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Ersatz Papalote Salsa Recipe

Ersatz Papalote Salsa
Difficulty: Easy | Total Time: 35 mins, plus cooling time | Active Time: | Makes: About 3 cups

San Francisco’s Papalote makes such a great salsa that we had to get the recipe. They weren’t willing to reveal their secret, so we spent some time in our kitchen to uncover their magic. We reverse-engineered the recipe and discovered just what roasted tomatoes and pumpkin seeds can do for a salsa.

Special equipment: Whenever a recipe calls for a blender, we turn to this powerhouse by Waring.

Note: This salsa stays good for seven days when stored refrigerated in an airtight container.

This recipe was featured in the Build Your Own Burrito Bar story.

INGREDIENTS
  • 5 medium roma tomatoes, cored and halved
  • 10 dried chiles de arbol, stemmed, halved lengthwise, and seeded
  • 2 teaspoons ground dried pasilla peppers
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted hulled pumpkin seeds
  • 3 tablespoons white vinegar
  • 1/4 cup minced scallions
  • 1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Heat the broiler to high and arrange a rack in the middle. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, then place tomatoes skin side up on the baking sheet. When the broiler is hot, broil tomatoes until skins are slightly charred. Remove tomatoes from the oven; set aside. Turn oven to 350°F.
  2. Place tomatoes in a large stainless steel pan over high heat. Add chiles de arbol, pasilla peppers, salt, sugar, water, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring often, until slightly reduce and thickened, about 20 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, toast pumpkin seeds on a baking sheet until just browned, about 10 minutes. Remove baking sheet form oven; set aside.
  4. Add vinegar to tomato mixture and cook 1 minute. Place mixture in a blender, add toasted pumpkin seeds, and blend until smooth.
  5. Pour salsa into a container and stir in scallions and cilantro. Refrigerate until chilled before serving, about 3 hours.
    Write a review | 41 Reviews
  • Ersatz Papalote Salsa Recipe
    5

    I tried my hand at making this salsa and since I've never had the real thing, I can't tell how well I did. After reading the different post, I believe I can add two pieces to the puzzle. First the orange color can be achieved by heating the chile arbol in a frying pan with just a bit of oil. I make my own hot sauce with the chile arbol and it always comes out with an orange color. Second heating the chile arbol in this manner also provides the smokey taste.

  • Ersatz Papalote Salsa Recipe
    4

    Hey everyone! I, like some others on here, recently moved to NY from SF and have been suffering Papalote salsa withdrawal. I tried my hand at this recipe the other day (using some of the edits suggested in the comments) and I think what I got was pretty close to Papalote's (even my Papalote-fanatic of a boyfriend said so). I agree with some of the other commenters, there is something missing-both in orangey-color and a flavor - perhaps it is the Achiote Rojo as mentioned below.. Anyways, here are the changes I made to the above recipe when I made mine. These measurements are for a DOUBLED recipe, so halve them if you decide to use them of course.... 1 tablespoon salt 2 tablespoons sugar 2 cups water 2 tablespoons vinegar I also added a fresh jalapeno...

  • I think the flavor on this salsa is EXCELLENT but its a little watery. I did a few things differently (taking some of your advice). - I kept most of the seeds in the dried peppers for some extra kick. - I added about 2 tbsp of oil to make it a little creamier. Also added a large clove of garlic into the boil. - I only used 2 t of vinegar cause the 3 T scared me a little. - I even simmered for 30 minutes as opposed to the 20 but it still wouldn't thicken much. Try using 1 cup of water instead of the 1.5 (unless you like to drink your salsa. Which doesn't sound too bad actually. Hmmm)

  • NEWSFLASH, FOLKS! Papalote is about to begin online shipping of their amazing salsa. (My friend in SF and I have spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars over the years sending me gallons of it). I hear the URL will be something like www.papalotesalsa.com, but not sure.

