Salsa Mexicana

A fresh, uncooked table salsa built from raw tomato, white onion, serrano chiles, and cilantro — chopped fine and seasoned with salt. This is the everyday salsa of Mexican home cooking, present on tables from Oaxaca to Sonora. Diana Kennedy's version keeps it honest: no blending, no roasting, no embellishment. The tomatoes are left unskinned, preserving texture and the slight resistance of the peel against the soft flesh. A small amount of water loosens the mixture just enough to make it pourable without diluting flavor. It is the kind of preparation that exposes its ingredients completely, so quality matters above everything else.

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Servesapproximately 1¼ cups

Sourced0 of 4 in BC

Cook

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The Market List

The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.

¾ cup

unskinned ripe tomatoes, finely chopped

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

⅛ cup

white onion, finely chopped

Your own market

chiles serranos, finely chopped

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

¼ cup

loosely packed cilantro, fairly finely chopped

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

3 tablespoons

water, approximately

Not yet stocked in British Columbia

Salt to taste

Your own market

The Method

Chop all ingredients by hand to a fine, even dice. Do not use a food processor or blender.

Combine tomatoes, white onion, serrano chiles, and cilantro in a bowl.

From the canon — The serrano is a small, smooth-skinned fresh chile belonging to Capsicum annuum, the species domesticated in centre-east Mexico perhaps 6,500 years ago. Serrano →

Add water a tablespoon at a time, stirring, until the salsa reaches a loose but not watery consistency.

Season with salt, taste, and adjust.

Serve at room temperature. Best eaten the same day it is made.

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