Chef Isabel
Aceitunas Aliñadas Andaluzas
Andalucía's green olives are cracked just enough to drink in garlic, cumin, oregano and sherry vinegar, then left two days until the brine turns fragrant and every bite carries the aliño.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Mojo Verde de Cilantro
Created by
Mojo verde is the Canary Islands' raw coriander sauce, sharp with garlic, cumin and wine vinegar. Crush it only until coarse and bound, then spoon it over papas arrugadas or grilled fish.
Sauces & Condiments
Spanish
Make Ahead
Outdoor Dining
Quick Meal
15 min
Active Time
0 min cook•25 min total
Yieldabout 275ml (8 to 10 servings)
Mojo verde de cilantro belongs to the Canary Islands: a raw, loose sauce of fresh coriander, garlic, cumin, green pepper, wine vinegar and olive oil. Coriander gives this version its bright, grassy edge. Put dried pepper or pimentón into it and you've crossed into mojo rojo, the red mojo, which is another sauce entirely.
The method that decides it is restraint. Grind the cumin, salt and garlic to a smooth majado first, then pound in the pepper and coriander only until fine green flecks remain. Long blending bruises and warms the herb, turning its clean flavour bitter and its colour tired. The finished mojo should spoon easily and show a little green-gold oil at the rim, not sit thick like a cream.
No hace falta haber pisado España. If fresh coriander is impossible to find, use the same weight of flat-leaf parsley and you have mojo verde de perejil, another Canarian green mojo, though it tastes gentler and less citrusy. A small blender works too, provided you pulse and stop early. My Margin has one useful line beside this sauce: "stop while you can still see the herb." Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Mojo belongs to the Canary Islands, an Atlantic archipelago where sharp sauces of garlic, cumin, vinegar and oil became everyday companions to potatoes, fish and goat. Green mojo follows two established household paths, coriander in one and parsley in the other, while red mojos draw their colour and depth from dried pepper or pimentón. Papas arrugadas were traditionally cooked in seawater when fresh water was scarce, and their salt-crusted skins made bright, oily mojo their natural companion.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
fresh coriander
Quantity
40g
leaves and tender stems, washed and thoroughly dried
garlic
Quantity
20g (about 5 medium cloves)
peeled
mild thin-skinned green frying pepper
Quantity
40g
seeded and roughly chopped
cumin seeds
Quantity
2g (about 1 teaspoon)
coarse sea salt
Quantity
5g (about 1 teaspoon)
white wine vinegar
Quantity
40ml
mild, fruity extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
150ml
cold water (optional)
Quantity
up to 20ml
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fresh corianderleaves and tender stems, washed and thoroughly dried | 40g |
| garlicpeeled | 20g (about 5 medium cloves) |
| mild thin-skinned green frying pepperseeded and roughly chopped | 40g |
| cumin seeds | 2g (about 1 teaspoon) |
| coarse sea salt | 5g (about 1 teaspoon) |
| white wine vinegar | 40ml |
| mild, fruity extra virgin olive oil | 150ml |
| cold water (optional) | up to 20ml |
Equipment Needed
- •Large rough-surfaced mortar and pestle, at least 500ml capacity
- •Small blender or narrow blending cup, if not using a mortar
Instructions
- 1
Dry and prepare
Dry the coriander thoroughly, then cut away only the thick lower stems and roughly chop the leaves and tender stems. Seed and chop the green pepper. Water clinging to the herb dilutes the mojo and shortens its keeping time, so don't hurry the drying.
- 2
Make the garlic paste
Put the cumin seeds and coarse salt in a large mortar. Grind them until the cumin is finely broken, then add the garlic and pound to a smooth, sticky majado, the pounded base of the sauce. Do this before adding any liquid; once oil is in the mortar, hard pieces of cumin and garlic simply skate around it.
- 3
Pound in the greens
Add the chopped pepper and pound until pulpy. Add the coriander a small handful at a time, crushing each addition before adding the next. Stop when the leaves have collapsed into a moist, coarse green paste with fine herb flecks still visible. The mojo wants texture. It isn't a smooth green cream.
- 4
Bind with oil
Work in the wine vinegar, then pour in the olive oil gradually while stirring firmly with the pestle. Stop as soon as the ingredients bind into a loose, spoonable sauce. A little oil may remain visible around the edges; that is right. If the mojo is too thick to spoon, mix in cold water 5ml at a time, using no more than 20ml.
For a blender, pulse the cumin, salt and garlic first. Add the pepper and coriander, then use short one-second pulses. Add the vinegar and oil and pulse only two or three more times. Letting the motor run turns the sauce dull, warm and bitter. - 5
Rest and serve
Leave the mojo for 10 minutes so the garlic, cumin and vinegar settle into the oil. Stir and taste it with a piece of potato or bread rather than from a bare spoon; the sauce should be sharp enough to season the food beneath it. Serve with papas arrugadas, salt-wrinkled potatoes, grilled fish or plain vegetables.
Chef Tips
- •Buy coriander that smells lively when you pinch a leaf. Yellow leaves and wet, collapsing stems already taste tired, and no mortar can put the freshness back.
- •A mild thin-skinned frying pepper is the proper choice. If you only have green bell pepper, use 30g rather than 40g; it carries more water and gives the mojo a grassier, heavier taste.
- •Choose a fresh olive oil without a hard, bitter finish. The sauce is raw, so every rough edge in the oil stays in the bowl.
- •The mojo will separate as it stands. Stir it before serving rather than blending it again. A loose sauce with visible herb and oil is exactly what you want.
- •For outdoor meals, keep the jar over ice and return it to the refrigerator within two hours. Raw garlic held in oil should not sit warm for an afternoon.
Advance Preparation
- •Make the mojo at least 10 minutes and up to one day before serving. The short rest rounds the raw garlic without taking away the coriander's freshness.
- •Keep it in a clean, tightly covered jar in the refrigerator for no more than four days. Its colour darkens gradually, though the flavour remains good. Stir well and let it stand for 10 minutes out of the refrigerator before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 32g)
Calories
140 calories
Total Fat
15 g
Saturated Fat
2 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
13 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
260 mg
Total Carbohydrates
1 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
0 g
Protein
0 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Salsas Regionales: Mojo, Brava, Verde & Vizcaína
Browse the full collection
Chef Isabel
Adobo Andaluz (Andalusian Marinade)
Andalucía's sharp, brick-red marinade brings vinegar, garlic, oregano, cumin and pimentón to fish and pork; pound the seasonings first, then give the acid time to carry them through.
Chef Isabel
Ajada Gallega
Ajada gallega is Galicia's quick garlic and pimentón refrito for boiled fish, octopus, vegetables and cachelos, with the paprika stirred in off the heat so its red oil stays sweet, never bitter.
Chef Isabel
Ajopollo Almeriense
Almería's ajopollo turns fried garlic, almonds, bread and saffron into a golden mortar paste that gives modest fish and potato guisos their body, richness and unmistakable southern depth.