What is an excellent HOT salsa?

Question

I am looking for recommendations for hot salsa. No, no, hotter than what you're thinking. I have a high tolerance for spice and everything in the grocery store just tastes no hotter than ketchup. I want something really hot. But, I tried some Dave's Insanity Salsa and whoa, it burned my tongue off. So we're not looking for the highest end of the spectrum. Like Pace I don't want something made in New Jersey, I want something authentic. I suspect there is a circle of small manufacturers that sell to serious connoiseurs and not to the mass market, and I suspect something "hot" from this market would work.

So here are the requirements:

1) It has to be significantly hotter than the average person would be willing to tolerate
2) It can't be sold in a mainstream grocery store
3) It can't be as hot as Dave's Insanity Salsa or otherwise marketed as hotter than anything else
4) It has to taste good, not just be hot; preferably it should be plain, no fancy flavors or twists

Disclaimer: I live in New England, which may explain why the grocery store salsas are so bland. So if you live in a place like Houston or San Diego I could be flexible on the grocery store requirement.

Thanks for the recipe. I like to cook it so it would be worth trying (assuming I can find the ingredients up here!) but let's assume sometimes I'm lazy and just want to buy it.

A Mexican store is a good idea. I'm sure we have those up here.

Answer 1

I LOVE anything spicy so I also have a very high tolerance, but obviously when it's too hot, you can't taste the original flavor. My personal choice for hot salsa is Casa Sanchez Hot Fresh Salsa. I think it is made in San Francisco (I know SF is not especially known for Mexi or Tex-Mex cuisine, but it really does taste authentic - and it's fresh). Anyway, I have found this salsa at BevMo....which is kind of a "mainstream" store, but I think they've got these stores in New England too? I also found it listed on their online website, so I assume they might ship this nation-wide? I really do think it's worth a try - I've referred several other spicy lovers to this salsa and everyone has come back ranting and raving about it. It's much hotter than grocery store brands, but you can still taste the freshness. I particularly like this salsa because it's a little chunkier than some others and has a really nice onion & garlic flavor which accompanies their juicy tomatoes.

P.S. This brand 'Casa Sanchez' also makes fresh tortilla chips which they also sell at BevMo. Some of the best ones I've tasted. It comes in either thin & crispy or thick & crispy. The thick ones are especially good, since this salsa is quite chunky.

Answer 2

I usually make a big batch of this recipe to have on hand. It's good and it's hot! I'll give you the small size, but I usually make a triple batch when I make it.

7 Jalapeno Peppers
7 Fresno Red Chili Peppers
7 Serrano Peppers
3 to 5 Habenero Peppers
5 to 7 Roma Tomatoes
1 large onion
3 to 5 large cloves garlic
Salt to taste

Directions For Making Fire Cracker Hot Salsa:

The first thing I like to do is to take the skins off the tomatoes, so I boil up some water and drop the tomatoes in until the skin splits. Take them out, run under cool water.

Next, dice up the onions and garlic in a food processor. Put into a bowl. After pulling the skin off the tomatoes, whisk them in the processor and dump into the same bowl.

Take 3 or 4 Jalapeno's, 3 or 4 Fresno Red Chili's and 3 or 4 Serrano peppers and place them on a cookie sheet. Drizzle a little oil on the peppers and roast them in the oven under the broiler, checking often, and turning so that all sides of the skins get withered or split. Place the hot peppers in a plastic bag and allow to sit for a few minutes. I usually set the bag on a towel and drape a towel over the bag to keep the heat in.

Now is the time to pull on some rubber latex gloves. I learned the hard way, and believe me, you don't want flaming hot hands!!! The pain endured all day and all night before there was any relief!!!

While the roasted peppers are sweating in the plastic bag, run the rest of the hot peppers through the processor. Notice I don't roast any of the habenero's because I don't quite like the flavor of them roasted. Also, I like to cut the peppers in half and quickly flick out as many seeds as I can. You don't have to do this, but I do it.

Next, take the roasted peppers and as best you can, pull the skin off. I also flick out some seeds. Put them in the processor and whisk. You want a nice chopped texture...kinda small but not so small it nearly turns into liquid.

I mix it all together and season with salt and taste. Usually the first chip I dip into it gives me hickups, which is a good sign for me. Keep tasting and adding salt until you reach a level of saltiness you like. If this batch is too hot, try adding a little tomato sauce. If it's not hot enough...well, it'll be hot enough.

I find that having a lot of onions and garlic in the salsa gives it great flavor. And I like that half the peppers are raw and half are roasted. This gives it a deeper flavor. I've played around with this for a few years and now whenever I go to buy the ingredients to make this stuff, I find that however many peppers I get of each kind...and I always get the same amount of jalapeno's, Fresno red's and serrano's...I get the same amount of tomatoes, too. For instance, if I buy 15 jalapenos, 15 fresno's and 15 serrano's, I'll buy 15 tomatoes and I would buy 7 habenero's. Sometimes I add a few extra Fresno red's just because I love them!

Also, there are times when peppers are hotter than usual or not as hot as usual, so because of that, I never just add all the tomatoes all at once because then your hot sauce may not be hot enough. However, if at the end of making this hot sauce and you find that it's way too hot, just add a can of tomato sauce. I've had to do this before myself.

My friends have told me I should bottle and sell this. My boyfriend loves it and guards it with his life. Until I started making this hot sauce, I never knew how delicious life could taste!

That's all. Hope you enjoy it!

Answer 3

You could try Mexigrocer.com or by anything with habenro peppers which is the hottest pepper. The habenero hotsauce is a killer. If you know of a mexican tienda (store)or supermacado(Supermarket) they will have the hottest salsa mexico has to offer. I like authentic brands like Embasa,La costena, Herdez, and La victoria. They can be hot but, I can take the heat as well but, their worth a try. Also try a green Salsa or Salsa verde they tend to be much more spicier. Hope ya find what your looking for.

Answer 4

If you are interested in making your own it is pretty simple, use cilantro, fresh tomatoes, red onion, can of stewed tomatoes. Chop fresh ingredients very fine and mix with tomatoes, then you could add canned jalapeno juice or chillies ( not much just enough to give everything a slight bath of liquid) then sprinkle cheyenne or habenero powder too taste. You can control the heat this way. Hope this helps

Answer 5

Have you tried Religious Experience Original Salsa?

Answer 6

1 pound green tomatoes ( tomatillos) peel off husk and boil in water about level with them.

about 10 dry chile de arbol toasted.

2 clove of garlic

add pepper, salt then mix in blender.

pour into a bowl and add diced onion about 1/3 small

best stuff in town, you can even add this to fried pork meat and you will love it.

this is very authentic.

Answer 7

you would be able to make salsa fresca with the aid of reducing tomatoes, eco-friendly onion cilantro, and white onion then blend in a touch salt and your renowned warm sauce. you would be able to make picante with the comparable aspects yet you will could desire to sautee the white onions in a saucepan on low warmth till they are translucent, then upload tomatoes and warm sauce and simmer till tomatoes are very delicate and soupy, do away with from warmth and upload in eco-friendly onion and cilantro. Refrigerate a minimum of a million hour. savor your yummy advent.

Answer 8

The best tasting is "El Fenix" brand. It's not hot though so you'll have to spice it up with extra ingredients. But geez is it good.

Answer 9

like others have said, make your own. Tomatoes, Jalapenos, onion, cilantro, salt, lime juice.

Simple!!

Answer 10

try it. it's made in michigan. try the "wicked hot" if you dare. if not, get "medium hot", that one is perfect.