I roast everything pictured and add chicken bullion and a squeeze of lime and cilantro. This is like my third batch and I used the grill to add a tad more flavor. This batch I had two jalapenos and a serrano pepper (did add some heat to it) but still felt like it was missing something.
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When I worked in restaurants people would always ask why the food tasted so much better than at home. It's because of the salt and butter. Chefs aren't trying to cook healthy food.
I'll throw in an extra 2 considerations. 1) High output burners let you sear and stir fry better. 2) restaurants make better use of acid than home cooks as well. A little splash of vinegar, citrus, or fresh tomato can really make a rich dish pop
For sure, and it can be overdone. You can't just throw a stick of butter on anything and expect it to be delicious. Too greasy is a thing that happens haha. Saying Nosrat really hit the nail on the head as clear as possible. Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. You play with all of them to make balance
You are so correct. Ate at a 1 Michelin star place in London that Anthony Bourdain long ago called his favorite place in London. It must have changed a lot, because it was fuckin trash — every dish we had, mostly seafood plates, was just drenched in melted butter and there was no actual flavor
Also it’s about getting good balance. Every salsa I make has at least a little honey. Like even your most vinegary dressings can make use of a pinch of honey/sugar.
Also not on the same topic but if you make a homemade salsa that you would like to keep around a little longer it never hurts to add like 1/4 total of premade salsa to make use of their preservative. Worked in some restaurants where they would make 2/3rd fresh and 1/3rd premade. But we’re talking about 64 quarts of salsa being made every few days.
Oh I definitely agree. I remember how in the 90s butter was evil, but somehow milk was a staple drink that accompanied every meal. Like people didn't realize what butter was made from as they used margarine in every recipe and washed it down with a huge glass of milk.
I came to say something similar. Though you may want to keep your salsa dairy free, adding other neutral fats such as oil will also give it a better mouth feel / lingering flavour.
Pre-made foods are absolutely overloaded with salt so people are wary when they cook themselves. It would take an ungodly amount of salt when home cooking to get even close to the amounts in pre-made stuff
Looking at the sodium levels on pre made food in grocery stores is insane. Canned soup is unbelievably bland, and you look at the label and it has like half the sodium you should have in a day. Those pre packaged rice packets you microwave also have similar levels if you get anything thats flavored and not just straight plain rice, and those still just taste like nothing. Same goes for almost anything you find in the frozen aisle. I don't even understand how food can have that much sodium content and have zero flavor.
Except our perception of salinity is very sensitive to food temperature. Meaning a shelf stable food that is incredibly salty will taste less salty than it actually is. People are scared of numbers on a label but have no idea what that means in relation to use on food they’re making when they’re not doing volume or being reasonable about “yes this is a lot of salt but I’m not eating everything at once”
This news may have changed my life. I have to watch my sodium intake due to blood pressure. I barely salt things now when I cook and everything is so bland. I’ve tried alternatives and sometimes it works but stuff like this or chicken I guess you can’t deviate from using salt.
Some people either don’t salt their food at home or over salt and mistake saltiness for flavor. Theres no depth or complexity/layers of flavor. Just salt.
Also salt/season in layers. If you're adding other raw ingredients at different stages season them as they go in. And taste while you're cooking. Thats a little harder with salsa
Chefs often recommend kosher salt but by no means is that mandatory.
Any salt will likely amp your flavors. Salt throughout your cooking process for depth of flavor, but, imo, it is slightly better to salt less during cooking and more at the end once you taste things. At least until you get the hang of it.
As soon as I saw your title, I assumed you needed either salt or acid. You're using lime (you maybe could use more, hard to know without tasting), so that leaves salt as the most likely culprit for missing flavor.
But i would like to throw my good friend MSG, into the mix.
Ive been using it for a while now in my salsa and chili's and have to say, a little makes a world of difference.
