Salsa is one of the most versatile dishes that can be experimented with easily. Most salsa ingredients are exotic to Mexico but chefs all over the world tweak the recipe to incorporate the local flavor. I have seen wasabi paste being added to salsa in Japan and the result was surprisingly delicious! If you don’t get some of the ingredients to your salsa recipe, you could always try out substitutes without compromising on the flavor.
Tomato is the only ingredient in salsa that you cannot compromise with. Ideally, use freshly chopped tomatoes but if you are short of time, canned tomato is a good substitute. While using fresh tomato, retain some of the juice separately in a cup as this will come in handy later. Next, add finely chopped red onion. If you don’t like red onion, use white onion or shallots. You could even add a pod or two of minced garlic if you like the flavor. Normally, more than one type of pepper is used in salsa but if you like a milder, tangier flavor, stick to jalapeno. Else, chop up some peppers with their seeds removed. Follow up with salt and any other seasoning in your recipe. Try mixing the seasoning with the tomato juice retained earlier and then pouring it into the salsa, to merge the flavor better. Finally, if you cannot find cilantro (which is a herb also known as coriander), use curled parsley as its flavor is almost identical to that of cilantro.
