This fresh salsa is herbal, piquant, and fruity. It pairs will with tortilla chips and tacos.
Ingredients
- 3 Poblano peppers
- Mango – 1/2 slightly under-ripe or about 2/3 cup frozen mango
- 1-2 tsp Sour Fruit Juice (sour cherry or pomegranate)
- 1 bunch Cilantro (fresh coriander)
- 1/4 to 1/2 Onion
- Salt to taste
Ingredient Notes:
Capsaicin does not pair well with histamine intolerance, so no matter how tempted, stay on the low end of the Scoville heat unit scale. Much of a chili’s heat is stored in the seeds and veins. The seeds and veins of mild chilies are surprisingly hot and will need to be removed. Use utensils or gloves while de-seeding and de-veining chilies, especially if you wear contact lenses. Otherwise, the spicy oil will absorb into your skin. Handwashing often does not completely remove capsaicin from skin.
The optimal chili is mild and large with reasonably thick flesh. Thin fleshed peppers may dehydrate while the skin is being charred, and de-skinning small peppers will be tedious. If using small thin skinned peppers, consider skipping the de-skinning step, but understand that raw pepper will take the flavor in a slightly different direction. Also consider size when purchasing as you’ll need about 1/4 of a cup of de-skinned pepper.
Poblanos are probably the optimal pepper for this recipe, but any mild pepper may be substituted, including aneheim/california, piquillo, cuban, banana peppers, etc. Bell peppers will take the flavor in a different direction and may be best when combined with sweet mango.
Under-ripe mango will have a tang similar to that of tomatoes, so choose a slightly firm mango with only a slight fragrance if you’re after a savory salsa. The flesh of an under-ripe mango will be yellow to pale orange.
Frozen mango is usually slightly under-ripe and will become more mushy when blended than fresh mango, so you won’t have to add any extra juice. Thaw frozen mango in the fridge overnight.
This recipe also works with ripe mango, but the resulting salsa will be sweet and fruity. You won’t need the sour fruit juice if you use sweet mango.
Green mango is too dry and firm for this recipe.
White, sweet white onion, and red do well in this recipe. Gauge the onion’s strength before using and dose accordingly.
Technique
- Core and slice the chilies length-wise. Using a spoon, strip the veins from the inside of the chilies. Rinse any stray seeds off the chilies.
- Lay the chilies skin side up on a broiler pan and broil for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on chili size, or until the skin blackens. This step may also be done with tongs on the stove top over an open flame.
- While the chilies are broiling, skin then shred the mango in a small food processor.
- Cut the onion into small chunks and also shred in the food processor.
- Remove the chilies from the oven and allow to cool. When cool enough to handle, peel the blackened skin from the chilies. Rinse off and skin that sticks. Most of the pepper flesh will be soft, but discard any bits that have hardened under the broiler.
- Add the chiles, the sour juice, and the cilantro to the food processor and shred.
- Toss all ingredients together in a bowl.
- Salt conservatively, especially if serving with salty tortilla chips.