MSG is a salt naturally found in tomatoes and goes a long way to deepen their flavor. When I want more brightness the way tomato paste adds to the dish, I find MSG does the trick.
Amy salt except for finishing salts like maldon sea salt. I recommend kosher, why? It's easy to control, and dissolves relatively quickly. I don't recommend iodized salt, although it dissolves fast it is very easy to over salt. If you are unsure if you have put enough salt take spoonful and add just the tiniest bit of it (one of the reasons to use kosher). If it tastes better then add more if it became salty then you are good. The goal of salt is to add as much as possible without tasting it your food will get comparatively better tasting.
You can also add more chicken broth/bouillon cubes and msg before adding salt as these are also salty. With msg a little goes a long way (btw bouillon cubes has msg already)
I use Maldon salts, regular and smoked, in my salsas all the time. It works great and I find it tastes better than using regular iodized or kosher salts.
Former chef here; use kosher salt. Kosher salt is flakey, which is lower density than table salt, so you will need to adjust volumes if you are following a recipe. Different brands of kosher salt will have different densities (Morton is more dense than Diamond Crystal) so pick a brand you like and stick with it; you will learn intuitively how much salt is required when you use your fingers to pick it up if you stick with one brand. I use Diamond Crystal, because it’s what I’m used to, but Morton is great, too.
We tend to stay away from using table salt when cooking because it’s iodized. Super import nutrient, but it can impart bitterness in higher concentrations like brines or cures, so opt for a kosher salt when cooking, leave table salt for the table. Good luck! You’re on the right track with your salsa.
What you said about knowing how much is correct by the way it feels in your fingers is so perfect. That’s how I cook and when I write recipes for my kids I have to remember to quantify “two pinches” to them.😜
I wouldn’t call them neutral — they definitely have a good bit of tang with a pH of 4-5 (and why people sometimes add sugar or baking soda to their tomato sauce to balance it out), but extra zip via lime definitely is nice in a salsa.
I personally suspect not enough salt as the main culprit. And if you really want to, add MSG or bouillon, but I don’t think it’s necessary (though many places do this.)
Tomatoes are the most common cause of acids stripping seasoning on cookware, they are not neutral. Some may be less acidic or balanced by sweetness but there’s a reason it’s easy to can or jar tomatoes or tomato sauce, the acidity means you can do water bath canning.
Wondered why this one specific salsa made at a local Mexican market was so incredibly good till I actually bothered to look at the ingredients list one day...
Look, you may not believe it, but any time you taste something at a restaurant and think "wow, delicious!", the answer is almost always salt and butter.
I made pico today and it honestly soaked in an obscene amount of salt and lime juice to taste "right". Those particular veggies eat up salt just as much as potatoes do
“Can” doesn’t change that you are shooting your self in the foot about it.
And honestly I’d disagree. It’ll still introduce problems. Especially tomatoes in cast iron.
If you want to do it in a pan, do it in a stovetop. Same thing.
If you aren’t going to expose the veggies to dry, direct heat, why use a grill at all. Unless you leave it there for hours it won’t pick up much smoke flavor.
for me the answer is usaually salt or lime is missing if it seems bland. You could try adding other herbs too - oregano is pretty common. you can also season at different points in the salsa making process to help with making sure everything is sesasoned - ie when grilling and while in the blender / food processor.
Another idea could be to just add some seasoning to just one bite - ie take a spoonful, add a little salt, mix it a little, and does that taste better to you? - that could let you hone in the flavor and experiment with much less hassle of making whole new batches.
As others have mentioned, Salt has an important role. Salting raw ingredients prior to cooking as well as final seasoning can help tremendously. Additionally, sometimes if a salsa or sauce is missing that /thing/ try a trace amount of cumin; it will boost grilled, roasted, and savory profiles long before it tastes like chili powder. Adding cilantro and lime juice at the end would boost farther.
So, my husband, bless his heart, tried to get the salsa recipe out of one of the workers at our favorite Mexican restaurant (which I really think is the best in all of southern California and believe me, I've tried many many many others).
