Salsa de Tomate Cocido para Corundas

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Volcanic stone molcajete
• •Comal de barro or cast iron comal
• •Medium clay cazuela
• •Wooden spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the tomatoes

   Put the jitomates in a small pot and cover with water. Bring to a steady simmer and cook 8 to 10 minutes, until the skins split and the flesh softens. Do not boil them to death. You want cooked tomato, not watery red pulp.

2. 2

   Char the chile

   While the tomatoes cook, set the chile perón, garlic, and onion on a hot comal. Turn them until the chile skin blisters, the garlic softens inside its peel, and the onion shows dark spots at the edges. The chile perón has thick flesh, so give it time. Its perfume is part of the sauce.

   Chile perón has black seeds and a bright, floral heat. Remove the seeds if you want less bite, but do not replace it casually with jalapeño. That changes the region on the plate.
3. 3

   Grind the base

   Peel the garlic. In a molcajete, grind the garlic and salt first until they become a paste. Add the charred onion and chile perón and crush until broken down but not perfectly smooth. Add the cooked jitomates one by one, crushing them into a rough sauce. A molcajete gives you martajada texture. A blender works for a larger batch, but the salsa becomes smoother and less alive.

4. 4

   Fry the salsa

   Melt the manteca de cerdo in a clay cazuela or heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the tomato mixture carefully. It will sputter. Cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring often, until the tomato darkens slightly and the fat shines at the edges. La manteca es el sabor. Oil will cook the sauce, but it will not give the same roundness.

5. 5

   Loosen with broth

   Pour in the warm broth and stir well, scraping the bottom of the cazuela. Simmer 8 to 10 minutes, until the sauce is loose enough to spoon over corundas but not so thin that it runs off the plate. Taste for salt. The corundas are mild, so the salsa must speak clearly.

6. 6

   Serve with corundas

   Spoon the hot salsa over warm corundas or uchepos. Finish each serving with Mexican crema and crumbled queso fresco. Serve in barro, not on a cold white restaurant plate. This is Pátzcuaro food, generous and direct. Así se hace y punto.

Chef Tips

• •Buy chile perón when it looks heavy for its size, with taut yellow-orange skin and black seeds inside. In Michoacán markets you see it piled near the avocado country produce. Pregúntale a las señoras del mercado.
• •If chile perón is impossible to find, use one chile manzano. If you must use serrano, use two and understand what is missing: the thick flesh, the floral citrus aroma, and the Michoacán identity.
• •This salsa is for corundas and uchepos, not for nachos, not for flour tortillas, not for pretending every Mexican sauce is the same. This is a 32-state cuisine.

Advance Preparation

• •The salsa can be made 2 days ahead without the crema and queso. Refrigerate it in a covered container and reheat gently in a cazuela before serving.
• •Add the crema and queso fresco only at the table or just before serving. If you simmer the crema hard, it can separate and turn the sauce dull.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 230g)