Pico de Gallo

It feels a little wrong to have my first recipe be such an easy one, but what better way to do a test post than with something I’m familiar with?

As a native Texan, pico de gallo, also known as salsa fresca, is one of those things I eat fairly regularly. Due to its salad-like form, I prefer it over jarred salsa when I’m in the mood for tortilla chips or want to jazz up plain dishes with some freshness.

All of these ingredients can be found at your local big mart. I got mine from Emart.

Due to this being such a simple recipe, using the right produce is quite important. When making this batch, I made the mistake of purchasing discounted 달짝이토마토, which were quite soft and probably would have been better off in a sauce. To avoid my mistake, I recommend considering 완숙토마토 or 찰토마토. I have also had luck with the darker 청정강원 쿠마토, though the colors might look a little gross in the end. To put it simply, get the larger ones that aren’t soft.

Speaking of which, one step I’ve adopted after making this salsa for years is to salt and drain the tomatoes before combining them with everything else. This is a fairly common step for anyone working with watery vegetables. As someone who is not a fan of the pool of juice at the bottom of my batches of salsa, this has become a vital step.

Despite having this much liquid drawn out, the tomatoes will stay juicy.

Another step I take, mostly because I’m lazy and dislike digging through hot peppers with my hands, is to de-seed my peppers in a cup. This isn’t necessary, but I’m personally not a fan of the taste and texture of pepper seeds. What I like to do is roll the pepper around to loosen things up, chop off the top (where the step is), and then rattle it around in a tall cup with the cut end facing downwards. Though this doesn’t get rid of all the seeds, it gets rid of a good amount in a convenient place so that I won’t have to pick through it on my cutting board. Also, BE SURE TO TASTE YOUR PEPPERS FIRST. Peppers here are often a surprise, as it can be difficult to tell just how spicy they are from looks alone. I love my food spicy, but there have been times when adding as little as three plain looking peppers as made for a face-melting experience.

These are all seeds from just one pepper. If your salsa isn’t spicy enough, feel free to toss a couple of these into the mix until you get your desired amount of heat.

If preparing this dish for someone else, do keep in mind that there are those who hate cilantro and those who can’t get enough of it. I definitely fall into the latter, so you may find yourself having to scale back, especially since the tiny packs sold in stores don’t offer much to begin with. If you can’t find cilantro in your big mart, then check around to see if there is a foreign food mart that specializes in products from Southeast Asia near you.

It is often recommended to remove those yellow centers from the onion, but who has time for that?

When making this recipe, using fresh limes is ideal. Unfortunately, they can be tricky to find in this country and can get pretty expensive when they are available. I know it’s wrong, but for the sake of being cheap, I just use bottled lime juice for this recipe. Keep in mind that I would never do this at home. I also like to use a secret ingredient known as black lemon powder, which is something I purchased when visiting Oman. It’s actually made of dried limes which have been ground down into a fine powder. It seems impossible to find in Gwangju, but should you happen upon it, it’s a great way to add that fruity acidity without introducing more liquid to an already wet recipe.

Anyways, those are some of my tips and rationalizations. Onto the recipe! Apologies in advance for the awkwardness of the measurements, as I’m definitely one of those people who follows her instincts when cooking.

Even after draining the tomatoes, there’s still some pooling (on the left) due to me selecting the wrong tomatoes. Do not make my mistake.

Pico de Gallo

3-4 medium sized tomatoes, diced / 완숙토마토 or 찰토마토
1/2 red onion, diced / 자색양파
1-3 peppers, de-seeded and minced / 청양고추
Chopped cilantro / 고수 (to taste)
Lime juice / 라임주스 (to taste)
Salt / 소금 (for draining and to taste)
Black pepper / 후추 (to taste)
*Black lemon powder (to taste)

*This ingredient is most likely not available in South Korea

1. Sprinkle some salt on the tomatoes and let them drain in a colander for about 10-20 minutes. This will draw some of the liquid out, resulting in a less soupy salsa.

2. Combine tomatoes, red onion, peppers, and cilantro. Mix with lime juice, salt, black pepper, and black lemon powder (if available), adjusting to personal tastes.

3. Let sit for an hour so the flavors can meld. Enjoy with chips, tacos, or anything else where salsa is needed and appreciated. A cup or so can also be combined with a ripe avocado to make guacamole. Depending on the freshness of the ingredients, this recipe can be stored up to 5 days in the fridge.