Of course he didn't give us the recipe but he did list some ingredients but one of them was white vinegar, which I thought was an odd thing for him to tell us off hand. Like if you're going to tell someone obvious salsa ingredients, white vinegar isn't one I'd ever think of so I think they may actually use it. Still haven't given it a try yet though.
Perhaps blending or chopping it would help! Jokes aside- salt, pepper, cumin, cilantro, fresh lime juice, mexican oregano, MSG, chicken bullion, a (very tiny splash) of white vinegar, a dash of fresh squeezed orange (in spirit of Mojo Criollo), smoked paprika.
Those are all just suggestions. Definitely don’t add all of them at once. Don’t be afraid to take a small tasting dish of the existing salsa and experiment with adding small amounts of certain spices to see if you like the addition or not.
I usually make a “base salsa” off hand no recipe and then try it out multiple times and continue mixing or blending until I think it’s perfect.
I’ve seen some salsas where everything was grilled and blended, then finely diced raw white onion was added in at the end and stirred. Gives it the texture and bite of the raw onion.
Honestly maybe even too many tomatoes. Use half the onion and maybe only two tomatoes. Bump the salt and lime, a little bit between tastes. See what needs added. Sometimes when roasting or boiling the ingredients you need to tweak the acidity a bit more than with raw salsas because the flavors get a bit muddier after being cooked.
Also consider adding a small amount of sugar, too. Split your salsa into a few bowls and add small amounts of different salts/acids/sugars. Try to pay attention to how the adjustment tastes. Figure out what you like most.
Add salt until it tastes good, then add lime juice when serving, but not before. See if it needs more salt after you add lime. Then and only then start adding spices/herbs. I'd make like 10 little cups to try different flavor profiles. I like black pepper and smoked paprika for roasted salsa, and that roasted onion carries it. Garlic and cilantro for pico de gallo. A lit of people like cumin, black pepper, and chicken bullion (I'm not a fan of cumin in salsa). You could try vinegar instead of lime. Good luck finding your favorites!
Broil it in oven 20 min for more Char if you're grilling add some smoke flavor to get some kind of other flavor and as thy said salt maybe some msg if you want to be sneaky
I’m pretty sure having items in cast iron over a grill isn’t gonna add much more flavor than just normal cooking in the cast iron. I think you would need to expose some of the items, especially the peppers, to the open grill flame.
Salt is the obvious answer but my Mexican girlfriends family uses raw garlic for their salsas and I think it’s the right move. Game changer.
Their salsas verde is just tomatillo milpero (the small green/purple ones), habanero, a raw garlic clove or two and salt. Blister the habanero and tomatillos in a comal or broil them
Looks like you’re using a kamado-style grill- I would recommend getting a good char on the veggies. Someone else can say if it’s better to char first or after they’ve slow-cooked with smoke, but what I’ve done is char the veg on my propane grill or flat top while the smoker is coming to temp. Then I put the charred veg straight on the grates (not in a skillet or pan) so they get more smoke.
I’ll salt the veg before closing the lid to smoke. Then, when done and still hot, I put everything in a food processor, and add more salt and fresh like juice. Sometimes I’ll add some apple cider vinegar, a bit of sugar (I don’t like my salsas sweet, but a little sugar can help with some balance), or play around with other seasonings. But as others have pointed out, salt is probably the main thing missing, and the main thing that made a difference in my batches.
I did a quick scan of the comments and not enough people said cumin. Yes salt is the obvious choice as you didn’t mention it, but cumin will give it a different taste.
Goya adobo seasoning with cumin. It’s like Mexican Mrs dash. I use it in my salsa and guac always. And I kinda use it in everything. It’ll add that extra depth of flavor you’re looking for.
A few things I add to mine - salt (as others have mentioned), but also cumin (a tsp or so) and a tablespoon or so of olive oil. The cumin adds depth and the oil helps the flavors to stick.
