A local Mexican spot has some of my favorite red salsa. I’m trying to reverse engineer it.
I noticed it looks like it contains both green onions and chives.
Is this common for certain styles? I wonder if those two ingredients are what gives it its signature taste.
It looks like they probably use canned tomatoes and possibly blend it with some cilantro in addition to the chives and green onions. I do not get any lime flavor from the batch. I usually use fresh tomatoes, so if anyone has some advice on canned tomatoes versus tomato puree, please lay it on me!
by Layton115
3 Comments
If they make the salsa in a blender I don’t think the cilantro nor green onion are put in the blender, they’re too large, so I believe they’re hand chopped and added at the end.
I would say yes either petite diced tomatoes or canned crushed tomatoes.
Basically all salsa like this needs an acid to taste right, either lime juice or vinegar are the most common.
I don’t see any signs of chili pepper , maybe it’s habanero which is orange in color and could visually disappear into the salsa.
Here’s one possibility that you could try.
From: [https://flanandapplepie.wordpress.com/2014/10/20/salsa-roja-martajada-chunky-red-salsa/#more-354](https://flanandapplepie.wordpress.com/2014/10/20/salsa-roja-martajada-chunky-red-salsa/#more-354)
**Chunky Red Salsa** (Makes about 3 cups)
(Add chopped chives and green onion to taste)
**Ingredients:**
* 6 medium plum tomatoes
* 2 whole serrano peppers, stems removed
* 2 pieces white onion
* 1 garlic clove
* Handful of cilantro
* 1 tsp kosher salt
***Directions:***
1. Cut tomatoes and serrano peppers in half lengthwise. Place tomatoes, serranos, and garlic clove on griddle or comal over medium heat. Roast until skins are blackened and vegetables are soft.
2. Place onion, garlic, and one tomato in blender. Pulse until finely chopped. Add peppers and half of the cilantro. Pulse until combined. You will have a greenish looking paste at this point.
3. Add remaining tomatoes and salt and pulse 4 times to achieve a chunky salsa. Add the cilantro and pulse an additional 2 times to incorporate it.
Image: [http://flanandapplepie.weebly.com/uploads/7/1/6/6/7166401/chunky_red_salsa.pdf](http://flanandapplepie.weebly.com/uploads/7/1/6/6/7166401/chunky_red_salsa.pdf)
The chives certainly could be cilantro stems…..anyways in my experience most tomato based “table salsas” tend to be canned tomatoes. Which makes sense when these restaurants are making buckets at a time. Much easier to use #10 cans….