  • I finally made this last night, and while it is a very good salsa, as szabe said, it is not Papalote. I did use ancho rather than pasilla and dialed down the vinegar a touch as well. However, I felt that the pepitas added too strong a nutty flavor (not unpleasant, just a major departure from the Papalote salsa's flavor). Next time I will try it with masa harina as thickener, and a touch of oil as szabe recommended.

  • Will try this recipe today, but I did notice one thing missing that the brothers admitted to Bobby Flay was in their salsa recipe, that is some Achiote Rojo. Achiote is a spiced seasoning paste found in some mexican foods it has a distinctive orange color and smell due to the annatto seeds. I dont think you will need to add much, but that should help you get even closer to the original. Cheers and Provecho!

  • If you think this is good salsa, you haven't discover the best salsa out there, check out www.misalsa7.com this are the real deal....if you like hot go for the roasted tomatoes and serrano peppers, if you like to carry your hot to go, pick up a bottle of picante roja...man this is the real stuff...

  • I'm a former Papalote-holic who moved back to the east coast last year. Thank you to those who reverse-engineered this--until I get back to SF, this is a great resource. Anyway, I made this tonight, and it was good, but definitely does not taste like Papalotes. The main things I changed or plan to next time: - as others have said, anchos should be used, not pasillas. - I used about a teaspoon of salt. That was enough. - I used about 1 tbsp of vinegar, and it was far to vinegary. Next time, I plan on 1 tsp. - I added about 4 tsp grapeseed oil to make it creamier. Definitely a good choice. - I don't think the sugar is necessary at all. The tomatoes add enough sweetness. - I would add a bit more spice. I added about 1/2 tsp of minced jalapeno at the end, but could have used a couple more arbols.

  • Regarding the pumpkin seeds: I pulse them in a coffee grinder before adding them to the mix. It does a better job at grinding them down than a blender or food processor. This enables you to avoid over pulsing the mixture just to get the seeds fine. I'm considering grilling (fire roasting) the seeds, too, but it seems like it would be a pain. I don't have a grilling device to aid with that. Someone here posted the idea of fire roasting a poblano. I like that idea and will try it. The recipe doesn't call for garlic, but our grocery has Mexican garlic right now (it's purple). Fire roasting the garlic will add more along that theme. Note, I've never had the original, so I'm really just trying to achieve a really good, unique salsa.

  • Okay, four years late, but this recipe came up in response to a search... Unless you live in California, you'll want to use chile labeled as ancho, not pasilla. For reasons that aren't entirely clear, the dried form of the poblano pepper - sold as chile ancho in the rest of the world - is labeled "pasilla" here. If you buy something labeled as pasilla anywhere else, you're going to get the dried form of the chilaca pepper. Which is a fine chile, but it's not the stuff in Papalote's salsa.

  • Update - I just saw the BF Throwdown episode featuring the Papalote guys, and the salsa looked a lot lighter and creamier in color. Perhaps this is oil or more seeds emulsified, or some guajillo chile. Also, the recipe calls for chile 'pasilla' - this is a very ambiguous term in California for historical reasons. It could mean ancho (dried poblano) or negro (dried 'pasilla'). IIRC the chefs mentioned 'California chile' which is just dried Anaheim, slightly less heat that 'New Mexico'. I'm voting for a mix of de arbol, guajillo and California chiles, and not too much tomato.

  • I don't think you can ever really expect perfect replication. Too many variables: ingredients, equipment, technique. In particular you have to wonder what the restaurant uses for tomatoes - do they can their own (or have someone can for them), use commercial cans or go fresh as in this recipe? If the latter, you'd think the January salsa would not be the same as the August salsa. I know the one I made in September was far better than the one I made this week, though I also used a different mix of peppers Also, FWIW, someone claiming to be from Papalote denied using seeds of any kind on Chowhound.

  • This is a good salsa recipe, but it does not taste at all like Papolate salsa, which I had just a couple of weeks ago. This imitation is not nearly as spicy or creamy. It's in the same vein as the Papolate salsa, it's just not quite the same.

