Salsa de Aguacate Estilo Tijuana
Salsa de Aguacate Estilo Tijuana·(sahl-sah deh ah-gwa-kah-teh es-tee-loh tee-hwa-nah)
Chapter 1 — Salsas & Sauces: The Foundational Layer
This is the bright green, luxurious sauce you find in squeeze bottles at the best late-night spots in Los Angeles or roadside setups in Baja. In Mexico City, taqueros often fake this by blending Mexican squash with oil to save a few pesos—a brilliant hustle known as falso guacamole. But in Tijuana, the rules are different. Carne asada demands real, unapologetic avocado. Unlike our rustic, molcajete-crushed table salsas, this recipe absolutely requires a high-speed blender to shear the avocado fat and lightly simmered tomatillo pectin into a velvety, tightly bound emulsion.
Before you start
Plan ahead for perfectly ripe avocados.
Supermarket Hass avocados are often sold rock hard. Buy them two to three days in advance and let them ripen in a brown paper bag on the counter. Under-ripe avocados will yield a watery, grassy salsa.
Ingredients
- tomatillos1/2 lb
- serrano chiles3 med
- white onion1/4 med
- garlic2 large
- Hass avocados2 large
- fresh cilantro1/2 cup
- fresh lime juice2 tbsp
- water1/2 cup
- coarse sea salt1 1/2 tsp
Method
- 01
Place the tomatillos, serranos, onion, and garlic in a saucepan with just enough water to cover them and bring to a gentle simmer.
Watch them closely. The moment the tomatillos shift from a bright, vivid green to a dull, muted military olive—usually about five to seven minutes—pull them off the heat. If they burst, they become waterlogged and bitter, which will ruin the texture of your emulsion.
- 02
Transfer the simmered vegetables to a blender using a slotted spoon and reserve a half-cup of the hot cooking liquid.
Blend these aromatics on medium speed until smooth before introducing the delicate avocado.
- 03
Scoop the avocado flesh into the blender along with the cilantro, lime juice, sea salt, and the reserved cooking liquid.
Hold onto those avocado pits; you will need them for storage.
- 04
Blend the mixture on high speed for a full minute until it transforms into a completely unified, velvety sauce.
If it is too thick to run smoothly off a spoon, add cold water a tablespoon at a time until it reaches the consistency of heavy cream. Taste it for salt, keeping in mind that cold avocado drastically mutes seasoning.
- 05
Pour the finished salsa into a squeeze bottle or storage container and drop the reserved avocado pits directly into the sauce.
This is an old taquero trick. Combined with the acid from the tomatillos and lime, the pits help hold that shocking, vibrant green color for up to three days in the fridge.
Notes
Respect the American Taqueria Canon.
This salsa isn't a dip for tortilla chips. It is a structural component engineered to heavily blanket a half-pound of charred carne asada on a double-warmed corn tortilla.
Save your money with the Falso Guacamole hustle.
If avocados are exorbitantly priced, you can replicate the Mexico City taqueria trick: boil one medium Mexican squash (calabacita) with the tomatillos and emulsify the mixture with a quarter-cup of neutral oil in the blender instead of avocado.