I love salsa — tangy, refreshing, appetising, and pretty simple to make. Compared to French dressings, salsa is rather healthy, too!
Basic Salsa Formula
Chopped Herbs + Salt + Oil + Shallots + Acid = Herb Salsa
Salsa may sound Mexican (yes, that’s the origin); change the herbs part, and then you’ll have a different vibe of sauce. Say parsley with anchovy and lemon becomes Italian; add some soy sauce and rice vinegar to turn to Japanese; or, like here, coriander with scallion and ginger as a general South Asian-ish herb salsa.
Without any heat, emulsion or technical cooking, salsa is made from only chopping and mixing — anybody can do it. If you’re really not up to the mood, simply put everything into a chopper and press the button — easy enough.
Serve it with grilled meat or fish (vegetables work too!), or my favourite, tofu. I even stir it into some dully cooked vermicelli, and the salsa sauce works its magic and really uplifts the whole dish and opens up any upsetting appetite, thanks to the acid.
I learnt this from Samin Nosrat’s cookbook SALT, FAT, ACID, HEAT , which displays a range of salsa recipes, including the Mexican-ish Herb Salsa. They resemble each other, as the only difference is adding ginger or not.
Tips: Use ready-bottled lime juice to save time from squeezing hard from multiple limes. I use this one, as I find it tastes natural and is reasonably priced. Some products may contain preservatives, so keep an eye on the ingredients.
South Asian-ish Herb Salsa Recipe
Allow some time to chop up everything or simply use a chopper. This salsa is perfect with grilled meat/fish/vegs/tofu, even noodles! Store it properly and it can stay for a few more days.
Ingredients
Makes enough sauce for 200 g tofu
- 1 medium shallot
- 3 tbsp lime juice
- 10 g coriander (incl. stems)
- 1 jalapeño pepper (use less for milder heat)
- 1 scallion
- 1 piece of thump-sized ginger
- 4-5 tbsp neutral-tasting oil
- salt
How to Make
- Prepare the shallot first. Finely dice the shallot and soak in the lime juice for 20 mins to macerate.
- Then, continue to finely chop the coriander, jalapeño pepper, scallion, and ginger, combine in another bowl. Throw in a generous pinch of salt and the oil. Mix well.
- After the shallot’s pungency has been mild down, scoop it out and add to the herbs. Slowly pour in the lime juice, mix, have a taste, and judge if you need all the lime juice or not.
