To be honest with you, I cannot remember what I did before I begin cooking with dried chile peppers. These days, I cannot be without them or I begin to panic, lol! Lucky for me, they are readily available online and if I am real lucky, one of the local markets carry some. The two peppers used most often in our house were chile ancho and chile de arbol. Now and them, Mom would use the chile California for when she prepared Carne Con Chile Rojo(beef red chile). Because of the overwhelming response I have had for this recipe of salsa macha, I decided to create a blog post featuring the salsa on it’s own. It is essentially a salsa prepared by frying the chiles and blending them with oil. It is similar to an Asian chile oil that you see in the markets. Different flavor profile though. It is a salsa made popular in Vercruz, Mexico where they like to use the smoky chile morita variety of peppers. For today’s post, I share with you two variations of salsa macha. As you read the recipe, I know it will seem like a large amount of chiles that I add to the recipe. I would not say this is a salsa to serve to your friends with chips. This is more like a salsa that you want garnishing those TASTY carne asada tacos after you have added the more mild salsa. And not only for tacos, I use this salsa macha recipe to mix into marinades, vinaigrettes, soups and stews. it will last for a very long time in the coldest part of your refrigerator and freezes forever! #welovespicy #chileheads #foodieforlife
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup grapeseed or olive oil
- 1/4 pound chile de arbol stems removed (2 cups)
- 5 chile Guajillo stems and seeds removed
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- Salt to taste
- More oil if needed
Instructions
Directions
- In a pan, combine the 1/2 cup oil, chile de arbol, guajillo peppers and garlic. You can fry the ingredients separate, if you like.
- Bring up to temperature at medium heat. When the peppers become aromatic, lower heat and stir often. You want the peppers to become bright red and slightly soft. Do not let them get too dark or they will be bitter. Remove from heat and let cool.
- Transfer chile/oil mixture to the blender, add vinegar and salt to taste. Pulse to blend, adding more oil if it's too thick. Taste for salt. Yields about 2 cups.
Notes
Chile de arbol and chile japones have very similar flavor profiles, so you could use either in this recipe.
If you have not noticed, I have slowly switched over to using grapeseed in most of my recipes. I prefer it over canola oil when I need a mild oil or oil with no flavor. Plus it’s a natural oil, where the canola oil is not. Don’t quote me on that, but that’s what i have read. The olive oil is good, but sometimes has slight bitter note when using it in this type of recipe. 
Here is a variation on a Salsa macha recipe that I prepared in the molcajete. I will often mix in some chile morita, chipotle or piquin for a smoky finish on the salsa.
Salsa Macha-Variation
20 chile de arbol
6 chile morita
1 full tablespoon chile piquin
6 cloves garlic, sliced
1/2 to 3/4 cup grapeseed oil
1/2 tablespoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt. More to taste.
2 tablespoons white vinegar, optional
1. Combine the dried chiles(stems removed) with garlic and oil in a saucepan. Heat to medium. When it comes to a rapid simmer, reduce to medium/low and continue cooking, stirring often, for 3 to 5 minutes. The larger chile morita should puff up and other chiles should darken a little. Garlic should look golden.
2. Strain the peppers and garlic, reserving all of the oil. Transfer to the molcajete, add salt and crush until broken down pretty fine. If the larger peppers are hard to break down, they did not get toasted enough. That’s ok, just chop them really well with a knife. Add all of the reserved oil to the molcajete. Stir in the vinegar if using and taste for salt.
this salsa looks fantastic and probably good on everything, thank you!!! I wrote you a while ago asking about a spice condiment I once was given. My friend is going to send me something and I think it’s what I had before but here’s her description of it, maybe you’ve heard of it, keep cooking and thank u
“Sitting around for everything”…..is exactly what will happen for this! Sounds super! Thanks, Kiddo! I just love
getting all these Mexican recipes!
Listen, Charles……I’ve got a wonderful something to send to you. Could you please send me your address? It is a Mexican condiment….homemade (so far not available commercially) the the kitchens of the state of Puebla, Mex.
I don’t have an exact recipe except to say it is made with sesame seeds and Piquin chilis only. I’ll find out from friends
in Mex. what the proportions are. It is VERY simple to make: dry toast the seeds and chilis in a fry pan (can’t tell
you how good that smells!) then grind them together in a metate. I know from tasting it in different kitchens, that the ratio of chili to sesame is critical, and how finely one grinds the stuff. Anyway, I will send it to you and suggest you sprinkle it on anything and everything ! YOU. WILL. LOVE. IT! Keep it in the fridge and it will last, literally for ever! I have a jar of it that I have had since 1974 and it is still simply wonderful! A friend from Puebla was visiting recently and brought me 4 jars of it! So now I have enough to share….and this batch comes from
the BEST kitchen in Teziutlan, Pue. Do use it carefully….Piquins are some of the hottest chilis around. The jar I’m going to send you will last you for 40 forevers!���� BTW, it is called Ajonjoli (spanish word for sesame.)
I can’t say that I know of that brand exactly, but there are many companies that offer spice blends that resemble a mole.
Hi, I bought Brava Salsa Macha Cacahuate when I visited Monterrey, MX. This stuff is really hot and I love heat. I kept it in the fridge and when it jelled, I would scoop out a pea sized portion and that made a plate full of food plenty hot. More than that would make me gag. I’m looking for a recipe that is this hot. Do you think that either one of your recipes are this hot or hotter? Or if not what would you suggest?
Thanks!
I don’t know your heat level, so I could say it’s hot, but maybe you like it hotter(more spicy). You could try mixing in some dried chile piquin or chile morita. They are both spicy. I have a batch of chile de arbol that is really spicy.
Ok. Thanks. Looking forward to trying it!
Thank for the recipe. l love the Macha salsas.
I always look forward for your email’s you send out.
Thank You Randy!
Any suggestions for the ratio with piquin chilis and sesame seeds. Sounds really good, would love to know. Thank you Isaac
Hi Isaac, I would say per cup of salsa macha, I would add 4-6 chile piquin. And as far as the sesame seeds, maybe 1 teaspoon per cup. Just add a little, blend and taste as you go.