Wednesday 10 December 2014

Salsa Roja Asada


Do you like salsa? I love it a lot! The first time I fell in love with salsa was when I had it at my brother's house. I have another brother and this one loves to cook. A few years ago, he cooked a Mexican themed lunch when my parents came for a holiday.

All of us enjoyed that lunch to the max and when I asked about the salsa, my brother showed me the bottle of salsa that he used. Apparently, you can buy ready made salsa that come in jars and you can add more ingredients to it and adjust it to your taste. 

Mexican sambal

Salsa is very appetizing and there are many recipes, most of which are very basic and simple. Just dice up some tomatoes, onions, cilantro, squeeze some lime juice and season with salt.

There's also mango and pineapple salsa which I also love and can eat by the spoonfuls. This Salsa Roja Asada involves a little bit more work but it is worth the effort. You need to roast your tomatoes first.


Next you roast some chilli peppers and garlic in an ungreased pan.


The chillies are roasted until they are blistered. The garlic will blacken and soften. This is how they look like.


After that, remove the garlic from the skin, remove the stem from the chillies and dump the whole lot into the blender with some salt and the roasted tomatoes. Blend.


Pour into a bowl, add minced shallot, chopped cilantro and squeeze some lime juice and you are good to go. Yeah, I know. So much work. Roasting the tomatoes, the chillies and garlic, mincing the shallots, chopping the cilantro, squeezing the lime and washing the blender. Yes, my kitchen was in a mess. And I admit that I felt depressed.


But after tasting the salsa, I felt very rewarded because I can't get this taste in a store bought jar. The salsa had a smokey flavor and it was awesome. After that, I proceeded to wash whatever bowls, chopping board, knife, spoons, blender etc and one by one everything was cleared off. The kitchen was clean and I felt a lot better. Best of all, I have a container of salsa in the fridge. If only I had a bag of tortilla chips.....










Salsa Roja Asada
Recipe source : Adapted from Nom Nom Paleo (page 54)

Ingredients :
- 600g plum tomatoes
- 4 jalapeno peppers (my salsa is quite hot and if you want it milder, use less peppers or remove the ribs and seeds)
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp sea salt (or to taste)
- 1 big onion, finely minced
- a bunch of chopped fresh cilantro (coriander leaves)
- juice of 4 or 5 limes (or to taste)

Method :
1. Preheat oven to 200C.
2. Place tomatoes on a lined baking tray and roast the tomatoes until the skin is blistered and blackened on top. Flip the tomatoes and continue to roast until tomatoes are soft (it took me about 40 minutes). Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
3. While tomatoes are roasting, roast the jalapeno peppers and garlic in an ungreased frying pan, turning occasionally until garlic is softened and charred and peppers are nicely blistered.
4. When the garlic and peppers are cool enough, peel the garlic and remove the stems from the peppers (mine did not have stems).
5. In a blender of food processor, blend the peppers, garlic and salt. Be careful when removing the lid as the spicy contents will make your eyes water.
6. Add the tomatoes (including the blackened skin) and pulse until a thick puree develops. 
7. Transfer the salsa to a bowl and stir in the lime juice, minced onions and cilantro. Taste and adjust for seasoning.

Note : According to Nom Nom Paleo, the salsa can be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days.





This post is also linked to Cook-Your-Books #19 hosted by Joyce of Kitchen Flavours.

38 comments:

  1. Hi Phong Hong.. Morning.. Tomorrow public holiday wor, you happy? Not feeling depressed anymore jor, hor.. When I see salsa, I think of sourish tomato dip and tortilla chips already.. There's this show I like to watch in Food Network, Mexican Made Easy.. This cute girl (she looks really cute and pretty) always makes salsa and dips and tortilla, those sorts..
    Your salsa looks very "yap mei", with all the roasted peppers, tomatoes and garlic.. I think I will eat with Pringles or Lays, hahahaha..

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    1. Louiz, sure I am happy! I will make salsa again and I will remember to buy tortilla chips hee..hee...

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  2. Replies
    1. Really? Next time you see salsa on the menu, can order to try.

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  3. Salsa Roja Asada!! what an exotic name, and imagining a Mexican lady pronouncing it - woo, sexsay!!! hahaha.. and of course your bowl of salsa looks sexsay too, it must be a great dip to tortilla chips huh?? pardon me for being *jakun* as when I think of salsa I think of tortilla chips, haha!!

    p/s: this SK is forever into snacking only :D

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    1. SK, salsa to me is also synonymous with tortilla chips! At Chillis there is an appetizer called Bottomless Tostadas. It is corn chips served with salsa and they will top up for you as much as you want. But seriously, this salsa taste a million times better than theirs.

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  4. Havent tasted it already knew how good this salsa is.

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    1. Mel, anything sourish, salty and spicy sure tastes nice!

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  5. When I saw Roja Asada, I thought: "Dei, Indian dish this time?".. then I saw the word Salsa..
    Make your own tortilla chips! :D

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    Replies
    1. RG, my kitchen was already so messy and you want me to make tortilla chips?! Hee..hee...

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  6. Phong Hong, salsa + tortillas = yummy!
    Your salsa looks soooo good I can eat it without any chips!

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  7. My girl loves this! But she's not a fan of those cilantro leaves, maybe I can leave those out.

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    1. Arthur, can leave out the cilantro leaves and substitute with spring onions.

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  8. Oh ... seldom had Mexican stuffs.

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  9. that would be great with chips!
    anyway sauce that is sweet and sour always taste good! appetizing! =D

    #iblogmyway

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    1. Hi Henry! Yup, can eat with bags and bags of chips :D

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  10. Ooo...I love salsa! But I prefer the fresh ones (which are also easier to make) like mango or pineapple salsa....great on top of a pc of pan fried fish ;)

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    1. Oh yes, I also love mango or pineapple salsa. Very refreshing and appetizing!

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  11. Phong Hong, it reminds me of Taco Bell ... Ha ha ! Not sure if it still exists. Oh yes! Your salsa surely perfect with a bag of tortilla chips ^-^!

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    1. Karen, I think also nice with keropok!

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  12. I always love those bottled Mexican Salsa and bought them to dip the tortilla chips. Such a small bottle and it costs over RM10 at least. I should learn to make. Your recipe looks easy but how come not red like those sold in supermarkets? Now I suspect they added red tomato puree!

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    1. TM, I did not quite fancy the bottled one after I bought a bottle to try. Now I won't have to buy those anymore.

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    2. Finally I found this post again as I was cracking my head which blogger made a salsa once. Hmmm... I am getting older & forgetful.

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    3. There are so many blogs and so many recipes, so it is not surprising that you could not remember :)

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  13. Yours sure looks yummy.

    I love salsa. Even my boy does too. :)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Lina! It is good for snacking to cicah-cicah the chips.

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  14. I love salsa! Yum! Try eating it over frittata or omelette! And some salad for lunch! Delish!
    I like the smoky flavour from the roasted peppers, smells so, so good!
    You are making me feel like having some salsa right now!
    Thanks for linking!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Joyce! Oh, that's something new to me. Sure, I will try salsa with omelette! It sounds good :)

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  15. Something new to me, looks very 'appetizing'!

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  16. omigosh!!! my stomach juz rumbled at the thought of this dish.... the spanky kick from the salsa is driving me nuts

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    1. hah..hah... Victoria, that's what salsa is meant to do :D

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