Choosing salsa verde or salsa roja — red sauce or green sauce – when indulging in Mexican food is always a difficult decision. Green usually wins for me because I love the tart flavor of tomatillos. But it’s fun to get creative with tomatillo salsa, so this time I’m incorporating Poblano peppers.
On the Scoville scale of pepper heat, Poblanos are on the low end, so they are a safe choice if you want to make a green salsa that’s not super spicy. They deliver a clean pepper flavor and impart a crowd-pleasing, pretty color. This relatively easy salsa is obviously great for dipping with tortilla chips, but it can also serve as a starter for some green enchilada sauce.
 |
 |
The most authentic salsa verde recipes from Mexican home cooks use Mexican oregano. I strongly believe in using the ingredients that are natively grown in whatever region of the cuisine I’m cooking. Soil and climate in which herbs and produce are grown affect how they taste. Most oregano in mainstream grocery stores is Italian, but you can find Mexican oregano in smaller Mexican markets.
Look for Mexican oregano at any Mexican grocery store.
I tried making salsa verde for years, and two tweaks really transformed my recipe … the absence of garlic and just a little sugar. Many people (myself included) put garlic in almost everything by default, but some recipes really don’t need it. Tomatillos are actually a fruit, closely related to a gooseberry. I thought to myself, “Would I normally add garlic to berries? No!” The surprising ingredient I was initially reluctant about adding was sugar, which cuts down on tomatillos’ extreme tartness. We’re not making candy, so to avoid making a sweet salsa, just a tad bit of sugar will do.
Poblano Salsa Verde
Ingredients for poblano salsa verde
- 6 medium tomatillos
- 1 large white onion
- 2 jalapeño peppers (1 whole, 1 diced)
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 Poblano pepper
- 1 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 tsp Mexican oregano, crushed
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tbs white vinegar
- juice of half a lime
for poblano salsa verde
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
- Peel and quarter tomatillos and white onion, discard the stemmed top of one whole jalapeño pepper (keeping the seeds and inner ribs intact). In a medium bowl, thoroughly coat ingredients with olive oil and season with kosher salt.
- Spread tomatillos, onion, and jalapeño pepper evenly in one layer on a shallow baking sheet (preferably lined with aluminum foil for easier clean-up). Roast under broiler until cooked through and skins turn brown and slightly blistered, about 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, roast Poblano pepper over a direct flame on the stovetop until skins are black and charred. Let cool slightly. Cut off both ends of the charred pepper and slice one vertical incision to open the pepper so it lies flat on the counter. Discard the core, seeds, inner ribs, and gently rub off the blackened skins. Slice the flesh of Poblano into large pieces and set aside.
- In a food processor, combine the roasted tomatillo mixture, poblano pepper, cilantro, Mexican oregano, water, sugar, and lime juice. Process until the desired texture is achieved. Or use a molcajete (a Mexican-style mortar and pestle shown in the featured photo).
- Season to your liking with more salt and/or sugar, then enjoy!
Yield: 4 cups
