Salsa Criolla (Peruvian Red Onion Relish)

Red onions and chiles mingle with lime juice and cilantro in this crisp and fresh Salsa Criolla recipe. It's the perfect side dish for grilled meats, topping for sandwiches, and so much more. Salsa criolla is one of the most popular side dishes in Peru. It is a light and crisp dish made up of onions and peppers that are lightly seasoned with bright lime juice and fresh cilantro. It is served as a refreshing side dish, but also acts as a garnish for many Peruvian dishes. The heat of this red onion relish depends on the person who makes it. If you like a kick, add more hot chiles. If you prefer it more mild, then dial them back, or just use an orange bell pepper instead of the hot chiles. Traditionally, salsa criolla is made using red onions, aji amarillo peppers, lime juice and cilantro. With so few ingredients, this relish is really light and fresh. But, we hear you thinking, there are a lot of onions in there. There's a little trick that transformed the onions into a sweet and flavourful condiment that you could eat by the fork-full. Sweating. Typically, sweating is done when you cook onions, which is why cooked onions are sweeter and have less bite than raw onions. But, you can sweat fresh onions using kosher or sea salt (like we do in this Kenyan Tomato and Onion Salad). It is really important to kosher or sea salt the onions prior to mixing the salsa, so that they do sweat. Sweating release that potent onion bite, leaving you with crisp, sweet, and flavourful onions that create the base to this fresh side dish.

1 large red onion
1 tsp. kosher or sea salt
½ orange bell pepper
1 serrano chile
1 lime, freshly squeezed (roughly 3 Tbsp. juice)
3 sprigs fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
kosher or sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground

Cut the onion in half, then slice each half into very thin strips. Add the onion to a bowl and sprinkle with kosher or sea salt. Using your fingers, massage the kosher or sea salt into the onions to evenly distribute it. Set the onions aside to sweat for 10 minutes.

While the onions are sweating, seed and de-vein the bell pepper and serrano chile. Slice them into thin strips.

Place the pepper strips, lime juice and chopped cilantro into a bowl.

Rinse the kosher or sea salted onions in cold water. Drain them well, and pat them dry. Add the onions to the bowl with the other ingredients. Mix to combine.

Add the oil. Sprinkle with kosher or sea salt and pepper to taste. Mix to combine.

Cover the salsa and let it marinate in the refrigerator for 10 minutes before serving.

Makes 6 servings.

Cook's Notes: If you would like to use 1 fresh Aji Amarillo (veined and seeded), omit both the bell pepper and serrano chile.