Salsa Molcajeteada
This chile pepper gets its name from its origin. In Spanish, serrano is an adjective meaning “from the mountains” which is where it originated-in the mountains of Hildalgo, Mexico. The serrano is normally about twice as hot as Jalapeno (about 10,000 to 15,000 Scoville units).It is the second most popular chile pepper in Mexico. This chile is used mostly for salsas but can also be used in soups, sauces, chili or stews.Try these as a hotter substitute for Jalapeno.
Yields 4 Servings
Ingredients
- 3 to 4 Roma tomatoes
- 2 or more or less Serrano chilies, adjust according to heat tolerance
- half a small white onion*, ajdust to taste
- 2 whole garlic cloves, adjust to taste
- sea salt to taste
- fresh, roughly chopped cilantro, optional
Kitchen Tools Needed:
- a molcajete or mortar and peslte
- a comal or a griddle or pan to char the ingredients
Instructions
- Heat a comal (or griddle or pan) over medium-high heat. Once hot carefuly place the tomatoes, the onion and chiles on to it. Allow to char on one side before flipping and turning until the chiles are softened and blistered, the onion soften (you can also cut the onion into smaller pieces to expediate the cooking), and once the tomatoes have blacked on all sides. Keep a close eye on the vegetables as they will all be done at different times. Add the garlic cloves towards the end as they need but 3 to 5 minutes to char. Carefully remove the ingredients from the comal/griddle/pan.
- In your molcajete (or mortar) first place the garlic cloves with a sprinkling of salt, grind until completly broken down. Next add the chiles (remove the stems first) and grind them with the garlic until broken down. Now for the onion cut it into smaller pieces before placing it on the molcajete so that it’s easier to grind. If you too would like your salsa chunkier then only grind the onion pieces a bit before proceeding. Okay, now place one tomato at a time into the center of the molcajete, use the pestle to carefully push down and help squash it down before beginning to grind it into the other ingredients. Grind into your desired chunkiness before adding the remaining tomatoes at a time.
- Lastly, and only optional, if you’d like mix in some roughly chopped cilantro into the salsa. Taste the salsa and season with sea salt as desired, stir again to combine and give your salsa one last taste before serving right in the molcajete. Enjoy!