Salsa de Aji Límo

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PHOTO: ROB CARDILLO
This pepper is extremely spicy, but when it’s tempered by cooking in sweet-flavored salsas, such as this Salsa de Aji Límo, the lemony taste is dynamite.

Let me begin with two warnings: Always wear rubber gloves when handling hot peppers; and while cooking them, do not breathe the steam or get it in your eyes. Hot peppers contain volatile oils that can burn sensitive skin. Having said that, the intense heat in ‘Aji Límo’ cooks out and mellows. It is one of those rare peppers that when raw is extremely hot, but once cooked it cools down and releases all sorts of intriguing, subtle flavors. The resulting Salsa de Aji Límo is a bright saffron yellow or rich pumpkin gold, depending on the sweet peppers you use. If you can the salsa in jelly jars as I do, remember that the flavor fades after about six months. You might consider freezing it in small batches, but again, do not keep it for more than six months.

Salsa de Aji Límo

Ingredients:

4 ounces fresh ‘Aji Límo’ peppers, seeded and chopped
8 ounces any sweet yellow or orange pepper, seeded and chopped

  • Published on Feb 1, 2006
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