Curtido and Fresh Tomato Salsa
Pupusas are 'traditionally' served with curtido, a tangy slightly fermented cabbage slaw, and a fresh tomato salsa, which resembles nothing more than a slightly thickened tomato juice, at the only restaurant that I've ever had them.
The platter below resembles what I ate out pretty closely, however, I'd read that guacamole is also a good accompaniment with pupusas so I made a small container to try.
It WAS good too. :)
Curtido
It wasn't hard to find a curtido recipe that sounded like it would do the job. In fact, I have three different versions that I plan on making my way through in the future. Luckily, the slaw can be served with fish tacos, tostadas or just eaten on its own so it's not a one dish accompaniment. And it gets better as it sits in the fridge. If you have any red cabbage in the mix, as I did in the bagged coleslaw mix I used instead of shredding my own cabbage, your slaw will develop a lovely pink hue. :)
Curtido Version 1 - makes ~1 1/2 cups
Based on this recipe with some changes
2 cups bagged coleslaw mix (red and green cabbage and carrot)
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
1/2 to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Combine the coleslaw and onion in a large bowl. Combine the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl and then pour over the cabbage mixture and stir.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and preferably at least a day before serving.
Freshly prepared curtido
Tomato Salsa (Salsa roja)
You'd think it would be a snap to find a recipe for such a simple sounding and tasting dish but you'd be WRONG. All the salsa recipes I ran across seemed to be made up of a number of different ingredients and cooked down to something that sounded like a jarred salsa. So, I went with the simplest version that I found, and then eliminated the sweet red pepper the recipe called for. I made the mistake of using a couple of hothouse tomatoes rather than the plum/roma tomatoes called for which I'll correct the next time I make this salsa. I'll probably end up using it over scrambled eggs and anything else I can think of so, this too, is a versatile dish.
Tomato Salsa - makes ~1 cup
2 plum tomatoes (hothouse tomatoes are much too 'floury' in texture)
1/2 onion, quartered
1/2 cup water
1/4 red pepper, diced (omitted)
1 tsp red chili pepper flakes (subbed in splash of hot sauce)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
Place all ingredients into a blender and pulse until liquefied. Strain through a coarse strainer if desired.
Remove from the blender to a small pot and simmer, stirring occasionally over medium heat until just bubbling. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature, refrigerate and serve slightly chilled.
If you don't feel up to the challenge of making pupusas right now, the fillings, as well as the sides, are great on store bought corn tostadas. :)
The platter below resembles what I ate out pretty closely, however, I'd read that guacamole is also a good accompaniment with pupusas so I made a small container to try.
It WAS good too. :)
Curtido
It wasn't hard to find a curtido recipe that sounded like it would do the job. In fact, I have three different versions that I plan on making my way through in the future. Luckily, the slaw can be served with fish tacos, tostadas or just eaten on its own so it's not a one dish accompaniment. And it gets better as it sits in the fridge. If you have any red cabbage in the mix, as I did in the bagged coleslaw mix I used instead of shredding my own cabbage, your slaw will develop a lovely pink hue. :)
Curtido Version 1 - makes ~1 1/2 cups
Based on this recipe with some changes
2 cups bagged coleslaw mix (red and green cabbage and carrot)
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
1/2 to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Combine the coleslaw and onion in a large bowl. Combine the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl and then pour over the cabbage mixture and stir.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and preferably at least a day before serving.
Freshly prepared curtido
Tomato Salsa (Salsa roja)
You'd think it would be a snap to find a recipe for such a simple sounding and tasting dish but you'd be WRONG. All the salsa recipes I ran across seemed to be made up of a number of different ingredients and cooked down to something that sounded like a jarred salsa. So, I went with the simplest version that I found, and then eliminated the sweet red pepper the recipe called for. I made the mistake of using a couple of hothouse tomatoes rather than the plum/roma tomatoes called for which I'll correct the next time I make this salsa. I'll probably end up using it over scrambled eggs and anything else I can think of so, this too, is a versatile dish.
Tomato Salsa - makes ~1 cup
2 plum tomatoes (hothouse tomatoes are much too 'floury' in texture)
1/2 onion, quartered
1/2 cup water
1/4 red pepper, diced (omitted)
1 tsp red chili pepper flakes (subbed in splash of hot sauce)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
Place all ingredients into a blender and pulse until liquefied. Strain through a coarse strainer if desired.
Remove from the blender to a small pot and simmer, stirring occasionally over medium heat until just bubbling. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature, refrigerate and serve slightly chilled.
If you don't feel up to the challenge of making pupusas right now, the fillings, as well as the sides, are great on store bought corn tostadas. :)
