Darkish and nutty with heat spice, salsa macha is an element oil, half chiles, nuts, and seeds. For those who like the new, garlicky punch of chili crisp, you gained’t be capable of get sufficient of Mexico’s sauce hailing from Veracruz and Oaxaca. Salsa macha will get its earthy taste from guajillo chiles and smoky notes from moritas, and only a spoonful provides texture and layered warmth to every thing it touches.
In my time as a line cook dinner on the in style Mexican restaurant Cosme in New York Metropolis, I’d spoon salsa macha over each order of tlayudas. That’s the place I first encountered the sauce—surrounded by corn and chiles, scrambling to get via the restaurant’s notoriously frenetic dinner rush. I cherished it a lot that I’d disguise some in my lowboy (a fridge beneath a workstation) to secretly drizzle over the day’s workers meal.
Touring round Mexico this summer season, I used to be reminded of my love for the coastal condiment. At brunch one morning at Paradero Hotel in Todos Santos, visiting chef Daniel Burns confirmed up with a charred shrimp tostada topped generously with salsa macha. Abruptly, I used to be proper again at Cosme, measuring and deseeding the chiles and mixing the salsa to its pleasantly coarse consistency. However one thing was totally different—whereas peanuts have been blended into the sauce at Cosme, right here, I realized, cashews have been thrown into the combination together with sesame seeds and guajillo chiles. And that’s the great thing about salsa macha: It’s endlessly adaptable.
Again in New York, I saved up the momentum. This week, once I noticed colourful heads of cauliflower popping up on the farmers market (they’ll be round via late fall in these components), it struck me that the vegetable may make an ideal companion to salsa macha. Roasted with candy summery corn, piled on a crispy tostada, and doused within the peppery combination, cauliflower-macha tostadas at the moment are a staple in my kitchen. Truthfully, although? They’re only a vessel for me to eat extra of my favourite salsa.
If cauliflower isn’t for you, or when you have leftover salsa macha, attempt it on brothy noodles, eggs, and even roast chicken.
Yield: 2½ cups
Time: 1 hours
- 2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. grapeseed oil, or vegetable oil, divided
- Eight 6-in. corn tortillas, warmed
- 6 dried ancho chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 4 dried árbol chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 4 dried morita chiles, stemmed and seeded
- 1 dried guajillo chile, stemmed and seeded
- ¾ cup uncooked cashews (3¾ oz.)
- 6 garlic cloves
- ½ cup white sesame seeds
- 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar, plus extra to style
- 1 tsp. kosher salt, plus extra
- 4 ears of corn (2 lb.), shucked
- 1 small head of cauliflower or romanesco (about 1½ lb.), cored and reduce into 1-in. florets
- Freshly floor black pepper
Directions
- Place a rack within the middle of the oven and preheat to 400ºF. To a medium pot set over medium-high warmth, add 2 cups of the oil. When it’s shimmering and sizzling, one after the other fry the tortillas, utilizing tongs to show as soon as, till crisp and flippantly browned, about 2 minutes every. Switch to a paper-towel-lined plate.
- Make the salsa: In the identical oil, working in batches, fry the chiles, turning regularly, till aromatic and darkened barely, 3–4 minutes. Utilizing a slotted spoon, switch to a plate.
- Flip the warmth to medium-low and add the cashews and garlic. Prepare dinner, stirring regularly, till golden brown, 3–4 minutes. Take away from the warmth, then use a slotted spoon to switch to the plate with the chiles. Set the oil apart till cool sufficient to deal with, about half-hour.
- To a blender, add the chiles (utilizing your fingers to crumble them barely), reserved cashews and garlic, the sesame seeds, vinegar, and reserved oil and pulse till coarse (the sesame seeds ought to largely stay complete). Season with salt and extra vinegar, if desired.
- Make the tostadas: Line a big rimmed baking sheet with foil. With the corn mendacity flat on a slicing board, slice off the kernels and switch to the baking sheet, discarding the cobs. Add the cauliflower, the remaining oil, the salt, and black pepper and toss to mix. Unfold the combination in a good layer, then bake, turning midway via cooking, till the cauliflower is deep golden brown and starting to melt, about 25 minutes.
- To serve, prepare the tostadas on a serving platter, then mound evenly with the cauliflower combination. Drizzle every with 1–2 teaspoons of salsa macha. (The sauce will hold at room temperature for not less than 2 weeks; stir nicely earlier than serving.)
