A few months ago I met Alex Cardenas, a friend of a friend. Alex is Mexican, and had made salsa at our friend's house. After one taste of his salsa, I immediately began asking questions--what did you put in it, how did you make it, what kind of peppers did you use? It turns out, good salsa is very easy to make, and common "Americanized" versions complicate the original.
After drilling Alex about the salsa, I went home and made my own, trying my best to replicate his. (As with most authentic recipes, there are no "official" measurements; Alex told me "add some of this and some of that".) Feel free to experiment with quantities and adjust according to flavor.
Ingredients:Fresh tomatoes
Hot pepper(s) of your choice. Alex used several serranos. This time I opted for one jalapeño, to satisfy the milder-spice eaters
Fresh cilantro
A touch of salt
Bring a pot of water to boil. Boil the tomatoes and peppers until the skins loosen, ~1 minute. Remove the skins and add to a blender. (This is something that clearly improves with practice. When I attempted this, some of the tomatoes were underdone with skins still stuck, while some were overdone and exploded when I tried to peel them. The pepper skin never loosened, and I added them to the blender with skins on. I will have to search online more to see if I am missing something.)
Next, add fresh cilantro to the blender, and pulse lightly. The salsa should be very finely chopped and quite thin, but not runny like soup. I think I overdid this step a bit.
Place in the refrigerator until cool, and the flavors will set.
Remove after a few hours, add salt to taste, and serve with chips.
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| Boiling the tomatoes and peppers |
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| Peeling the tomatoes |
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| I used half Roma and half cherry tomatoes |
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