Tabasco Charred Tomato Salsa (Chirmol Tabasqueño)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Dry comal or heavy cast iron skillet
• •Volcanic stone molcajete and tejolote
• •Sharp knife for onion and cilantro
• •Small black clay bowl for serving

Instructions

1. 1

   Heat the comal

   Set a dry comal or heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Let it get properly hot before anything touches it. A timid comal sweats the tomato instead of charring it, and then your salsa tastes boiled. La cocina no es decoración, es trabajo.

2. 2

   Char the tomatoes

   Place the tomatoes on the hot comal. Turn them every few minutes until the skins are blackened in patches, the flesh softens, and juices begin to leak onto the surface. This takes 8 to 10 minutes. The tomato should smell sweet and smoky, not raw. Do not peel them. Those blackened skins are part of chirmol.

3. 3

   Blister chile and garlic

   Add the chile habanero and the unpeeled garlic clove to the comal. Roast the habanero for 30 to 60 seconds, turning once or twice, just until the skin blisters. Roast the garlic for 4 to 5 minutes, until the paper skin browns and the clove softens. Watch the habanero. Burn it and the salsa turns bitter and mean.

   If you are using two habaneros, roast both but grind in one first. Taste before adding the second. Heat should serve the salsa, not punish the table.
4. 4

   Grind the base

   Peel the roasted garlic. In a molcajete, grind the salt, garlic, and roasted habanero into a rough paste. Add one-quarter of the white onion, chopped, and grind again until the onion releases its juice. This is the base. The salt helps tear the chile and onion open under the stone.

5. 5

   Crush the tomatoes

   Add the charred tomatoes one at a time, crushing each against the side of the molcajete before adding the next. Leave the salsa rough, with pieces of tomato skin, seeds, and pulp visible. Chirmol tabasqueño is not a red puree. It should look like it came from a comal and a patient hand.

6. 6

   Finish fresh

   Finely dice the remaining white onion and fold it into the salsa with the cilantro, lime juice, and momo if using. Taste for salt and lime. The final flavor should be charred tomato first, then habanero heat, then fresh onion and cilantro. Serve at room temperature. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Use ripe tomatoes that smell like tomato at the stem end. If the market tomatoes are pale and hard, wait or buy canned fire-roasted tomatoes as a compromise. It will not be the same, but it is better than pretending a bad tomato can become good salsa.
• •Chile habanero belongs here because Tabasco shares that southeastern lowland heat with Campeche, Yucatán, and parts of Chiapas. Do not replace it with chile de arbol and call it Tabasco. Different chile, different state, different salsa.
• •If you find chile amashito in the market, use 6 to 10 fresh green ones instead of one habanero for a more local Tabasco bite. Amashito is not piquín. It is smaller, sharper, and its flavor is its own.
• •Momo is hoja santa, the same leaf by another name in Tabasco and Chiapas. Use it only if it is fresh and tender. Dried hoja santa tastes dusty here and does not belong in this salsa.
• •A blender is acceptable only if you pulse the salsa in short bursts and leave it coarse. If it turns smooth, you made another salsa. Not this one.

Advance Preparation

• •Chirmol can be made up to one day ahead and refrigerated, but add the cilantro and lime no more than one hour before serving so the flavor stays bright.
• •Hold the salsa covered in a clay or glass bowl, not metal. The lime and tomato pick up a metallic taste quickly.
• •Bring to room temperature before serving. Cold salsa dulls the tomato and makes the habanero taste flat.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 60g)