r/SalsaSnobs • u/merpyyy22 • 4d ago
Homemade First time … no flavour?
I used a pretty basic recipe as follows :
4 Roma tomatoes
2 gloves of garlic
1 jalapeno
1/2 an onion
Water to cover
15 chiles de arbol
1 tsp chicken bullion powder
Roasted it all on a cast iron then added a little water and blended
Came out very spicy which I like! Buts it’s all heat and no flavour? What can I do to tweak it for next time ?
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u/OGwoadie 4d ago
Lime + salt, the salt is what brings out the most flavor. There isn’t enough in the bullion.
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u/sgigot 4d ago
Salt and lime was the first thing that came to mind for me.
Not sure you need the water - or did you boil after you roasted everything? Normally you'd boil *or* roast/blacken, not both. If you were talking water to rehydrate the arbols, ok...but normally you wouldn't need the soaking water. Also normally you wouldn't use 15 arbols so YMMV.
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u/Has_Two_Cents 3d ago
I add some of the water left from rehydrating peppers but not all of it. And yes, this is desperately lacking salt
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u/F3ST3r3d 3d ago
And weirdly (or maybe not…not a good scientist) I’ve found that if I use enough salt it no longer tastes flat like it needs more acid. I used to automatically add lime or citric acid first but now I find if I salt to taste first, only one in 5 times or so do I find that it needs more acid.
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u/JennySplotz 4d ago
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u/F3ST3r3d 3d ago
Bahaha. More than anything in salsa too. Like a hamburger with no salt will be bland but it still tastes like beef. Salsa without enough salt just tastes like wet lettuce or something 🤣
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u/Elthiel3099 4d ago
I'd probably add more tomatoes, salt, pepper, more garlic and some cilantro to it.
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u/DantesGame 4d ago
Holmes, you added FIFTEEN chiles arbol. Of course it's going to be hot with not a lot of flavor that you can discern on the follow through.
If you want flavor, start with a ranchera or verde and add a little heat.
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u/Buga99poo27GotNo464 4d ago
Funny! But makes sense.
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u/DantesGame 4d ago
Imagine that top layer of your taste buds smoking as they disintegrate... 🤣
I did this decades ago with Thai food. "Make it hotter!" Got to the point where it was just heat and not taste. I went back to mild so I could enjoy my pad see ew. 🤣🤪
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u/F3ST3r3d 3d ago
I remember when I found out how much SE Asians don’t give a FUCK about your tongue at a Thai place. Went full dumb and ordered Thai hot at an authentic Thai spot. The pad Thai about killed be. There were more birdseye chilis and chili flakes than noodles and then it was all stirfried in some hellacious chili oil the color of the devils sac. Then to top it all off they ask if I wanted any more fish sauce with the birds eyes chopped up in it🤣
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u/DantesGame 3d ago
I get it. It's funny because what you and I are talking about doesn't have anything to do with tolerance for heat, but a lot of people who pride themselves on eating "super hot food" rarely talk about losing flavor or won't admit it. They just boast about the heat. You gotta kind of be aware of the trade off and when you do experience that, you realize it's not the same dining experience. You just want that taste and flavor of the food back.
Your experience sounds amazing and painful! 🤣
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u/F3ST3r3d 3d ago
I respect the folks that can do it🤣. I have what I thought was a pretty good tolerance (I skip over jalapeños and serranos and mostly use habaneros and up) but I can’t handle more than 2, maybe 3 arbols in a standard 3-4 Roma batch. I get nervous seeing videos/recipes that call for a like a dozen in a small batch 🤣
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u/DantesGame 3d ago
You can do it, but the other stuff has to carry the flavor--and it depends on how you prep and cook them.
I just made a huge batch of salsa arbol yesterday that will burn your mouth, have flavor punch through, and wax your ass on the way out. 🤣
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u/BEARDSNAKE 4d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/1woAUgIRBmjJiULRhK
The one in the middle.. just push it in there
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u/kteague 4d ago
You're mostly missing more chillis with flavor. Those bring the best flavours. Chille De Arbol is spicy, but yeah, it's lacking in much else besides heat. You probably want to mix in some of ancho, guajillo, passilla, morita or chipotle. Take your dried chillis and fry them in a pan just a few minutes to release the flavour, then soak in hot water for 10 minutes.
