Burn Your Tortillas For Salsa That Will Ignite Your Tastebuds

Taco with salsa ceniza and costilla
May 15, 2024

If you are a creature of the summer — fond of muggy nights, grilling under the stars, lingering a little too long — this salsa ceniza is for you. The star of the show is a pair of thoroughly burnt tortillas (that's where the ceniza, or ash, comes in), which are ground with roasted spring onions and fiery chile de árbol. The flavors are heightened and brought into balance with the addition of salsa Maggi, a little Knorr chicken bouillon, and lots of lime juice. This recipe comes to us via Dallas-based Anastacia Quiñones-Pittman who leads the kitchen at the acclaimed restaurant José. The flavors remind her of the carne asadas organized by her dad, and chances are if you spoon some of this delicious salsa on top of a grilled piece of meat, it'll take you somewhere similar too. Provecho, friends.

Molcajete
Salsa Ceniza

Salsa Ceniza

Anastacia Quiñones-Pittman

Ingredients

  • 2 corn tortillas

  • 4 dried chiles de árbol, destemmed

  • 4 spring onions

  • ¼ cup Maggi seasoning liquid

  • 3 tbsp Knorr chicken bouillon

  • Juice of 4 limes

  • Salt to taste

Directions

  1. Char two tortillas over a flame until they are blackened on both sides.

  2. Toast the chiles until browned, then remove the stems (keep the seeds).

  3. In a large Molcajete, grind the chile de árbol and charred tortillas and set aside.

  4. Juice 4 limes into a bowl and combine with Maggi seasoning and Knorr chicken bouillon.

  5. Score the bottom of the spring onions in a cross formation. Toss the onions in the Maggi mixture, coating the onions well.

  6. Place the onions in a piece of foil, large enough to just enclose them into a packet with their scored surface laying flat. Add 3 tbsp of the remaining Maggi mixture to the onions and enclose the foil into a packet.

  7. Cook packets directly over a grill or the gas of a stove top for 10 minutes or until the onions are soft.

  8. Remove onions from heat.

  9. Carefully open onion packets and conserve liquid.

  10. Cut the onions into bite sized pieces.

  11. Fold onions in the Molcajete and add conserved liquid.

  12. Season to taste with the lime juice or salt.

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