Chillies
Of course Mexican food is spicy!
Jalapeños – green chilies usually pickled in vinegar. They can be fresh and sprinkled onto dishes as well. They are not super hot on the scoville scale but definitely provide some bite.
Chipotle in adobo – chipotle is a smoke dried jalapeño and it is often prepared in an adobo sauce and sold in cans or bottles. A few of these in your mexican dish or salsa will make it more complex and smoky and add a definite “Mexican” flavour.
Fresh chillies – we already mentioned jalapeño but there’s also poblano, chilaca, mirasol, serrano, and bola.
Dried chillies – we already mentioned chipotle but there’s also ancho, pasilla, guajillo, chile seco, cascabel.
The last two lists are actually in the same order of chilli but in their different forms: jalapeño dried and smoked = chipotle, poblano dried and smoked is ancho, chilaca = pasilla, mirasol = guajillo, serrano = chile seco, and bola = cascabel.
Habanero – a special mention has to be made for habanero chilli which is used to flavour many salsas. It’s hot! Be careful and wear gloves when handling.
Rice – is more common in northern Mexico and tomato is often added, making it red.
Some more common ingredients are tomatoes, cilantro, onions. But i think we don’t need to get to the level where I encourage you to have salt and pepper on hand.