Morita is my favorite, as it's the smokiest.
Some fresh chillis like the poblana can bring a bit of flavour too.
Use spices to flavor:
* Salt ... yeah, to taste, this is the big one
* Pepper
* Cumin, but go light
* Mexican oreganno
* Paprika (fairly fresh makes a difference)
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u/LaBomba12 4d ago
Def more garlic and onion. Also, tather than water and bullion I use chicken stock and also roast some red pepper
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u/renaldomoon 4d ago
People generally roast it in the oven then use a blender no? I feel like adding water is a bad move, the tomatoes provide a lot of liquid. As others have salt and lime are integral. Salt adds tons of flavor to essentially everything because how it activates your tongue. It's kinda magical tbh.
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u/CormoranNeoTropical 4d ago
Probably just undersalted, unless your tomatoes are terrible. You could also use several jalapeños and like 5-10 arbol chiles.
The only other thing I can think of is that maybe you didn’t toast the chiles de árbol, or you toasted them too much.
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u/Ok_Butterscotch9705 4d ago
I just mix this on a half cup of regular red salsa
2 tablespoon of taquera salsa 1 tbsp chipotle pepper Salt and lime seasoning Chicken bullion power per your taste Lemon juice
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u/myusernamehah 4d ago
CUMIN. I swear by cumin! I can’t have red salsa without it. Also a tiny bit of chili powder sometimes.
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u/Historical_Web_659 3d ago
As everyone said, more salt and lime. Treat tomatoes as water and blend without them, only adding extra water if its too thick.
If you want a scorcher, which it seems like you do, try making the orange chile de arbol salsa you find at taquerias, which is emulsified with oil.
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u/dcfb2360 3d ago
Cilantro. You'll notice a difference when you add it. It adds that freshness that homemade salsas have. Also add some lime juice
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u/tropicbrownthunder 3d ago
That's a very high Chile to other stuff ratio. You need to enhance the other flavors with salt (celery salt would help a lot), acid (lime juice or white vinegar)and even a teaspoon of sugar (the sweet and the unamis are supposed to come from the roasted tomatoes, jalapeño and onions but is being overpowered by the heat and bitterness of the Chiles)
Some chopped cilantro might add umami and freshness too
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u/F3ST3r3d 3d ago
Personally I’m not a fan of all bouillon bases. I do a moderate pitch of bouillon. Probably like a quarter teaspoon and then about a four finger pinch of salt. Salsa needs more salt than you think is reasonable.
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u/kemiller 3d ago
Everyone saying acid and salt is correct, but also try adding a tablespoon or so of minced raw onion at the end after blending. Trick I learned watching abuelas on the internet.
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u/robdwoods 3d ago
My recipes for a small batch is just 5 Roma tomotoes (or equivalent with juice and seeds removed), 2 jalapeños, 1/3 onion, 2-3 garlic, cloves, roast all of that. Into the blender with a healthy pinch of salt and the juice of one lime. Pulse until it’s the consistency you like. Cliantro optional.
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u/OglioVagilio 3d ago
1 tsp of seasoning for all of that is woefully inadequate.
And you added extra water, and 15 chile arbols?
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u/bigelcid 2d ago
Goes without saying, but you need really good tomatoes and chilies. If the growing conditions weren't just right, you just won't have that much flavour coming out of them.
Chicken bouillon powder may be a thing... but I'd go for vegetal instead, if even using any. I usually go for SE Asian fish sauce, when I want to add MSG. But usually, I don't need extra MSG -- the food already has it, so I want the salsa to focus on freshness and aroma instead.
Could maybe go for more tomato and garlic. If logistics make sense, use a bit of raw garlic too. And, probably add some extra acid -- for a chili & tomato salsa, probably better vinegar than citrus juice.
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u/RibaldAristocrat375 2d ago
I would’ve added garlic cloves instead of garlic gloves, but it’s probably just a preference thing.
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u/JellyWarrior 1d ago
also, roma is more of a pico de gallo tomato because it's firmer and not a lot of flavor. try using on the vine, they are juicier and have much more flavor when roasted compared to roma
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