  • Good salsa, when I was watching these guys on Bobby Flays program their burrito sauce looked more orange color. When I mad this recipe it is more of a dark red. Is this the same salsa or do they have another one?

  • I've made this recipe twice and find it way too salty - and I typically add salt to everything. 1 tsp of salt is about right and makes a very tasty salsa.

  • It's funny that you would choose the term ersatz. The English usage often implies (or has the connotation of), a mimicking resulting in unsatisfactory or inferior quality. I.m sure this is not inferior to any cooked salsa.

  • Any guess on the weight of 5 roma tomatoes? I've got about 3/4 lb of roasted cherry tomatoes - sounds like I might need the same again to make the full recipe?

  • Made this today- this salsa will knock your socks off. I read the original article on Chow magazine (I was an original subscriber:)- still have them), and guarded the recipe for years. I finally made this using 2 cans of fire-roasted tomatoes, juices included, 1 T garlic, and 1 t ancho chile powder. Instead of ground pasilla, I used a whole dried pasilla chile. Added water judiciously AFTER I pureed. I was scared that the tomatoes would taste tinny since they were from a can, but they didn't. The batch came out PERFECTLY- it was so good, I started eating hot salsa instead of letting it cool. Served with Tostitos multigrain chips- complimented the salsa nicely.

  • I made this salsa two months ago. While I liked it, my hubby was overwhelmed with the heavy smoke flavor. I wound up freezing most of it. Last evening I made a batch of vegetarian chile adding about 1 cup of this salsa. It was absolutely the best chile I have ever made!

  • Amazing! We live in a smaller town so finding any chili other than what is generally called a pablano was impossible on short notice. I managed to find pretty good organic roma's and went with some little red chiles from the asian market and a fresh pablano from the grocery which I fire roasted. Went a little over board on the pumpkin seeds (50%more) and went 50/50 vinegar and key lime juice. One of the best I have ever tasted! Thanks!

  • I've made this salsa a couple of times, and each time they've been huge hits. Like others, I've never tried the real thing, so I don't know how mine compares, but if requests for more are any indication, I did all right! Also, my boss loved this salsa on smoked turkey and smoked chicken sandwiches. Check out my salsa making at http://bryan.daneman.org/categories/Eats-and-Drinks/ and my Tequila and Salsa blog at http://tequilaandsalsaparty.com.

  • soleado123: I'd go back to white vinegar - rice vinegar is just too delicate. I get good results from the aforementioned Muir Glen fire roasted toms. Above all start with WHOLE dried chiles that look shiny; four ancho or mulatos is not too much. Let the salsa rest overnight and tweak the heat with ground de arbol or cayenne. SeattleJim: I've always used the green pepitas which look UNhulled to me. OTOH the seeds sold in snack packets are hulled and noticeably smaller.

  • The name Papalote reminds me of an herb I've heard of: Papaloquelite, which also might be known as Papalo. Who knows? They might put that in there.

  • Aidam. Thanks for the help. I will be sure to try this again with tomatoes this summer. Fresh tomatoes are at their "state of grace" for a short period, before they start getting mushy and smelling really bad. Thanks again. :).

  • soleado123: it's most likely a result of having used the canned organic tomatoes. the roasting of the tomatoes lends a depth and complexity that you won't get from "fire roasted" canned tomatoes.

  • I'm not sure what I've done wrong. I took others suggestions and used organic fire roasted tomatoes (Muir Glenn - spelling?). I also used rice vinegar rather than generic white vinegar. I couldn't find ground pasilla powder, so I used some dried pasilla. The flavor isn't quite there for me. I think I need to add some lime juice, some more scallions or onion. Mine is sort of insipid... tastes jarred.

