Salsa Criolla

Sliced red onion soaked in cold water to take the harshness out, then dressed at the last minute so it stays crisp.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 2 large red onions, sliced paper thin
• juice of 3 limes
• 1 ají amarillo or mild red chilli, in fine strips
• a handful of coriander, chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• black pepper

Method

1. THE ONION IS SOAKED IN COLD WATER AND DRESSED AT THE LAST MINUTE. Ten minutes in cold water, changed once, which pulls out the sulphurous harshness that makes raw onion unpleasant in quantity -- and this is a dish that is almost entirely onion. Then dressed as it goes to the table. Dressed early, the lime cooks it: within twenty minutes it is limp, pink and sweet, which is a pickle and not this.
2. SO IT IS NEVER MADE IN ADVANCE. The whole point is crunch against something fried or rich, and crunch has a life of about fifteen minutes once the lime is on.
3. IT IS SLICED PAPER THIN, ALONG THE GRAIN. A mandolin if you have one. Thick slices stay harsh however long they soak, and cut across the grain they fall apart into half-moons that go soggy.
4. AND IT IS SALTED AFTER THE SOAK, NOT BEFORE. Salt before soaking draws water out and defeats the point; salt at the end seasons without softening.
5. THE LIME IS SQUEEZED BY HAND AND NOT JUICED HARD. Peruvian limes are small and bitter in the pith, and a machine presses that bitterness straight into the bowl.
6. Onions peeled, halved and sliced as thinly as possible ALONG the grain.
7. Put in a bowl of cold water and left 10 MINUTES, the water changed once.
8. Drained well and PATTED DRY in a cloth -- water left on them dilutes the lime.
9. The chilli cut into fine strips and the coriander chopped.
10. Everything combined in a bowl AT THE LAST MINUTE with the lime juice, salt and pepper.
11. Tossed with the hands rather than a spoon, which separates the slices instead of bruising them.
12. Tasted: sharp, salty, mildly hot, still crunchy.
13. Served immediately, piled on or beside fried fish, jalea, tacu-tacu, anticuchos or chicharron.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Peru · All recipes