I recently received an education in Oaxacan Tomatillo Salsa with Pasilla chilies, and minimalist cooking from watching Chef Rick Bayless on YouTube. He hooked up this awesome salsa with just 3 ingredients (tomatillos, Pasilla chiles, and garlic) and this will certainly be added to my list of regular things to make going forward.
If you have always liked tomatillos, Rick’s recipe will make you LOVE them. This really piqued my interest, not only because it’s super simple. But also because it taught me that tomatillo sauce doesn’t have to be green. Every time tomatillos come to mind I would naturally associate it with green sauce. Well, not anymore. This is a red sauce featuring smokiness of Pasilla chile peppers.
Rick Bayless doesn’t even know I exist. I guess this makes me a crazy stalker super fan, oh well! He does a phenomenal job at explaining how to make authentic Mexican food in simple terms for the average home cook. You can watch him make this on his YouTube channel, and at the end he mentions making “adjustments” as needed. Those adjustments are where I felt the need to fill in the gaps. For me that meant getting specific on the amount of salt, sugar, and white vinegar. Because tomatillos are super tart, adding a little sugar is usually needed, but no need to go crazy with it. This should by no means become a sweet salsa.
When in the grocery store, identifying Pasilla chile peppers is quite easy because they have a darker red color with an elongated shape which stands out from all the other Mexican dried chiles. They also have a smoky aroma, similar to chipotle peppers.
Dried Pasilla chile peppers are easy to identify by their elongated shape.
Ingredients
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 5 medium-sized tomatillos
- 2 Pasilla chile peppers
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 2 teaspoons white granulated sugar
Instructions
- Cut the Pasilla chili peppers crosswise into inch-wide pieces. In a small bowl, soak them in hot water for about 30 minutes so they can fully hydrate. Save the chili water.
- Slice in half lengthwise the tomatillos and cloves of garlic. Place them on a hot dry pan, roast until they brown on both sides. Really, you can roast the garlic in any way you want … grill, air-fry, or toaster oven. Whatever works for you.
- In a blender, puree the hydrated Pasilla chiles, garlic, tomatillos and about ⅓ cup of the chili water on high in a blender. The tomatillo salsa might be a bit thick, so add more chili water as needed.
- Transfer to a medium bowl and mix in the salt, white vinegar, and sugar.