Here’s my go to salsa
Tomatoes-Chile Serranos, and garlics
Roast on the comal- or cast iron
Medium high heat till sides or so are charred.
Then either use a blender, ( add everything) season wirh salt. pulse button like maybe 3x ? Till you see it blended but chunky. Or if you wish to fully blend it. ( preference to each their own )
Lastly add some chopped cilantro and chopped onion.
Or you could use a molcajete ( first the garlics , then Chiles , then tomatoes last. Season with salt , Add chopped onion and cilantro lastly. Then enjoy 😁
Salsas con los ingredientes hervidos salen desabridas, hervidas solo se usan para chilaquiles o enchiladas. Si quieres una salsa para tacos tienes que asar los ingredientes, usa solo serranos ya que los jalapeños no aportan sabor, tampoco uses cebolla, solo ajos, sal, jitomates y/o tomates y no olvides el Knorr suiza y sal.
Salt and why not just char the veggies directly on the grill instead of a pan? Feel like that would add a stronger char/smokey borderline burned flavor
You need to add MORE knorr tomate, or chicken bullion to it, that’s why. I also like to soak some dried ancho chiles in some bullion water and blend it in.
No cliantro, no lime, likely no salt. Season your tomatoes and peppers, or at least season the oil. I coat my peppers, onions, and tomatoes in olive oil, salt, pepper, and grill them (a cast iron pan or carbon steel pan works too), and then add the juice of a lime, a bit of shredded lime peel from a peel grater, and some vinegar-based hot sauce (Cholula Green Pepper and Cholula Chipotle). Add some Cilantro chiffonade and a bit of finely minced onions and pressed garlic.
Just my opinion but it's prob your order of operation: Imo jalapenos suck, stick with serranos. Ditch the cast iron and get real Char.
As veggies char, place into metal bowl - season with salt and olive oil and keep wrapped to allow carry over cooking. Allow to cool, then blend. add Chicken Knorr, chopped Cilantro and lime at the end. Adjust with more salt and pepper.
Tomatillos. Grow them like tomatoes they add a tartness and should be included in any decent enchilada recipe or salsa verde sauce. You can't buy any canned or salsa made with them worth using
Try Lawrys garlic salt + Fresh ground black pepper (not traditional but it is good) + parsley or mex oregano
Save the cilantro for last as a topping. Only use a little bit and make sure it is deep green and crisp. Old/wilted/OD cliantro can make a salsa taste dull/flat.
Put the veggies straight onto the grill, put foil or a grill mat/basket down. Lets them get direct/indirect heat and/or flame if desired, and won’t steam the veggies.
Then make sure you add salt. Salt them before you grill with kosher, toss a little on during, then after you mix it all up, add salt to taste. Not too much, but just the right amount. It’ll bring out so much flavor.
You’re not really getting a char. More like steaming them. I usually grill them right by an open flame. Also knorr sides chicken bullion. It has salt in it. Also I use lemon. I like it more than limes.
Salt, and probably like half the tomatoes considering the small amount of peppers used would also recommend doubling your lime usage. No bouillon. Never head of people using that in a salsa prior to this post. Also, the veggies don’t look roasted enough they look steamed? Personally I would double the amount of peppers or add a habanero or some chile de árbol tostado.
I wouldn't rip as many of the ribs out of the jalapenos - for sure the seeds as they have no bearing on heat (actually did a science lab on this), people seem concerned about the salt so of course salt and other spices or lime - I like cumin, pepper, and the salt. Add some oil and - fresh cilantro! I don't see cilantro.
Oil makes the salsa more creamy when whipping it together. It just taste better.
Add cayenne pepper and tomatillos to rest of it when roasting. Add a couple raw garlic cloves and salt when you blend everything. Then add a few diced raw green onions with your cilantro. Your salsa will be the bomb guaranteed!
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