Of the things I miss most from America-land, proper Mexican food is pretty close to the top of the list.
I crave the staff lunches made by the Mexican woman who was a prep chef in a Denver restaurant where I waited tables. The dark, 20+ ingredient mole poblano, the spicy rice, the salsas, the fresh vegetables, the hot tortillas. It was fresh and clean and filling.
My eyes glaze over when I think about the road-side shops in Mexico where a $1.50 fish taco comes out of the kitchen as a piece of perfectly grilled fish perched on a handmade corn tortilla. The variety of salsas and pickles and sauces are what make the meal, as you build your own right at the table.
After a few years of Tex-Mex fast food growth, Sydney over the past 12 or so months has been the focus of a Mexican restaurant invasion. Very exciting, right? Wrong.
Expensive fit-outs with lots of contrived kitsch, expensive food with lots of contrived combinations to match. Very little true flavour – Mexican or Tex-Mex or otherwise. The critics are moaning “Is this trend over yet? What’s next?” when they should be instead demanding “When will someone get it right?”
I mentioned in my April In My Kitchen post about a fabulous range of salsas discovered recently – made by a Mexican-American, imagine that – but it is an expensive habit, and you know I like to make things myself.
So you cannot imagine how excited I was to discover tomatillos at a market recently. I should have bought more but on that day a single $5 bowl – weighing in at about 500 g on my kitchen scale – and a couple black-green jalapenos were enough to get me started.
Note to self, go buy more tomatillos asap, we’re out of salsa…
Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Verde
This is how salsa should be. Fresh, smokey, zingy, spicy if you like it spicy, and perfect on just about anything. Eat with wild abandon.
Serves: 4
INGREDIENTS:
- 500 g [1 lb] tomatillos
- 3 – 4 jalapeno peppers
- 3 – 4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
- 1/2 bunch coriander [cilantro]
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- sea salt
- lime juice to taste
METHOD:
Roughly chop coriander leaves and stems, set aside. Peel tomatillos and rinse to remove any stickiness.
Quick Method:
Roast tomatillos with jalapenos and garlic under a hot grill [broiler] until everything is just charred.
Cover to steam while cooling, remove skins and seeds from jalapenos, remove skins from garlic. Blend all ingredients to desired consistency and season as necessary.
Detailed Method:
Place tomatillos, jalapenos and garlic cloves in a single layer on a foil-lined baking tray. Roast under a medium-high grill [broiler] for 15-25 minutes, turning and flipping ingredients every 5 mins or so. Tomatillos should be lightly charred on all sides and beginning to collapse, garlic cloves should be soft with dark peels, and jalapeno skin blackened.
Move from oven to a bowl covered with a plate to steam and cool for approximately 10 mins. You may need to do this in batches so that nothing burns.
Peel blackened skin off jalapenos, remove stem and seeds. Peel garlic. Process half the tomatillos, half the jalapenos and all the garlic to a smooth-ish puree. Add remaining tomatillos, all the coriander and the remaining jalapenos to taste, process roughly.
Stir through vinegar, a big pinch of sea salt and lime juice to taste.
Serve with fresh guacamole, scoop with homemade tortilla chips, pour over top of eggs, stir through soup… you get the point.
COOK’S NOTES:
- Salsa verde is supposed to be quite mild, I don’t do mild well so I tend to add quite a bit of chilli to this, make it to suit your taste.
vegan // vegetarian // gluten free // dairy free
I love tomatillo salsa, this looks mouth-watering!
Love the sound of this tomatillo salsa verde. I tend to eat it with breads and my nicely cooked piece of steak. It just always works well with a variety of things.
Ooh I have always wanted to try tomatillos! If I ever see them at the markets I will let you know
Love your photos here JJ!
I will be looking for tomatillas when i go to the market this weekend! As someone who just ate their body weight in $1.50 tacos in California, I am keen to be able to replicate some authentic Mexican fare at home.
I lived on tacos when we were in the US and Mexico last year – have to make them at home to get a decent fix now!
this sounds delicious! i may make some for the staff get together tmr!
a little Italian man with a big personality sells tomatillos and the most lovely heirloom tomatoes. Now I know what to do with those tomatillos! (Always wondered).
JJ this is just what I need! My husband and I have been complaining about how hard it is to find good salsa (we’ve been sampling lots). You’re right about the Mexican food. Oh how I wish someone would get it right in Brisbane.
I rather like my homemade versions though.
I love love love salsa. Now you have made my mouth water.
This looks tasty. Though one thing I would like to point out is coriander and cilantro, though from the same plant taste different. Cilantro is the immature form of coriander and, imo, better for Mexican cuisine.
Thanks for the info Rae but in Australia the Cilantro is sold under the name Coriander (and the ground seed spice is also called Coriander) You will never find anything called Cilantro here!
Surprise! I had your blog this month for Secret Recipe Club!! I LOVED this salsa!! And it was my first time cooking with tomatillos
A success!
So glad you chose this recipe! Thanks
O…… M……. G……. Fresh tomatillos!!!! Forget your recipe, I am just peeing my pants on that discovery. Ok the verde is cool too :p
This looks so yummy! I definitely need to get some tomatillos at the store…I’m missing my old house where I could grow them in the backyard!
I’ve never eaten tomatillos but this salsa look soooo good! Must keep an eye out for them
JJ, thank you for this recipe. I tried it last night for a text mex evening with our friends. It went with our 1 meat dish for the fortnight… pulled pork and it WAS SENSATIONAL. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone. It’s spicy, people, but GREAT. I used one standard chilli instead of the 3 jalapeños and that worked fine. Next time (I know it might not be traditional) I’m going to try it with some fresh ginger in it.
So glad you tried it!
This looks amazing JJ! You should try it as chilaquiles, a traditional Mexican dish made with this sauce and the tortilla shells.
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