Recipe Xni Pec Salsa

CraigC

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Xni Pec (shnee pek) means "dog's nose" in the Nahuatl language (Na Wa Tel) spoken by the Aztecs. This is an extremely spicy salsa!:pepper:

Ingredients
2 to 8 Habañero peppers or Scotch bonnet chiles, finely chopped
1 large ripe tomato, cut into 1⁄4-inch dice (with its juices)
1/2 cup finely chopped white onion
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
3 fresh sour orange juice, or 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice plus 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice, or more to taste
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
1) Combine the Habañero peppers, tomato, onion, cilantro, sour orange juice, and salt in a serving bowl. Toss to mix.
2) Taste for seasoning, adding more sour orange juice as necessary.
3) Allow time for ingredients to meld.

Best served within 3 hrs.
 
@CraigC
Habaneras and scotch bonnets are WAY outside of my heat tolerance level. I understand that there is a lovely flavor - I can not get beyond the heat to enjoy the flavor.
Too much :pepper:for me.
 
Wowzers....I can get habaneros in bulk at my favorite vegetable market. Such a flavorful (but wickedly hot) pepper. Definitely going to try this.

Now, what do you mean by sour orange juice? Is it supposed to be turned a little bit?
 
Wowzers....I can get habaneros in bulk at my favorite vegetable market. Such a flavorful (but wickedly hot) pepper. Definitely going to try this.

Now, what do you mean by sour orange juice? Is it supposed to be turned a little bit?

No, there is a fruit called sour orange used in Caribbean, Cuban, Mexican, South American cooking. It's very fibrous, seedy, and you definitely don't want to eat the fruit or drink the juice straight up. You can substitute regular orange juice mixed with lime juice, but I don't remember proportions off top of my head. Craig will though.
 
No, there is a fruit called sour orange used in Caribbean, Cuban, Mexican, South American cooking. It's very fibrous, seedy, and you definitely don't want to eat the fruit or drink the juice straight up. You can substitute regular orange juice mixed with lime juice, but I don't remember proportions off top of my head. Craig will though.
Is this the same thing?
11be8485-36cb-4ffb-9147-a048186514cd_1.c02735b983ae831b59b59be9c3c9a3cc.jpg
 
No, there is a fruit called sour orange used in Caribbean, Cuban, Mexican, South American cooking. It's very fibrous, seedy, and you definitely don't want to eat the fruit or drink the juice straight up. You can substitute regular orange juice mixed with lime juice, but I don't remember proportions off top of my head. Craig will though.

Could be a bit like Seville oranges...
 
My interpretation of your excellent recipe. After some back-and-forth, I decided some time ago that a salsa was a pico de gallo that's been cooked. So, I couldn't get my mind off of cooking it, even though your recipe doesn't call for that.

I couldn't get the sour orange, and I decided not to use the orange + lime substitute, because of my recent experience with red grapefruit. So, I squeezed a grapefruit in place of the sour orange. Those are cherry tomatoes in the bowl (since I had an abundance of them for making oven dried tomatoes).

DD0CAE58-F7DF-448E-B52A-27D9A65281FB.jpeg


I went with 6 habaneros, which I seeded and stemmed first. I added garlic and half a green pepper to stretch the recipe out (as well as keeping me out of the hospital). :laugh:

5990C60D-3581-4798-9B9A-2F55C31B38A8.jpeg


Then, I coated everything in oil in preparation for grilling. But, with the temperatures dropping below freezing again, that was a no-go, so I decided on pan frying them. Having done this sort of thing before with habaneros (for a jelly), I knew to have eye protection, and to keep the room well-ventilated (and avoid inhaling anywhere near the open pot). Those are cherry tomatoes in the bowl

FB3A8DFA-8755-4BD4-9A54-21255D950CE9.jpeg


After a spin in the blender with cilantro, it went back in the pan to simmer and reduce.

B504F9F0-43D6-445F-8093-90768AAE6865.jpeg


I tried some with chips, and it was really good. Now, I wish I hadn't seeded them, though it was certainly quite hot. I settled on making tacos with a jicama shell. I recently heard of a restaurant in Mexican Town that was doing this, so I decided to give it a try. I peeled it (which wasn't easy...Jicama isn't a very cooperative vegetable), then sliced it 1-1/2 mm thick in the mandoline. What so see here is some chicken, shredded cheddar, homemade guacamole, and that glorious salsa on a jicama shell. The sweetness of the jicama really acts as a foil to the heat.

72190888-5631-4A33-8D84-4EFEAC79CAF3.jpeg


I'm not sure if the Aztecs would have approved of me using grapefruit, or cooking the ingredients. Maybe I would have been sacrificed to the jicama root god for my heresy, but I'm happy with how it turned out. Thanks for sharing!
 
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My interpretation of your excellent recipe. After some back-and-forth, I decided some time ago that a salsa was a pico de gallo that's been cooked. So, I couldn't get my mind off of cooking it, even though your recipe doesn't call for that.

I couldn't get the sour orange, and I decided not to use the orange + lime substitute, because of my recent experience with red grapefruit. So, I squeezed a grapefruit in place of the sour orange. Those are cherry tomatoes in the bowl (since I had an abundance of them for making oven dried tomatoes).

View attachment 13239

I went with 6 habaneros, which I seeded and stemmed first. I added garlic and half a green pepper to stretch the recipe out (as well as keeping me out of the hospital). :laugh:

View attachment 13240

Then, I coated everything in oil in preparation for grilling. But, with the temperatures dropping below freezing again, that was a no-go, so I decided on pan frying them. Having done this sort of thing before with habaneros (for a jelly), I knew to have eye protection, and to keep the room well-ventilated (and avoid inhaling anywhere near the open pot). Those are cherry tomatoes in the bowl

View attachment 13241

After a spin in the blender with cilantro, it went back in the pan to simmer and reduce.

View attachment 13242

I tried some with chips, and it was really good. Now, I wish I hadn't seeded them, though it was certainly quite hot. I settled on making tacos with a jicama shell. I recently heard of a restaurant in Mexican Town that was doing this, so I decided to give it a try. I peeled it (which wasn't easy...Jicama isn't a very cooperative vegetable), then sliced it 1-1/2 mm thick in the mandoline. What so see here is some chicken, shredded cheddar, homemade guacamole, and that glorious salsa on a jicama shell. The sweetness of the jicama really acts as a foil to the heat.

View attachment 13243

I'm not sure if the Aztecs would have approved of me using grapefruit, or cooking the ingredients. Maybe I would have been sacrificed to the jicama root god for my heresy, but I'm happy with how it turned out. Thanks for sharing!

How fantastic that you made the recipe (albeit with your own twist). I just love it when members do this.:happy: I'd say that substituting grapefruit for bitter orange was quite inspired.
 
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I had actually wondered about using red grapefruits as a substitute the last time we were looking for sour oranges and they didn't have any, but just didn't mention it out loud since we were going to another store anyway. Your "taco" looks great. I wonder if our sheeter attachment would work on jicama?
 
I wonder if our sheeter attachment would work on jicama?
Make sure you know how wide your attachment is vs. the jicama you decide to buy. I decided it would be a great idea to pick up the biggest root I could get at the vegetable market: wider jicama, wider tortillas, right? But, it was wider than my mandoline. I had to cut part of it to make it fit. I tried to use a sharp knife on the widest portions, but the pieces ended up being too thick.
 
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