  • I've been making this recipe since it came out in the ("OMG" I really miss it) magazine.I've had the original many times in SF (my old home) But then I come back to Seattle to make it myself. It's perfect every time. Question: I've bought (and used) two types of seeds: Bulk section unsalted roasted pumpkin seeds. And dark green pepitas from my Mex market. They seem like the same thing as the former just unroasted. What does hulled mean? I've searched online and can't get a straight answer. Are the ones I am buying preHulled? I don't know. Any way I just love this salsa. My variation is to use half white vinegar, and half white balsamic vinegar. Yum.

  • I've never tried the original, but this is very good. I think next time I will halve the amount of salt.

  • Good job reverse engineering it... of course its a very traditional salsa... so you just had to peruse a few basic cookbooks =)

  • I made this and loved it, although mine turned out thicker than I think it was suppose to be, and salty than I expect, but I love salt. Definitely the best salsa I've ever had, but it's hard to label this as a traditional salsa. I'll give it a second try next weekend and see if I can come closer to the intended results.

  • Wow was this ever terrific salsa! I couldn't find pasilla powder anywhere so I used one seeded chopped fresh pasilla pepper instead. I also used two 14.5 oz cans of fire roasted whole organic tomatoes with the juice. It saved a lot of time and I don't think the flavor suffered at all. This is a fantastic restaurant style salsa. I had to restrain myself from having chips and salsa for breakfast today!

  • This is a great salsa and I'd love to can a big batch with fresh romas this summer. With all the acid in it, seems it would be safe to process in a waterbath canner. Anybody know for sure?

  • Note... while they list Pasilla powder as an ingredient... I am almost certain they really mean Ancho powder. Not that Pasilla would be bad... but it would end up with a smokier, darker, spicier flavor probably what yongjoo liked (assuming Pasillas are correctly labeled in the NYC area which I would contend is more likely given the Puebla immigrant majority versus the SF Michoacan immigrant majority.

  • I was dying to find the secret to Papalote's salsa till you posted this recipe last year, and I've been happily making it since then. One trick I found to get the texture just right: blend the pumpkin seeds with just 1/4-1/2 cup or so of the tomato mixture before adding the rest. That way you can really hit 'em hard, creating the brighter orange color and creamy texture you want. Then add the rest of the tomato stuff and blend again. Yum. I also tend to use a little bit more than 2 tbs of the seeds, but that's just 'cause I love them so much.

  • Wow. Wow wow wow. I polished off a jar of Papalote salsa yesterday and made this today. It wasn't 100% the same color--maybe because I didn't blend it smooth enough or should add more pepitas--but the flavor was very, very close and it was delicious in its own right. Easy to make too. Thanks, Max La Rivere-Hedrick!

  • Made this salsa this evening, it is great. The pumpkin seeds definately add a great flavour to it.

  • Oh yum! Salsa is my first love, and I can't wait to try making this! Thanks for your tenacious labor of love and sharing this recipe with us. I am going to a baby shower this weekend, (hubbies are invited too, so I think it's more of an excuse to drink, eat good food and have fun!) I think this will "wow" the crew! Thanks again...

  • I used to live in San Francisco and was addicted to this salsa. This recipe is a wonderful match. I stayed exact to the recipe. I would suggect making sure you core the tomatoes very well because my first attempt turned out a little too watery. I fried up some tortilla chips and sprinkled a little garlic sea-salt blend on them and it tasted divine with this salsa. Thank you Chow! ...i love you...

  • I threw a Mexican food party this weekend, and this salsa was a huge sucess - everyone was asking me for the recipe!! I am looking forward to finding many more on this site :-)! I did make two minor alterations - I used lime juice instead of vinegar (that was just a personal preferance). I didn't have any ground pasilla peppers so I used a whole dried one. I toasted it in pork fat before I added it to the roasted tomatos (a common trick I used for pasilla peppers).

  • I had this salsa at the CHOW launch. It's one of the best salsas I have ever tried. Great work reverse engineering it.

  • Made this salsa yesterday. I live in NYC, so am not familiar with the original recipe. It was delicious! the chiles used give a nice smokey flavor. Don't skip on any ingredients in this recipe. It's a good one.

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