Tejocotes are already an essential ingredient on Noche Buena for Ponche Navideño, so I had to make them the star for my new Salsa de Noche Buena. These fruits go great with the roasted green and red chiles (Christmas style if you’re from New Mexico) of fresnos and serraños to form a delicious chunky salsa on Christmas Eve.
If you are not familiar with tejocotes they are also known as Mexican Hawthorn fruits and provide a sweet taste from their high pectin content. They have large dark seeds in the middle, which explains why it is also referred to as the “stone fruit” in Nahuatl (texocotl.) Make sure to remove the seeds from the tejocotes when using them. Those seeds would be detrimental to chew or swallow. Tejocotes are typically grown in the mountains of Mexico and Guatemala.
I was very excited to find tejocotes at the Rillito Farmers Market in Tucson, which inspired me to create Salsa de Noche Buena. It will be a great appetizer to serve before eating tamales and drinking Ponche Navideño on Noche Buena with my family.
INGREDIENTS
8 tejocotes, roasted & seeded
3 fresno peppers, roasted & seeded
3 serraño peppers, roasted & seeded
¼ red onion, roasted
3 epazote leaves
3 mint leaves
½ orange juiced
1/8 tsp pepper
¼ tsp salt
DIRECTIONS
Start by roasting the tejocotes, chiles, and onion over the stove on medium-high heat for five minutes until lightly roasted. After they have finished roasting, let the ingredients cool for a couple minutes before cutting.
First, take the tejocotes and cut them in half. After removing the seeds, slice the fruit into small bite-sized pieces. Next, cut off the stems and remove the seeds from each of the chiles. Then slice the chiles as well as the onion into small strips. Place each of these diced ingredients into a bowl.
Next, cut the epazote and mint leaves into small pieces with shears or a knife. Add the cut herbs, salt, and pepper to the dish. Pour the orange juice into the bowl and mix thoroughly before serving the salsa.
Sunday Salsa 