Salsa Criolla substitute

Substitutes for Salsa Criolla with ratios

1. 2Pico de gallo

   Different taste

   Use the same amount by volume

   Mexican fresh chopped salsa of tomato, onion, chile, cilantro and lime.

   What changes

   Best for

   grilled meat, sausages, sandwiches, when you need something from a tub

   Structurally the same idea: raw diced onion and tomato providing acid and crunch. The flavor tilts Mexican rather than Argentine because of the cilantro, the lime instead of vinegar, and usually some jalapeno heat. On a steak it still does the job of cutting the fat. To pull it toward criolla, stir in a tablespoon of red wine vinegar, a spoon of olive oil and a pinch of dried oregano, and pick out the worst of the cilantro.

2. 3Chimichurri

   Taste and texture differ

   Use about half the volume, since it is more concentrated

   The other required Argentine asado sauce: parsley, garlic, oregano, vinegar and oil.

   What changes

   Best for

   grilled steak, chorizo and choripan, grilled vegetables

   It plays the same role at the table, delivering sharp vinegar and raw garlic against charred fatty meat, and any Argentine cook would accept it. But it tastes green and herbal where criolla tastes sweet-sharp and vegetal, and it has no crunch and no tomato juiciness, so it coats the meat rather than sitting on it in chunks. Use less, because the garlic and oregano are far more concentrated.

3. 4Quick-pickled red onions

   Close match

   Use the same amount by volume

   Thin-sliced red onion steeped in lime juice or vinegar with salt.

   What changes

   Best for

   Peruvian-style salsa criolla, chicharron sandwiches, papa rellena, fried fish

   If your recipe is Peruvian, this is not a compromise, it is nearly the dish: slice half a red onion paper thin, rinse under cold water, then toss with the juice of two limes, half a teaspoon salt and 10 minutes of waiting. What is missing is the chopped cilantro and the sliver of aji limo or aji amarillo, which is where most of the perfume comes from. Add either if you have them. For the Argentine version this misses the tomato and bell pepper entirely, so it reads sharper and thinner.

4. 5Giardiniera, drained and chopped fine

   Different taste

   ¾ the volume of criolla called for

   Italian-American jar of pickled mixed vegetables in vinegar.

   What changes

   Best for

   sandwiches, sausages, grilled meat platters

   Bring the acid and the crunch, lose the freshness. Giardiniera is much more assertively pickled and often carries chile heat and celery, so the plate tastes sour and briny rather than bright and oniony. Chop it fine, drain it well, and cut it with a handful of fresh diced tomato if you have one to soften the vinegar hit. Fine on a choripan, wrong next to a delicate grilled fish.

5. 6Diced raw onion with red wine vinegar

   Close match

   Use the same amount by volume

   The stripped-back version when the onion is all you have.

   What changes

   Best for

   asado, sausages, sandwiches, emergencies

   Honestly, this is 70 percent of what criolla contributes. Dice an onion small, salt it, add a tablespoon of red wine vinegar and a tablespoon of olive oil per onion, and let it stand 15 minutes so the harsh sulfur edge mellows. The result is sharper and less sweet than real criolla, with no tomato juiciness and no bell pepper perfume, but it does the fat-cutting work correctly and nothing on the plate tastes wrong.