Straight talk: you gotta ferment your salsa.
Good news, it requires almost no talent to do so.
Now is the time to try it, for a few reasons.
Your house is also likely the perfect temperature for fermentation right now (60-80F).
Lastly, its prime pepper time.
Your garden, farmers market, and even grocer likely has fresh peppers in varieties you dont normally see.
I am greeted by bags of Hatch peppers each time I visit the store this time of year.
Choose your heat wisely
It all starts with peppers, the defining component of your finished salsa.
I know that sounds boring, but theres a lot of sweet meat on those ribs.
you’ve got the option to do large or small bell peppers, ultimately it wont matter.
The rest of the mix can be mid-range heat peppers like poblano.
you’re able to grill them instead, or char them in any manner you choose.
Leave them in there for 10 minutes, and let the steam inside separate the skin from the flesh.
Now pull off the stems and seeds, removing any skin that comes off easily.
Leaving behind some char is not only ok, but ideal.
Layer those peppers into a half-gallon glass jar fitted with a fermentation lid.
Fill the jar to the top with a 2% brine, making sure all the peppers are submerged.
Once its cooled, pour it into the jar.
Once you see the jar bubbling, its actively fermenting.
From then, give it one more day.
This is what youll use to ferment the other ingredients in your salsa recipe.
Not only will it taste better, but the mix of colors will improve how the salsa looks.
You dont actually have to peel tomatoes to make salsa, but roasting them makes it easy work.
At that point, remove the cookie sheet, and pluck the skins off with a pair of tongs.
The remaining tomatoes can go into a bowl with the tomato juice from the pan, until they cool.
The stems provide a bite that I think youll find very pleasant.
The peppers are an active ferment, and will act as a fermenter for the salsa itself.
Add the additional salt, and mix everything together well.
Even on day one, the flavor will be deeper than normal salsa.
Over fermented salsa gets very fizzy, but the fridge will stop the fermentation.
Still, it should be eaten within the week, which is never a problem.
If youre using hot peppers, be careful to wear gloves when handling them.
Place the peppers in a half-gallon glass jar with a fermentation lock and cover with the brine.
Allow the peppers to ferment for 2-4 days, until you see bubbling when you initiate the jar.
Then wait one more day before proceeding with the rest of the recipe.
Remove the skins and then pour off the tomatoes and liquid so it can cool.
If you prefer to use raw tomatoes instead, skip this step.
Dice the onions, chop the cilantroincluding the stems except for the last little bitand finely dice the garlic.
Chop the tomatoes and the peppers into 12-inch sized pieces.
Add the rest of the salt, and mix everything together.
Leave the bucket in a cool dark place with a temperature somewhere in between 60-80F.
Check the taste of the salsa daily with a clean spoon.
