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Sekai Gohan

Llajwa: Bolivian Raw Tomato and Chili Table Sauce

Servings 4 servings

A bowl of raw, coarse red-orange llajwa with green cilantro and jalapeño flecks, topped with finely chopped white onion
Steps with photos

Ingredients

Ingredient Amount Role
Green jalapeños, large (in place of locoto) 2 Heat and a fresh green bite
Ripe red tomato, large 1 Juice, acidity and the red colour
Cilantro leaves (in place of quillquiña) a handful Grassy herb aroma
Salt to taste Brings the flavours into focus; goes in last
White onion such as Vidalia, finely chopped (optional) 1 tbsp Crunch and sweetness; only for llajwa eaten the same day

Steps

  1. 1Rinse and halve the chilies

    Rinse the jalapeños, the tomato and the cilantro under cold water and pat them dry. Put on gloves before you cut the chilies. Halve each jalapeño lengthwise. For a milder sauce, scrape out the seeds with the tip of a spoon. Leave the seeds in if you want it hot. You are ready when you have four open, pale-green halves with clean cavities.

    Handling chilies

    Wear gloves, or wash your hands well right after cutting. Do not touch your eyes or face while working with the chilies. When you open the processor or blender lid, keep your face back, because the vapour stings the nose and eyes.

  2. 2Cut the tomato and keep its seeds

    Cut the tomato into two pieces. Scoop the seeds and their juicy pulp into the small bowl. Keep this bowl, because it goes back into the sauce later. Leave the skin on the tomato. The step is done when the tomato halves are hollowed out with firm red walls, and the bowl holds a glossy pool of seeds and juice.

    Hold the seeds back

    The seeds carry most of the tomato's liquid. Keeping them out of the processor lets the chopping stay coarse. Adding them by hand at the end lets you decide how loose the sauce is.

  3. 3Pulse to small pieces

    Put the tomato halves, the jalapeño halves and the handful of cilantro into the processor. Pulse in short bursts and stop after each one to look. Stop as soon as everything is broken into small pieces and before it turns into a purée. Let the motor come to a full stop, then lift the lid away from your face. You should see a coarse red-orange mixture with visible green flecks of pepper and cilantro.

  4. 4Return the seeds, then salt and taste

    Tip the mixture into the serving bowl. Add the reserved tomato seeds and juice, a little at a time, and stir with a spoon until the sauce is as loose as you like. Then add salt last, a pinch at a time. Stir and taste after each pinch. Stop when the tomato tastes bright and sweet and the chili heat feels sharp, not flat.

    Salt at the very end

    Salt draws water out of raw tomato. Adding it after the seeds, while you taste, lets you set both the saltiness and the looseness exactly.

  5. 5Finish with onion for today's table

    If you will eat the llajwa today, scatter the 1 tbsp of finely chopped onion over the top. For any portion you plan to keep, leave the onion out. Put the bowl in the middle of the table with a spoon so everyone can help themselves. The finished sauce is chunky and moist, with white onion bits sitting on the red surface.