10 recipes for authentic Mexican sauces with chili
Mexicans have demonstrated for centuries that they are a salsa people and that the humblest of foods is worthy of a little sauce. Check out these.
There are indeed many sauces in which neither chili nor pepper are required, but in Mexico, it is difficult to think of a sauce that does not contain it. Indeed, the combinations can be infinite, but the constant must be the chili. Here are some recipes for authentic Mexican sauces with chili peppers.
Marrow sauce
Ingredients
1 kg of bone with marrow
1 tomato
5 ancho chiles
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
Salt, pepper to taste
Preparation
Devein and soak the chiles. Blend them with tomato, garlic, and onion. Soak the bones in a pot with water. When the marrow softens, take it out and put it in a saucepan over the fire. Add salt and pepper and boil over low heat, stirring constantly, until the marrow melts. Pour the strained tomato and chili mixture over the marrow. Fry for a few minutes and serve very hot.
Salsa borracha ("Drunken Sauce")
Ingredients
20 pasilla chiles
1 head of garlic
1/2 liters of pulque
aged cheese to taste
enough oil for frying
salt
Preparation
Remove the tails from the chiles and fry them. Drain them and soak them in the pulque overnight, together with the head of garlic. Set aside and break up the chiles by hand. Serve in a clay pot and sprinkle with salt and aged cheese. Note: Do not keep this sauce for more than one day.
Chilacas with cream
Ingredients
5 Chilacas
1 cup of cream
1 finely chopped onion
salt and pepper
Preparation
Roast the Chilacas, remove the skin, devein them, and cut them into slices. Stir the slices with the other ingredients and that's it.
Salsa muy brava
Ingredients
20 cascabel chiles
10 guajillo chiles
5 chiles de árbol
1 cinnamon stick
10 fat peppers
3 cloves
1 pinch of cumin
1 teaspoon of ground oregano
3 tablespoons vinegar
1 onion
4 cloves of garlic
salt, to taste
Preparation
Devein and wash the chiles. Boil them lightly and grind them with the cinnamon, peppers, cloves, cumin, oregano, onion, garlic, and vinegar. Add salt. This sauce accompanies any type of meat.
Yogurt sauce
Ingredients
1/2 cup heavy cream cheese
1/2 cup natural yogurt
1 pinch of paprika
Salt to taste
Preparation
Beat the cheese until creamy (by hand or with an electric mixer) and add the yogurt, paprika, and salt, continuing to beat vigorously. This sauce is served over vegetables or sliced fresh fruits and vegetables such as carrots, cucumber, apples, peaches, and bananas.
Ancho chili sauce
Ingredients
2 ancho chiles
1/4 cup of warm water
1/4 cup wine vinegar
1 clove garlic
1/4 teaspoon oregano
Salt to taste
Preparation
Roast the chiles and soak them in water for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the chiles from the water without throwing water away, and grind them in the molcajete with garlic and vinegar. Pour the mixture into a small casserole or saucepan. If it is too thick, thin it with the water in which the chiles were soaked. Add oregano and salt to taste. Incorporate everything very well. If you are going to use the sauce as a marinade, it should be almost like a paste.
Catarino sauce
Ingredients
15 catarino chiles
6 green tomatoes, peeled
1/2 cup water
1 garlic clove
Salt to taste
Preparation
Roast the chiles and tomatoes on the comal, taking care not to burn them. Grind the chiles, tomatoes, and garlic in a molcajete with the water until all the ingredients are well ground and mixed. Add salt and serve the sauce in a casserole dish or saucepan. This sauce is not very spicy.
Morita chili sauce
Ingredients
5 morita chiles
6 medium green tomatoes without skin
1/2 cup water
1 garlic clove
salt to taste
Preparation
Remove the tails from the chiles and put them to cook in water with the tomatoes. As soon as the tomatoes are soft, grind them with the chiles and garlic in the molcajete, adding a little water so that the sauce does not become too thick. Add salt to taste and pour into a saucepan. It is ideal to accompany appetizers, grilled meats, and rice.
Garlic sauce
Ingredients
1 head of garlic, minced
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of flour
salt and pepper
Preparation
Melt the butter and add the flour, stirring constantly, until it takes a golden color. Add the crushed garlic and fry for about 3 minutes. Pour the milk, and keep stirring until it comes to a boil. Lower the heat, add the egg yolk, and stir a little more. Add salt and pepper.
Island sauce
Ingredients
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons of tomato sauce
drops of salsa ingresa
lemon drops
How to prepare
Mix the ingredients and refrigerate. This sauce accompanies salads and seafood.
Without salt, there is no sauce
The discovery of the sauce was a very simple thing: He who first sucked a grain of salt and was attracted by its strong flavor was the inventor of the sauce shortly before the universal deluge. Where there is or was the sea, there is salt and where there is or was salt, there will be good sauces. Bread and salt are what primitive peoples serve to foreigners in a symbolic gesture of good welcome. A proverb affirms: "every dish without salt is bland".
Meanwhile, it has been said that chili is the king, the soul of the Mexican people. Since the most remote times, since the beginnings of Mexican culture, chili has been a substantial part of all Mexican food and rituals. Although numerous varieties of chili have been found in Central and South America, Mexico is considered the country of origin of this sapid fruit.
Nowadays, chili peppers are cultivated in many countries of the world, in America, Europe, and the Orient. But it should be noted that Mexico is still the world's largest producer, the largest consumer, and where a great variety of chiles can be found.
