I make great salsa. No modesty here. My salsa rocks. I'll give you the basic ingredients and techniques for making a typical table salsa. Try it for yourself. Even though the ingredients are similar in most salsas no two cook's salsas every taste the same.
I learned how to make this salsa by watching our next door neighbor, Lucy. Doing everything the same as she did, my salsa never tasted anything like hers which was phenomenal. At first, I was disappointed because I was unable to replicate her version but I stuck with it and realized that I was making great salsa, just totally different. Once you start making your own salsa you'll never be able to go back to store bought.
Authentic Mexican table salsa is easy to make and tastes far
superior to any store bought salsa. Mexican cooks use ingredients on
hand to make vibrant, flavorful, and healthy salsas.
To make the salsa you can mix and match the following ingredients to suit your taste:
- Tomatoes preferably Roma but regular tomatoes work fine
- Tomatillos
- Onion
- Bell peppers
- Jalapeno chiles
- Serrano chiles
- Poblano chiles
- Garlic
- Cilantro
- Lime juice
The most important step for making a great salsa is charring the
vegetables as shown in the picture below. You really want to char the
vegetables. Make sure they are good and burnt all the way around.
To char the vegetables hold them over an open flame on a gas stove.
If your stove is electric, preheat a large frying pan on high and char
the vegetables in the pan turning often. Many Mexican recipes have you peel the chiles. In this case, the charred bits give the
salsa a deeper smokier flavor so you want to leave the skins on.
Recipe for a Typical Version of the Mexican Table Salsa
Ingredients:
- 6 Roma tomatoes or 3 large regular tomatoes
- 1 Medium white onion chopped
- 3 Jalapeno or serrano chiles (add more or reduce quantity to taste)
- 1 Garlic clove
- 1 Cup loosely packed cilantro
- 2 limes (the smaller Mexican limes are the best)
- Salt
- Makes 5 to 6 cups of salsa
Char the tomatoes, onion, garlic and chiles. Remove from heat and let cool. Remove the tops of the tomatoes and chiles.
Put all ingredients in a blender including the cilantro and the
juice from two limes. I like to add two tablespoons of olive oil which gives the salsa a richer flavor. Add salt to taste. Blend until coarsely ground.
Do not over blend.
The finished salsa. Nothing beats homemade.
