Do you love chile relleno from your favorite Mexican restaurant? If so, you’ll be delighted with these Fried Chile Relleno Mini Bites! Mozzarella is wrapped in roasted poblano peppers, breaded, and fried to perfection!
Roasted poblano peppers might be one of the only aromas that have the power to waft me into the kitchen. For a person who loves food as much as I do, you would think that might be easy to do, but believe it or not, it isn’t. Not many food aromas have the power to hypnotize me and make me feel like I’m floating in the kitchen. Poblano peppers in or on the stove have that power over me.
If you have even the smallest obsession with them and their aromatic appetencies, there is no doubt you will love these Fried Chile Relleno Mini Bites. They’re a miniature version of a chile relleno with the added bonus of being crispy on the outside like a fried mozzarella stick. The process is a bit laborious, but I promise, they are worth every step.
Fried Chile Relleno Mini Bites Recipe
The first thing you’ll need to start with is to make a simple tomato salsa to serve them with. It’s the simplest thing to make. All you have to do is boil together tomatoes, white onion, and garlic until they are soft. Turn off the heat and let them cool down.
Next, decide how you want to roast the poblano peppers. Over an open flame, on a griddle, or under the broiler? They all work fine, so go with whatever makes your life easier. I personally like the griddle method, so that’s what I’ll be demonstrating below.
Rinse, clean, and dry six large poblano peppers then lay them onto a griddle. Turn on the heat to medium and let them start getting warm with the griddle. After a few minutes, when the griddle is hot, use tongs to start rotating the peppers. Continue turning them over until all sides are charred on the outside and they start to puff up like a balloon. That’s usually about the time when they are ready to be taken off the heat. This shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes once the griddle is hot.
Place them in a container and cover them with plastic wrap. You can also use a large zipper bag if you want to avoid washing another dish which I totally get. No one likes doing dishes. Leave them in there to steam while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
By now the tomatoes should be cool enough to touch. Blend them with about ½ cup of water from the pot until it’s almost puréed. Season with salt to taste. Cilantro is optional.
Crush the panko crumbs in a zipper bag with a rolling pin. You can use a large bag, or simply crush them in two batches. Set them aside in a shallow dish.
Pour flour into another shallow dish and set that aside.
Go back to the peppers and peel the charred skin off of them.
Cut off the stem cap and remove all the seeds, then cut each pepper in half to make two triangular pieces and set them aside.
Roll each mozzarella stick with one of the pepper halves, starting with the wide end. Once rolled, insert a toothpick straight through the pepper and cheese with the pointy end up to keep it closed. Roll all 12 cheese sticks then place them in the refrigerator while you prepare the egg batter.
In a large bowl, beat the egg whites with a hand mixer on high speed until soft peaks begin to form. Add the egg yolks one at a time with about one minute between the two. Beat two more minutes.
Fill a heavy or thick bottomed deep pot for frying with enough vegetable oil to cover slightly more than half of a cheese stick that has been rolled up with the pepper halves. Heat oil on medium heat until it reaches at least 350ºF, but no more than 375ºF.
Hold the toothpick to dredge the cheese sticks first in the flour, then the egg batter, and finally in the panko crumbs. When you get to the panko crumbs, you’ll have to work fast and use a spoon to completely cover the egg batter.
Gently add it to the hot oil to fry the first side for about twenty seconds. Use a large slotted spoon to help you keep the batter from spreading out too much.
Before you turn it over, remove the toothpick by using your fingers to twist and pull the toothpick out. Be careful not to touch that hot oil!
Flip it over and continue to fry another 20-30 seconds before removing and letting it drain over paper towels.
Serve with the tomato salsa, and enjoy!
Ingredients
- 3 roma tomatoes
- ¼ large white onion peeled
- 4 large garlic cloves
- Salt to taste
- ¼ cup cilantro (optional)
- 6 large poblano peppers
- 12 string cheese mozzarella sticks
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 8-oz can Italian style panko breadcrumbs, crushed
- 5 egg whites plus two yolks
- Vegetable oil for frying
- 12 toothpicks
Instructions
- In a 2-quart pot, boil together tomatoes, white onion, and garlic until they are soft. Turn off the heat and let them cool down.
- Rinse, clean, and dry 6 large poblano peppers then lay them onto a griddle. Turn on the heat to medium and let them start getting warm with the griddle. Use tongs to rotate the peppers. Continue rotating until all sides are charred on the outside and they start to puff up like a balloon; about 15 minutes. Place them in a container and cover them with plastic wrap.
- Blend tomatoes, onion, and garlic with ½ cup of water from the pot until almost puréed. Season with salt to taste; cilantro is optional.
- Crush panko crumbs in a large zipper bag with a rolling pin. Set aside in a shallow dish. Pour flour into another shallow dish and set aside.
- Peel the charred skin off peppers. Cut off stem cap and remove all the seeds, then cut each pepper in half to make two triangular pieces. Roll each mozzarella stick with one of the pepper halves starting with the wide end. Once rolled, insert a toothpick straight through the pepper and cheese with the pointy end up to keep it closed. Roll all 12 cheese sticks then place them in the refrigerator while you prepare the egg batter.
- In a large bowl, beat the egg whites with a hand mixer on high speed until soft peaks begin to form. Add the egg yolks one at a time with about 1 minute between the two. Beat 2 more minutes.
- Fill a heavy or thick bottomed deep pot for frying with enough vegetable oil to cover slightly more than half of a wrapped cheese stick. Heat oil on medium heat until it reaches at least 350ºF, but no more than 375ºF.
- Hold the toothpick to dredge the cheese sticks first in the flour, then the egg batter, and finally in the panko crumbs. When you get to the panko crumbs, you’ll have to work fast and use a spoon to completely cover the egg batter. Gently add it to the hot oil to fry the first side for about twenty seconds. Use a large slotted spoon to help you keep the batter from spreading out too much.
- Before you turn it over, remove the toothpick by using your fingers to twist and pull the toothpick out. Be careful not to touch that hot oil!
- Flip it over and continue to fry another 20-30 seconds before removing and letting it drain over paper towels. Serve with the tomato salsa.
Notes
Home Chef Tip: Have a paper napkin nearby to help keep your fingers clean while peeling the peppers. Make the tomato salsa a day before to save time.
We hope you enjoy these Fried Chile Relleno Mini Bites from SoFabFood Home Chef, Stephanie from Spanglish Spoon, as much as we do. If you love this recipe, you can find more like it by visiting our Appetizer Section. For daily recipe inspiration, subscribe to our newsletter, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Pinterest. Enjoy!
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