Salsa Fresca Recipe

A few people have asked for the recipe for the salsa fresca I made recently, and that I used as a marinade for my skirt steak adventure. I’d be happy to oblige, but there really isn’t one. So I’ll give you the ingredients and how I approach it, and the rest is up to you.

Ingredients:

4 – 6 fresh, ripe tomatoes
1 -2 sweet yellow onions
2-5 fresh jalapeños(s)
1-2 bunch(es) of fresh cilantro
Fresh lime juice
Salt

(I told you I didn’t have a recipe – it’s all about ratios, baby – so be prepared with enough of each thing)

Wash your cilantro, shake it out, and set it aside to dry a bit.

Fine-dice a bunch of your tomatoes (you want them ripe enough to be juicy, not so ripe that they completely fall apart). I start with four or five to see what I get out of them. Scoop them and their juice into a bowl.

Fine-dice a sweet onion. Add it to the tomatoes a bit at a time to achieve the ratio you think will make you extremely happy and not piss your wife off.

For the jalapeños, I have a trick: split ‘em lengthwise and then taste the seeds. Jalapeños vary in heat from pepper to pepper, so this way I know whether I need two or nine (though if it was up to me and my daughter, I’d always use nine). I dice ‘em and always use the seeds.

Chop a boat-load of cilantro, trying to keep stems to a minimum: you want the leaves. Shovel some in until it looks right.

Squeeze a fresh lime over the top. I use half a lime for a small batch, and a full lime for a larger one, but it varies based on juiciness.

Grind some fresh sea salt over the whole thing.

Now mix it up and refrigerate it, covered with plastic wrap, for an hour or so if you can possibly stand waiting that long (I rarely can).  That helps the flavors mingle and takes it from great to all-conquering.

Eat it on everything.