Mexican cuisine is popular with those who love spicy dishes. These dishes in Mexico are served with any of the sauces made from fresh vegetables with the addition of hot peppers. The salsa sauce is the most popular and well-known all over the world, a classic recipe and variations of which are able to master even a novice cook. However, the creation of this masterpiece of Mexican cuisine requires care and diligence, as the violation of the recipe or technology of salsa sauce will lead to undesirable results.
Cooking Features
In order for the Mexican salsa sauce to be as juicy, savory and fragrant as in Mexico, you need to know and take into account when preparing this dish a few important points.
- The main component of salsa is tomatoes. They must be certainly ripe, but in no case sour and rotted. Preference should be given to fleshy fruits.
- Salsa necessarily includes chili pepper. Per kilogram of tomatoes usually take 2-4 pods depending on how hot the sauce you want to get. This component cannot be excluded from the composition of the sauce, since in this case the sauce will be far from the real hot salsa sauce. If you want to soften the burning taste a little, carefully clean the hot pepper from the seeds, as they are particularly sharp.
- Today, housewives are happy to use kitchen appliances to grind food when cooking any sauces. However, if you want to make a salsa according to the classical technology, you should not resort to the help of a blender - you will have to chop the vegetables manually with a knife. It will take a lot of time and effort, but the sauce will be thick and will have a rich taste.
- Tomatoes that serve as the basis of salsa sauce may have different juiciness, and because of this, the taste of salsa may be slightly different each time, even if you make the sauce using the same recipe. For this reason, an experienced chef may risk a little retreat from the recipe to get his version of the sauce. If you do not have enough experience for such experiments, the recipe is better not to break. After all, using too many seasonings, you will not achieve the desired flavor, but pouring them in too many quantities will kill the taste and aroma of tomatoes, which must still remain dominant.
- When adding lemon or lime juice to the sauce, make sure that no citrus grains are in the dish.
- Serve the pepper to the table and allow it to brew for at least one hour. He should stand at this time in the refrigerator, otherwise he will quickly turn sour.
The shelf life of salsa sauce is not too big, so you shouldn’t do a lot of it: cook as much as you can eat in 2-3 days.
Classic Salsa Sauce Recipe
Composition:
- tomatoes - 0.5 kg;
- chili pepper - 1-2 pcs .;
- garlic - 3-5 cloves;
- onions - 100 g;
- lemon juice - 40 ml;
- fresh coriander - 50 g;
- salt, black pepper powder - to taste.
Method of preparation:
- Wash the tomatoes well. On each of them on the side where there is no stem, make a cross-cut with a sharp knife. Boil the water and dip the tomatoes in it. Blanch them for 2 minutes. Take out the vegetables with a skimmer and put them in cold water - in them they will quickly cool to a comfortable temperature. Remove the tomatoes from the cool water and, pulling the corners in the area of the cut, remove the skin. Remove with a knife the seal, which is always near the stem. Cut the tomato pulp with a knife as small as possible so that it will resemble a thick sauce. Put it in a container where the sauce will be located, pour the tomato juice remaining on the board.
- Peel off onion bulbs. It is better to take medium-sized ones, since it is problematic to cut very finely large onions. Cut the onion into very small pieces and place in a container with chopped tomatoes.
- Crush garlic cloves with a press specially designed for chopping garlic. Send it to the rest of the components.
- Pour two tablespoons of lemon juice into the sauce. It is best to use juice, just squeezed from fresh lemon. In the original recipe, lime juice is used instead of lemon juice, but lemon juice is also good.
- Wash and clean Chilean pepper seeds. Smaller chop it up with a knife. When working with pepper, protect your hands with gloves and then wash your hands thoroughly.
- Put the pepper in a bowl with the sauce, add salt and pepper into it, mix.
- Wash and shake cilantro. Chop it with a knife. Greens - this is the only ingredient that does not need to be cut very finely.
- Add the cilantro to the sauce, stir. Put it in the fridge so that it is present.
Classic Mexican salsa sauce can be served with any Mexican cuisine, but it is best suited to meat dishes or snacks made from ground beef. For fish and seafood, another variation of this sauce is better suited.
Salsa Sauce for Fish and Seafood
Composition:
- tomatoes - 0, 35 kg;
- butter - 100 g;
- chili pepper - 2 pcs .;
- onions - 10-15 g;
- balsamic vinegar - 20 ml;
- Worcestershire sauce - 5 ml;
- cognac or brandy - 40 ml;
- dried granulated garlic - a pinch;
- salt - to taste.
Method of preparation:
- Pour boiling water over tomatoes, peel, cut into thin slices.
- Pepper seeds and finely chop.
- Grind a piece of onion in a blender.
- Melt the butter, put the tomatoes in it, along with the juice, pepper and chopped onion, add salt and garlic, pour in balsamic vinegar and Worcester sauce. This sauce is very spicy and you need to pour it drop by drop in order not to overflow. If you want to get a not too hot sauce, you can even refuse this ingredient altogether.
- Heat tomatoes with the rest of the ingredients on low heat for 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Pour brandy or brandy, mix.
- Place for an hour in a cool place.
Salsa sauce prepared according to this recipe well emphasizes the taste of fish and seafood, but it turns out to be extremely spicy.
Salsa Verde
Composition:
- green tomatoes - 0, 5 kg;
- green hot pepper - 100 g;
- pitted olives - 100 g;
- green onions - 50 g;
- onions - 100 g;
- lime - 0, 5 pcs .;
- cilantro - 20 g;
- olive oil - 20 ml;
- salt - to taste.
Method of preparation:
- Wash tomatoes, blot with a napkin, cut in half. Remove seeds from tomatoes. Cut the flesh into slices and place in the blender bowl.
- Wash the pepper, remove the seeds from it. Add pepper to bowl with tomatoes.
- Separate the leaflets from the cilantro and place them in a blender.
- Peel the onions, cut into 4 parts, add to the rest of the ingredients.
- Pour the olives into the blender bowl.
- Grind all the ingredients while mixing them.
- Pour the sauce from the blender bowl into another container. Add the oil, finely chopped green onions with a knife. Squeeze the juice from the lime in the sauce. Salt it and mix well.
- Insist the sauce in the refrigerator for at least two hours.
This variation of salsa sauce refers to Italian cuisine. It can be served at the table or used to prepare various meat and fish dishes.
Salsa sauce is the calling card of Mexican cuisine. His recipe is so popular that it has many variations. The simplest in composition and at the same time the most difficult to prepare is the classic version, but according to this recipe, even an aspiring cook will be able to cook the sauce with patience.
