The first store I went to didn't have enough dried ancho chiles for the chili recipe so I stopped at the mercado for another package.
The "american" store chiles looked like they were washed before they were dried while the "mexican" store chiles were loaded full of silty dirt.
At first I was a little put off by it but realized it doesn't matter if they are dirty or not because the chiles need to be rehydrated by soaking in hot water anyway. Sort of like dried mushrooms.
After about three hours the chilis looked a little loosened up.
I was working on the cake while these soaked.
They were transferred to a strainer.
Except for one that was still a little dry and jerky-like.
About an hour later, that one was removed from the soaking water and added to the mesh strainer.
That one could've handled some more soaking time.
The chili recipe calls for some of the soaking liquid so I poured filtered some through a coffee filter into the fat separator.
That fat separator is bad ass and so convenient at times like this!
Dried ancho (aka pasilla) chiles, available in 2-ounce bags found in the produce section of Smart & Final for $1.29 or El Metate for $1.49.
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