Houstonian living in London.
I’m working from this recipe: https://www.seriouseats.com/charred-salsa-verde-tomatillo-salsa
I keep reading all about all of the magical, pectin heavy juice I can expect after charring my tomatillos under the broiler and (after literally having to mail order the damned things to the UK), they just turned out a dry charred mess.
The ovens are a little different here; I don’t have a “broil” option. I went pretty high, about 480°F, for about 15 minutes, as the recommended 12 didn’t result in any charring at all.
So why no juice??? My best ideas are:
-too high heat, should have gone lower and slower
-pan wasn’t crowded enough
-mail order tomatillos just suck?
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated
by Texan_in_London
18 Comments
Broil them instead of roasting
Those black marks on the tin foil are the juice – you left it in so long and hot that it burnt them up.
You want hot for less but they weren’t very good to begin with
They have broilers in the UK … maybe your oven is special?
Heat is way too high … I do 400 and keep a close eye. If you really want a char, I would grill mine.
Sincerely,
Fellow Texan abroad
Sharon Weiss, is that you?
You just cooked them too long. You only need them to soften, and they’ll only be a light brown at that point. When they cook too long they burst open, which isn’t a problem. Their liquid spills onto the pan but you can just pour it into the blender. Except it will evaporate if it is left in the oven too long which is what it looks like happened to you. I’d also do more like 425 degrees instead of 480.
I haven’t tried kenjis but have tried several of Rick’s fried salsa recipes and love them.
Do you have a butane torch or any other source of convenient flame?
I prefer lightly boiling, blanching and then charring the tomatillos rather than roasting or broiling, it’s easier to get consistent results.
Edit: Sry need caffeine and forgot a main point, w/o flame use a cast iron to blacken the tomatillos.
If you don’t have a cast iron, I’m calling for a disporia tribunal to revoke your Texan card.
I put mine in the air fryer
Don’t cut them in half. Leave them whole. Same goes for other salsa ingredients.
Honestly I prefer boiled or raw tomatillos… maybe unpopular
Baking them vs broiling them are two different things. When you broil them, it gives you a quick char without drying them out. When you bake something, you’re basically intentionally removing the liquid over a longer period of time.
I put mine in a frying pan on the stovetop.
I’ve done two things recently with good results.
1) boil first for a few minutes
2) place in a foil lined cast oven pan with oil on the stove to char
Also have skipped the boiling and it’s still decent but seemed to help a bit with the pectin. I also don’t cut in half.
A step further, just boil them instead of roasting. Ensure they keep all their moisture.
Broil and do not slice open
Too long in the oven. They don’t need to be turned into charcoal
You burned them 😂
Why don’t North Americans use a skillet? It’s way better; even cook, less fuel, and less cleaning. Also you can’t burn things if you have eyes or a nose.
Def just keep an eye one it next time , you could leave them whole as well if you wanted and just flip them when one side is charred