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FIgure Out What's In This Sauce

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The Count

I'm looking for some help figuring out what's in this sauce I get at a local taqueria.  They don't speak enough English for me to get any answer from them so I figured I'd ask you guys.  Here's what what I  know....
 
-The pepper used in it is arbol, a common dried Mexican chile.  I know because of the smell of the sauce and I happened to see them blending the soaked arbols once.
 
-There is garlic in it, I can pick out the tiny pieces of it.  
 
-There is very little or no vinegar in it.  My wife can taste very small amounts of vinegar in any sauce, and says this one doesn't have any.  
 
- It has a watery consistancy that becomes more obvious after storing it a couple days, when top gets watery and the bottom gets thicker (seen in side shot photo).
 
I really can't tell what besides arbols, garlic and water are in it.  It's isn't tomatoey or even tomatillo tasting (though most Mexican arbol sauce recipes I found include tomatillos).  It kinda the consistency of Cholula, but a bit runnier.  Any ideas?
 

 

 

 
 
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Well, to start with it could be that the sauce is nothing more than Arbols, garlic and water. Just guessing I'd bet there's some onion in it also.

Hard to believe that there's no acid in it. The Ph is going to be high so it would have to be kept refrigerated. Sounds like a sauce we used to get from a Taquirea we had near out home when we were in San Antonio. They had Cilantro in theirs though.

Good luck, now go make 2 batches one with onion and one without and see what you have. If you want a starting point try:

2 Lbs Dry Arbols
4 ounces Raw Garlic
1 med large sweet onion

Cover with water and place on low heat for peppers to steep, maybe 2 hours on low, turn off and let sit overnight. In morning remove pods to blender and blend till smooth. Add to pot along with garlic and onion and bring to a boil for 15 minutes, then reduce to a summer for 45 minutes. Blender the snot out of it again and run it through a food mill. Add reserved pepper water to get the consistency you want bottle per Making Hot Sauce 101. Taste it and place in fridge for a week then taste it again.

Cheers
 
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RocketMan said:
Hard to believe that there's no acid in it. The Ph is going to be high so it would have to be kept refrigerated. 
 
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It does have to be kept refrigerated, it will go bad quickly. They keep the container of it sitting in a food tray partially filled with ice.  They make it fresh every morning, so it can't be too complicated.  
 
And there is deffinetly no cilantro in it.
 
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That's the one thing about Cilantro if it's in there you know it :)

The recipe I gave you is a starting point. That would be for a bigger batch than you'd go through in a day. Kept refrigerated you would probably be good for a week. You can scale it back to a batch that would last you a day or 2 easy enough,

1/2 Lb peppers
1oz garlic
1 small onion (optional)

Give it a try and adjust. Might need some salt in there too.
 
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Thanks for the advice RocketMan. I gave your recipe with onions a try the other day, I only had enough arbols on hand for one batch. When it was done it still had the slightly bitter-ish taste that arbols have. So I separated a small amount and added a couple splashes of vinegar (plain white kind) and THAT WAS IT! It tasted almost exactly like it. You can't actually detect the vinegar, even my wife couldn't, but it is enough to take the edge off of the arbols. I left mine a little thicker than they do and it is perfect. Well done RockeMan!
 
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It's called salsa macha. It has arbols (rehrdrated), garlic, olive oil, sesame seeds and/or oil. Recipes may vary but that's what it is (without tasting it).

Does a pesto-like consistency of peppers sink to the bottom? Looks like it in pic #3. That's definitely salsa macha.
 
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The Hot Pepper said:
It's called salsa macha. It has arbols (rehrdrated), garlic, olive oil, sesame seeds and/or oil. Recipes may vary but that's what it is (without tasting it).Does a pesto-like consistency of peppers sink to the bottom? Looks like it in pic #3. That's definitely salsa macha.
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Yes the bottom gets thick after setting for awhile and the top is liquidy. I've never heard of salsa macha before, I'll have to check it out.
 
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