For the Best Salsa Verde, Char, Char, and Char Some More

There's a wide range of salsas which I could comfortably see myself settling down and going steady with, but this charred salsa verde is my first and longest-lasting love when it comes to things I can dip my chips in, if you know what I mean. Smoky, spicy, sweet, and bright, its complexity is belied by its short ingredients list: nothing but chiles, tomatillos, onion, and cilantro (and salt if you want to be that guy in the comments who always says "isn't salt an ingredient?").

If you happen to have a stone or cast iron comal heated over a live fire hearth like the lady from Mi Rancho a tu Cocina, by all means use it to char your vegetables. You can even do it in a cast iron pan on the stovetop–if you don't mind scraping up burnt bits of vegetables when you're done. For easier cleanup and a more hands-off approach, I prefer to use the broiler.

For this batch, I started by splitting some green chiles. I used a mix of Anaheims and Serrano for this batch, but you can use other types of green chile like poblano, jalapeño, or Hatch (which are a spicier cultivar of the New Mexico chile–Anaheims are also a cultivar of New Mexico chiles). I placed those chiles on a sheet tray, then added some white onion, trimmed, skinned, split in half and separated into stacks of a few layers each.

Finally I added a couple pounds of tomatillos, which I husked and split. Tomatillos are related to cape gooseberries (uchuva) and have a similarly sweet-tart flavor and sticky skin under their husks. We can use this stickiness to our advantage: it chars better than the bare flesh of the tomatillo I find that by laying the tomatillo halves skin-side-up, the dry, sticky skin chars readily under the broiler while the flesh softens and releases juices that concentrate in the sheet tray.

I then placed the tray under my broiler and let them cook until deeply charred and starting to smoke lightly. Do not be intimidated by the charring. Its bitterness and complexity are an essential part of the salsa's final flavor, balancing out the sweetness of the onions and the sourness of tomatillos.

If you think that your vegetables look and smell a little burnt when you're done, you're on the right track.

Once the vegetables are charred, all that's left is to blend them into a salsa with some salt (OK, a lot of salt) and some cilantro (OK, more cilantro than the none my son prefers).

You can do liquefy your salsa in a number of ways. The traditional way–in a molcajete-style mortar and pestle–will give you the chunkiest texture and some excellent flavor. For salsas with raw ingredients, the molcajete really makes a difference: crushing plant cells in a mortar and pestle will release more of their flavorful compounds than shearing plant cells in a blender or food processor does. With softened and cooked vegetables, the difference is less noticeable, but it's still a nice touch.

If you aren't willing to put in some elbow grease (or if you can't convince your children or guests to), a hand blender, countertop blender, or food processor will do just fine.

This salsa will keep in the fridge for about a week, though honestly, it never lasts that long. I love it with fried eggs in the morning, as a dip for quesadillas in the afternoon, and of course, on enchiladas, burritos, and tacos.

Charred Salsa Verde

Every recipe I publish here is personally tested, tasted, and approved.

What I like about this recipe:

• It uses only four ingredients, but had a flavor profile that is complex.

• Charring the vegetables adds a smoky bitterness and sweetness to them.

YIELD: Makes about 1 quart of salsa

ACTIVE TIME: 10 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 25 minutes

Notes: You can use other types of green chiles in this recipe or omit them entirely if you prefer a milder, tarter salsa. I like to add a Serrano or jalapeño to the mix.

Ingredients:

2 pounds tomatillos, husks removed, split in half (900g; about 15 medium)

1/2 pound (225g) green chiles, such as Anaheim, Hatch, or Poblano (see note)

1 white onion (about 8 ounces, 225g)

A handful of picked fresh cilantro leaves and fine stems

Salt

Procedures:

1. Adjust an oven rack as close as possible to the broiler and preheat to high. Place tomatillos, chiles, and onion, cut-side-down on a rimmed baking sheet. Transfer the sheet tray to under the boiler and cook until the vegetables are darkly charred/ blackened.

2. Transfer the vegetables to the bowl of a food processor or blender. Add a handful of chopped cilantro. Season with more salt than you think you need. Pulse until a chunky puree is formed. Finished salsa can be stored in sealed containers in the fridge for up to a week.