Salsa Borracha Costeña de Guerrero

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Cast iron comal or heavy skillet
• •Volcanic stone molcajete with tejolote
• •Tongs
• •Low barro rojo cazuelita from Guerrero for serving if not using the molcajete

Instructions

1. 1

   Heat the comal

   Set a cast iron comal or heavy skillet over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Dry heat matters. Oil will fry the chiles instead of tatemarlos, and you want blistered skin, not greasiness. There is no fat in this salsa. The shine comes from lime and mezcal.

2. 2

   Tatemar chiles and garlic

   Lay the chile serrano and unpeeled garlic cloves on the hot comal. Turn them with tongs until the serranos are blackened in spots, softened, and fragrant, 6 to 8 minutes. The garlic takes a little longer, 8 to 10 minutes, and should feel soft inside its papery skin. If a chile turns fully ashy instead of blistered, throw it out. Burned chile makes bitter salsa. Así se hace y punto.

   Keep the stems on while charring so you can turn the chiles without tearing them. Pull the stems after the chiles rest.
3. 3

   Rest and clean

   Move the serranos to a bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel for 5 minutes. This softens the flesh so it crushes properly. Pull off the stems. Peel the garlic. Do not peel the chiles clean. Those black flecks are the comal speaking.

4. 4

   Grind by hand

   Put the sal de grano in the molcajete with the peeled garlic. Grind until you have a rough paste. Add the serranos one at a time and crush them against the stone until the salsa is coarse, juicy, and uneven. Never blend this salsa. A blender makes a thin green puree and kills the texture the señoras on the coast worked to build.

5. 5

   Make it borracha

   Stir in the fresh lime juice and mezcal joven. The salsa should loosen enough to spoon but still hold pieces of crushed chile. Let it sit for 5 minutes so the salt, lime, and agave settle into the chile. Taste for salt. You should smell the mezcal after the lime, not before it.

6. 6

   Finish at table

   Fold in the finely chopped white onion and cilantro just before serving. Spoon the salsa from the molcajete or a low barro rojo cazuelita onto grilled beef, pork, or fish, with warm corn tortillas nearby. This salsa is made for fat, char, and lime. Cada estado, su propia cocina.

Chef Tips

• •Buy serranos that are firm, glossy, and heavy for their size. If the chile vendor in Ometepec would push them aside as wrinkled and tired, you should too. Bad chiles make bad salsa.
• •Use mezcal joven de maguey cupreata from Guerrero when you can. Oaxacan espadín works as a compromise, not an upgrade. Tequila makes a different salsa. Do not pretend otherwise.
• •No blender. If you do not own a molcajete, chop the chiles very finely with a knife and mash them with the garlic and salt against the cutting board. It is not the same, but it respects the texture better than a machine.
• •Dried chile costeño is not guajillo. It is smaller, sharper, and tied to the coastal chile pantry. This salsa uses fresh serrano, but keep chile costeño for salsa de chile costeño, not as a lazy swap.
• •Do not confuse every Costa Chica sauce with the peanut line, mafé into encacahuatado, or the sesame grammar that shows up in pipián costeño and salsa macha. This one is sharper: serrano, lime, agave, fire. Respect the difference.
• •If you are serving children or someone avoiding alcohol, set aside a portion before adding mezcal. The version without mezcal is useful, but it is no longer salsa borracha. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.

Advance Preparation

• •The serranos and garlic can be tatemados up to 4 hours ahead and held at room temperature. Grind them close to serving so the salsa stays vivid.
• •The chile and garlic paste can be made 1 day ahead and refrigerated tightly covered. Add the lime juice, mezcal, onion, and cilantro within 30 minutes of serving.
• •Finished salsa is best within 2 hours. After a night in the refrigerator, the lime dulls and the cilantro darkens. It will still eat, but it will not speak as clearly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 45g)