“Appetite is the best sauce!” I love to prepare sauces and marinades in advance and always have them ready for various dishes. I’ll share with you some of my favorite seasonings (Aderezo o sazon in Spanish), marinades, side sauces, and salad dressings, beginning with the ones from South American cuisine, especially Peruvian style that I adore.
SERVES: 10
PREP TIME: 30 min
READY TIME: 30 min
CALORIES: 97 (per serving)
⇓ You may also listen to the recipe by pressing the play button below.
Sauce Recipe: Peruvian Salsa Madre
(As the names says it. Mother Sauce) It adds a “yo no se que” (I don’t know what) to the food. Prepare a big jar of this; it keeps in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 days.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 big red onions, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
- 1½ oil
- Salt and pepper
INSTRUCTIONS (Peruvian Salsa Madre)
1 Heat some oil in a Teflon pan. When hot, add onion and saute until golden.
2 Add the other ingredients and let it cook for 10 minutes over moderate heat. Let it cool. Buzz in the blender.
NUTRITION FACTS
Calories: 97.5Kcal
Total Fat: 10.2g
Cholesterol: 5.0mg
Sodium: 75.3mg
Potassium: 58.8mg
Carbs: 1.5g
Protein: 0.4g
VARIATION-2
Basic Adobo Sauce Recipe
It’s a basic, simple mixture that I use to season many dishes. It’s really a must in many South American dishes.
INGREDIENTS
- Tomatoes, peeled and chopped
- Garlic, chopped
- Onions, chopped
- Salt and pepper
- Oil
- Sweet peppers cut into chunks
INSTRUCTIONS (Basic Adobo Sauce)
1 Puree the tomatoes with the onion, garlic, peppers and salt and just enough water to allow the machine run well.
2 Saute in hot oil until thickened. Add some more water, if needed.
VARIATION-3
Sauce Recipe: Adobo Orange
INGREDIENTS
- 1 chopped carrot
- 1 orange colored pepper
- 1/2 tbsp of Turmeric (Curcuma)
INSTRUCTIONS (Adobo Orange)
1 The same ingredients and procedure as the basic adobo but with an addition of 1 chopped carrot and 1 orange colored pepper. Also you can add 1/2 tbsp of Turmeric (Curcuma).
VARIATION-4
Sauce Recipe: Salsita Criolla
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup sweet chili
- 3/4 cup hot chili sauce
- 1 garlic clove; crushed
- 1½ sea salt
INSTRUCTIONS (Salsita Criolla)
1 Chop everything; mix, taste and adjust, if needed. Serve at once, or let it age a day or two in the fridge.
VARIATION-5
Sauce Recipe: Salsa Criolla-1
INGREDIENTS
- 2 red onions, sliced thin
- 1 aji Amarillo, deseeded and cut very thin
- 3 sprigs parsley or cilantro, chopped
- Juice of 2 limes
- 1 tbsp wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp olive oil
INSTRUCTIONS (Salsa Criolla-1)
1 Salt the onions. After 5 minutes, rinse with cold water and drain.
2 Mix with other ingredients in a bowl and serve.
VARIATION-6
Sauce Recipe: Salsa Criolla-2 Hot
(A must in every South American kitchen)
INGREDIENTS
- 2 big red onions
- 2 big white onions
- 1 yellow or red fresh chili (aji Amarillo), veined and seeded, cut in julienne strips
- 2 bunches parsley and 1½ bunch cilantro, very thinly chopped
- Juice of 3 limes or lemons
- 1 tbsp vinegar (white or red)
- Salt
INSTRUCTIONS (Salsa Criolla-2 Hot)
1 Peel and chop the onions, tossed with salt and let them stand for 5 minutes in a bowl.
2 Rinse well with cold water. Return them to the bowl, season again with salt, lemon juice and vinegar.
3 Add the aji picante, oil and parsley-cilantro. Mix well and it’s ready.
VARIATION-7
Sauce Recipe: Salsa Criolla – 3 Mild
Same as above, except instead of the Aji picante, use sweet peppers.
VARIATION-8
Salsa Criolla With Avocado
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 cup avocado, diced
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 2 cup chopped seeded tomatoes
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (coriander)
- 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
- 2 garlic doves, chopped Salt and pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS (Salsa Criolla With Avocado)
1 Combine everything in a bowl y ya esta lista la salsa! Mmmm que rico papito!!
VARIATION-9
Jalapeno Sauce Recipe
(this is another version of the “salsa criolla” but made with the addition of green jalapenos: mix all the ingredients in the blender or food processor. We remove all the seeds and veins from the peppers (this way is not hot at all), but if you like more zip (like I do) add just 3 seeds.
VARIATION-10
Sauce Recipe: Salsita De Cebollin
INGREDIENTS
- 2 sprigs green onion, chopped
- 4 sprigs chives, chopped
- 1 green pepper, de-seeded and chopped
- 1/2 tsp olive oil
- A pinch of salt & freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 twine vinegar or any other vinegar of your preference
INSTRUCTIONS (Salsita De Cebollin)
1 In a small bowl mix everything, Taste and adjust.
VARIATION-11
Sauce Recipe: Salsa De Tomatillo
INGREDIENTS
- 1 kg tomatillos, cut in four
- 1 jalapeno chili, seeded, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 scallions, chopped
- 1 tsp fresh oregano leaves
INSTRUCTIONS (Salsa De Tomatillo)
1 Put all the ingredients in the blender and pulse to form a thick paste.