How to Make Rodrigo Cervantes’ Best Mexican Breakfast Condiment, Salsa Roja

This recipe is far from traditional, but it’s great with breakfast foods—sausage, bacon, eggs, toast, or tortillas. It’s a very distorted version of a ketchup, but with very few ingredients it packs in great flavour and texture. The aubergine adds a lovely smokiness and body.

Ingredients

• 1kg plum tomatoes
• Half an onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 small aubergine
• 15g árbol chilli (or fresh red chillies)
• 30ml vinegar
• 15g salt
• 10g caster sugar
  
  

Method

1. Toast the árbol chillies for a couple of minutes in the oven at 180°C.
   
2. In a roasting tray with a dash of oil, cook the tomatoes, quartered onion, aubergine, and garlic. Wrap the garlic in an aluminum foil pouch with a bit of oil to avoid burning. (If using fresh chillies, put them in the pouch as well.)
   
3. Turn the oven up to maximum and roast for 30 minutes, turning the tomatoes and onions halfway through.
   
4. You want them to blister—really blister—as the charred flavor adds a nice bitterness.
   
5. Once everything is roasted, put it in a blender with the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. (You can add the arbol with stem)
   
6. Taste and adjust seasoning. Then serve it alongside the breakfast of your choice.
   

Rodrigo Cervantes is from Mexico City, but lives in east London with his family. He is head chef and co-founder of Bad Manners. Read more of his work, including his series of Mexican recipes, on Something Curated here.

All photos by Rodrigo Cervantes.