Why do we roast and peel chili peppers?
The act of roasting and peeling chili peppers is nothing new. In fact, it’s safe to say that for as long as people have been growing and eating chili peppers, they’ve been roasting them.
Why?
Well, it really comes down to two main reasons.
For starters, roasting alters the flavor of the chili pepper. You see by exposing the chili peppers to an open flame you not only impart it with a smokey flavor, but you also allow it to release its natural sugars. That’s not to say that roasting will make the chilies sweet, just more balanced.
The second reason for roasting peppers is that it allows us to remove the skin. And there are generally two reasons why you would want to do this. First, some chili peppers like anaheim, hatch, and poblano, have tough skins that aren’t really pleasant to eat. Secondly, charred chili pepper skins often have a bitter flavor, so removing them is a must.
How to roast three methods
Roasting chili peppers is as simple as applying heat to the chilies. That being said there are a couple of methods that work best.
- Broil
Begin by setting your oven to broil. While the oven is heating up wash and dry your chilies, and place them on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet.
Then place this in your oven on the highest rack, and let them broil on each side for roughly 2 to 4 minutes. You will know that you’re done when the skin is nicely charred and blistered.
- Grill
Turn the burners on your grill to high and let it heat up for 5 minutes. Wash and dry your chilies and once the grill is hot plop them down on the grill grates. Let the chilies cook for roughly 5 minutes each side, or until the skins are nicely charred and blistered.
- Stovetop
This is my favorite way to roast chili peppers, but be mindful that this will only work with a gas stove. First, wash and dry your chilies and set them aside. Then turn on one of your stovetops to high. Place a chili over this flame atop the stove grates and let it cook for roughly 30 seconds each side. 
Let the chilies steam
Now if all you wanted to do is roast your chilies, then you’re done, no need to move further. However, if you want to peel the skin of your chilies, you will first need to let them steam. This step is very important as the steam will help loosen the skin from the flesh of the chilies.
So how do we steam our chilies?
Well, it’s as simple as placing them in a bag. You can use either a brown paper bag or a plastic bag, however, in my experience, a plastic bag works better. So choose a bag, place your freshly roasted chilies in them, seal them up, and let them steam for 5 to 10 minutes.
It’s really as easy as that!
Time to peel
Now that your chilies have steamed it’s time to peel off the skin. And the best utensils to perform this task are your hands! So just pull the chilies out of your steaming bag and use your fingers to peel off the skin.
If everything goes right then this should be a quick and easy process. However, sometimes parts of the chilies don’t get enough char and can be difficult to peel off. Don’t worry though, all you really need to do is take a pairing knife and run it along that portion of the skin until it is removed. 
And that’s it, now you have some wonderfully roasted and peeled chili peppers!
Some recipes that use roasted and peeled green chilis
