Ok everyone, I have been on a mission for easily 10 years now. My childhood, local mexican restaurant, had my families all time favorite salsa. The recipe was never shared and our hearts yearn for this salsa. Nothing we’ve ever tried, no other restaurant, store brands, or recipes have ever come close.
Someone here in town claimed to have the recipe, so we have it a shot. At $6 for a fresh container at a sketchy barn outside of town, pumping these salsas out of a cooler with no further information when asked, we obtained the goods. It is THE salsa. I’ve taken photos as evidence at an attempt to figure out what is in it that makes it so darn good.
It has an addictive spice, gets your forehead hot, but you keep going for me. There’s almost a HINT, I mean barely a taste of smokiness, but it’s there. I remember one trip to the restaurant, the batch wasn’t made right. I swore I thought it tasted like ketchup. It leads me to believe there may be sugar in it. Not to mention I haven’t seen many salsas with this consistency. It has some volume to it, but is more on the thin side.
Any input is greatly appreciated. I’m known in the family for making homemade salsas and trying to figure out what peppers were used or how to get the flavor. It appears there are some sort of green peppers, and red that doesn’t seem to be a tomato. In previous attempts to find the heat, I used chile de arbol. It seems to be the closest I could get, but still couldn’t replicate the flavor. It has me wondering if the green pepper may be the taste I’m referring to.
by rennitaylor
18 Comments
Fuck yea homie
I’d probably start with the consistency of the tomatoes. It’s probably canned tomatoes with jalapenos and maybe a few green chilies and blended. Doesn’t look like a lot of spices I’d keep the spices to a minimum. When I find a Mexican recipe I like and duplicate it I find that I tend to over engineer it. Good luck
if you posted the recipe, we could better guess what you might be referring to.
El pato, onion, cilantro and I’m guessing a teaspoon of cumin, salt and pepper to taste
I do el pato green can, 1” slice of red onion” 1 can rotel original, half of lime juice” 2 jalepenos, 1 whole garlic (small), and I’ve been tinkering with adding chicken bullion to taste.
Straight Pace Picante. Nothing else
Consistently looks like Trader Joe’s thin jar. which I love. How’s that taste to compare?
Canned tomatoes, blended chile de arbol and Serrano.
I don’t visually see any onion or garlic so you will have to trust your taste buds.
Chipotle peppers could add a smoky flavor.
Pace picante sauce
Maybe some canned tomato sauce too since the bad batch tasted like ketchup
Maybe cayenne pepper for spice and smoke since it would be a powder and cheap.
El pato
Man I really like posts like this. Thanks for the details. Really don’t think I could add anything beyond the track you’re already on. Maybe perhaps a healthy dose of MSG in addition to the sugar?
There’s a similar savory taste in several Latin dishes I haven’t been able to place.
TALLYHO!!!
Literally looks like pace lol
It’s for sure el pato base
This looks exactly like the salsa from my favorite childhood restaurant. I know it’s not pace. I have tried to recreate it and it’s definitely simple.
I saw the restaurant start to make it but I know for sure tomatoes from a large yellow can (unknown any other ingredients).
Definitely has a spicy pepper—arbol didn’t taste quite right—and garlic.
Edit: no cilantro. None.
If you feel obligated to describe it as savory… It likely has either chicken bouillon, msg, or both
I couldn’t say for certain, but you can really increase the heat profile with chile de arbol. I like to crush up a handful inside a plastic bag and then toast them very briefly on a flat pan, and then soak them in water, vinegar, and lime juice for awhile. Another thing I do is add one or two habaneros that I smush down in a molcajete with salt and a few roasted garlic cloves. I’d like to do the same with the arbol seeds but I find it a bit too labor intensive.
I really feel like the molcajete brings out certain flavors of particular ingredients that you want spread out more evenly.
I usually freeze a bowl of chipotle that’s been through a blender to thaw later and add just enough to the finished product to give it the appropriate amount of smokie taste.
I prefer tomatilos and very little, if any, tomatoes, but most restaurants are likely just going to use canned tomatoes. Tomatilos are just a little different due to the amount of pectin and how much water you need to add to thin this out, and how sweetening it can bring out more flavors.
For me, the best finishing touches are salting to taste, then adding lime juice, then vinegar. I prefer to add honey over sugar, mainly for health reasons, last.