A few years ago I wrote about what was then our go-to recipe for an uber-fresh, simple but oh-so-good Pico de Gallo –
…The Pico last night reminded me of the first time that we tasted real, by god Pico de Gallo. It was in 1982 down in San Antonio as I ground through four years of grad school with She Who Must Be Obeyed making below poverty level wages teaching in a private girls school. We were simply too naive to know how poor we were.
Friends had showed us the humble, probably 250 sq. ft. original outpost of a now famous (some might even argue infamous) taqueria chain which started on the corner of Hildebrand and San Pedro in almost downtown San Antonio.
The story goes that after having their patio furniture stolen (everything) their first night in operation, the fledgling team decided to remain open all night thereafter. Our friends discovered that they started making their fresh Pico de Gallo and other salsa around midnight for the next day, so we began to pull change out of our car seats and couch every few weeks and head down for four tacos al carbon ($0.79 each) and a load of the ultra fresh pico after midnight.
A trip down would simply begin with a phone call consisting only of the word ‘taco’; there’d be no discussion – we’d just go.
That first taste of ultra fresh Pico de Gallo was as if we’d never tasted salsa before…
I guess we’re shamelessly simpleminded, because we’ve been coming back to our basic, fresh, damn-good pico recipe for years, and always reach for a version of it at our favorite Tex Mex joint.
That said, we find ourselves reaching more often these days for this Hot Damn Texican Pico recipe – it’s danged close to the prior recipe, but adds an explosion of herbal spice and heat with green onions, fresh jalapenos (seed and scrape the membranes to manage the heat if you must) and much more cilantro.
She Who Must Be Obeyed, who’d eat avocado at every meal if given the choice, likes to dice up a firm avocado (or two) and stir it in too.
Holy medium-rare grilled steak taco, that’s good.
I guarantee your fajita tacos will never be the same with this on the table. Git ‘er done this weekend.
3 big vine-ripened tomatoes, trimmed and diced
1 big-assed red onion, diced
8-9 jalapenos, stemmed (+/- seeded), halved-lengthwise, then sliced
8-9 green onions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
2 bunches fresh cilantro, stems removed, minced fine
2-3 limes, juiced (start with two)
1 medium, firm avocado, cut into small dice (optional)
Kosher salt to taste
A big splash of Valentina hot sauce
Combine the diced tomatoes and onion, peppers, onion, and minced cilantro in a medium bowl.
Squeeze the lime juice over, sprinkle with a fair dose of good salt and splash in some Valentina; stir well to combine.
Now gently stir in the diced avocado and let rest for 15-30 minutes.
Stir once more and go to it.
Enjoy.
