I pride myself on my salsa making abilities. Couple things I go by... Salsa is made fresh, consumed within a week. Im not full mexican so I dont call it Pico De Gallo. Hot sauce is something thats cooked and has a longer shelf life. Companies like Pace cook their salsa cuz they have to in order to sell it and have any sort of shelf life. You may have noticed that Pace even once open lasts over a month. Theres alot of specifics making commercial salsa, including PH and if it isnt right you cant sell it. I looked into going into business once selling salsa and lets just say my head started spinning with California laws in particular.
So now, the following are merely my opinions and Ill say it like its gospel because damnit Im rarely wrong. Firstly, you only want to use Roma tomatoes. They're considered a paste tomato and not as juicy as other ones. They just work the best. Now the success of your salsa is based largely off the ripeness of your ingredients. Super red almost too soft tomatoes are perfect. And they're hard to find like that cuz most stores have them less ripe to stay on the shelves longer. I think the 2nd largest factor is your cilantro. Ive grown alot of it myself and its no different than in the store, if it grows too long although it may look the same, it will start to taste completely different and not in a good way. I also never use the stems, pull the leaves off individually. If you make it a point to always smell the cilantro you will start to notice the differences.
Anyways my recipe is like so.
2.5-3lbs Roma tomatoes
2-3 large jalapenos seed removed.
1-2 serrano (or 1-2 habanero) My heat comes from these peppers, not the jalapenos. I leave the seeds in these. I use habaneros when its more for me an I dont care if anyone else eats it.
1/2 large white onion
1/2 large red onion
Cilantro you can use as much or little of this as you want, its a user preference. I use about half of what most stores sell as a bunch.
2 Tsp salt
1 Tsp Ground pepper
2 Tsp Garlic (optional)
2 large lime, or 1/4 cup of the juice.
I combine my ingredients in a commercial grade processor cuz Im fucking lazy and make alot of salsa!
Combine everything but the tomatoes and cilantro and process down to a minced level (1/8th inch)
I do the tomatoes separate and more of a chop, (1/4 inch) I want those chunks bigger.
Hand pick the leaves off the cilantro and then chop those a little bit before throwing it all together!
I also do not like fresh salsa at all. Its gotta sit in the fridge for a good 3-4 hours at least to let the flavors meld together.
Ok I rambled a bit, but just wanted to share
My family is from Mexico!!
My wife can cook, and my kids are learning from us.MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM yummy.
