The Best "Salsa" Style Hot Sauce (an Attempt to Recreate SF's Papalote Salsa)

Have you ever been to Papalote taqueria off Valencia street in the Mission district of San Francisco? This recipe is inspired by the insane and amazing salsa they serve there. Smoky, warm, and with a special secret ingredient: pumpkin seeds!

Have you ever tried Sikil P'ak? It’s a delicious Mayan salsa made with pumpkin seeds (also called pepitas).

Did you know that the pumpkin is native to the Americas? Yep, this sweet and iconic squash has been cultivated in the Yucatán Peninsula for at least 4,000 years. And it’s a key crop in the milpa, a traditional agricultural system, which intercrops corn, beans and pumpkins, the three staples of the Mayan diet. Moreover, pumpkin seeds, known as sikil in Mayan, were long the main source of fats and protein in Mesoamerica.

This sauce is spicy, a little sweet from the tomatoes (also an OG American food), and packs a healthy protein kick and tastes amazing with basically everything.

Wait, so what’s the difference between salsa and hot sauce? Nothing, actually. Salsa is simply the Spanish word for “sauce” and includes any and all fresh or jarred sauces. Hot sauce is simply “Salsa picante”. But if it has tomatoes, Americans often refer to this as “salsa” versus hot sauce. Go figure.

My 2-cents is call it what you want, eat it with tasty food and enjoy your life, semantics aside.

Special equipment: mason jars (Ball, Kerr, etc.), canning pot, tongs, sheet/cookie tray 

Ingredients

  • 10 medium Roma tomatoes cored and halved (or 3 28oz cans of whole, peeled tomatoes)

  • 16 medium dried chile de arbol, hard stem removed and soaked overnight

  • 2 medium dried pasilla chile. hard stem removed and soaked overnight

  • 1 medium onion, chopped

  • 2 tablespoon kosher salt

  • 2 teaspoons unrefined cane sugar

  • 1 1/2 cups water

  • 2 1/2 tablespoons shelled pumpkin seeds (also called pepitas)

  • 1 cup apple cider vinegar

  • 1/4 cup finely chopped green onions (aka scallions)

  • 1/4 cup packed finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Directions

PREP & COOK: Soak the dried peppers overnight in the 2 cups of water. Reserve the water as you will need it later!

Heat the broiler to high and arrange a rack in the middle. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, then place the tomatoes skin-side up on the baking sheet. Broil the tomatoes until the skins are slightly charred, about 15 minutes, turning once or twice. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Place the roasted tomatoes in a large stainless steel pan over high heat. Add the chiles de arbol, pasilla peppers, onions, salt, sugar, and reserved soaking water and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer, stirring often, until the mixture has reduced slightly and thickened, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, toast the pumpkin seeds in a small dry frying pan over medium-low heat until fragrant and toasty, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Place the mixture in a blender, add the vinegar, toasted pumpkin seeds, scallions, and cilantro, remove the plug on the blender top so it lets off heat, then carefully blend until smooth. Taste, and add more salt if needed. Too thick? Add more vinegar and water at an even ration, 1 tablespoon of each at a time. Blend and add more if needed.

FILL BOTTLES: Using a funnel, fill bottles and cap. Store in the refrigerator. Lasts at least a few months, maybe more! Flavor will improve and be at maximum awesome around day 7.

 YOUR NOTES:

Laena McCarthy