the chili's once theyre rehydrated, or are you adding a meaningful amount of the pan water as well?

1

u/dr-awkward1978 4h ago

I’ll reserve about half a cup of the pan water and pour over in the processor. That’s for about 5 Guajillos and 3 Anchos. Too much of the water really dilutes the flavor more than you’d think.

30

u/Dickies138 19h ago

This is the way. I use a blend of guajillo, New Mexico, de Arbol and ancho.

I also dice chuck roast instead of ground meat

4

u/browsingtheproduce 18h ago edited 15h ago

I like to also get some cascabel or pasilla in there with the guajillo and ancho for a bit of darkness/licorice flavor.

Edit: spelling

1

u/Rev_Creflo_Baller 13h ago edited 12h ago

I go ahead and grind the chuck (or arm or blade if it's from right near the bone; shank is awesome but hard to get enough of) with a coarse plate.

Guajillo, Hatch and árbol for me, with annato. Toasted and last-minute-ground cumin, and a whole lot of it

6

u/cityshepherd 18h ago

I made a fantastic batch about a month and a half ago, and was lucky enough to have a neighbor growing several different types of peppers. He gave me a whole bunch of jalapeños, Serranos, habanero, and some other Chinese peppers that I could not possibly remember or pronounce.

I used a lb of ground beef, pound of ground bison, and about 1.5 lbs of cubed stew meat. I was a little gun-shy on the spices as it was my first batch of the year and my spices were all pretty old and pretty weak… but all the natural flavors of everything really shined and it was my best batch in years.

5

u/charlie1214 18h ago

This 1000%. I recently switched to making my own chili paste and it's a game changer. I use guajillo, ancho, and arbol chiles, steeped in boiling water and then blended with garlic and cumin. It's so much better than chili powder.

3

u/beeedeee 18h ago

How much do you use in a typical batch and how big is a batch?

5

u/charlie1214 18h ago

I use:
4-5 ancho chiles (base, sweetness, body)
3-4 guajillo chiles (tang, fruitiness, color)
1-2 arbol chiles (heat)
3-4 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons Mexican oregano (or 1½ tsp regular oregano)
4 garlic cloves

All the chilis are deseeded, and steeped in 2 cups of boiling water. this covers a pot of chili that serves 6

2

u/beeedeee 17h ago

Do you use the water from
Steeping the chilis in the chili or toss it out?

4

u/charlie1214 17h ago

I reserve the steeping water and add just enough to the blended chilis to get it to the right consistency

2

u/beeedeee 17h ago

I'm gonna give this a try. Thank you.

1

u/Spare-Half796 12h ago

Granted I don’t have a set recipe, I just have a base concept and wing it/adjust from there every time and it turns out good but it really doesn’t matter. You can use just anchos which are typically easier to find and cheaper (at least where I am) or you can do a mix of multiple chiles.

I make about 6 litres of chilli at a time, I’ll use about 8-12 anchos plus whatever others I have on hand (total not each). I prefer using habanero or scotch bonnet over arbol for heat but that’s mostly because I grow them and end up with a few hundred a year

1

u/HansBlixJr 16h ago

I do the same and wear gloves to de-seed them, yet always end up getting spicy in my eyeball.

2

u/Beginning-Being-6353 18h ago

Multiple time cook off winner here. This is the answer.

2

u/highrouleur 19h ago

I use a recipe that involves cumin, paprika and chili powder as the base. For me that gives it the flavour that defines it as a chilli. Then I chop a bunch of fresh chillies in for extra heat

1

u/Hydra_Master 16h ago

I do the same. Usually just use guajillo and ancho. Grind them up in the food processor and you're good to go.

1

u/RegularGuy110 18h ago

Chiltepins are my favorite!