Name: Chilean Salsa
Ingredients: 6 cloves garlic, peeled; 2 green serrano chilies or jalapeno chiles, seeded and chopped (I use one of each); 1 1/2 teaspoons Sea Salt or Kosher Salt; 6 medium ripe tomatoes, peeled,seeded,and chopped; 1 cup finely chopped sweet Spanish onions or vidalia onions; 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro; 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano; 1/4-1/2 cup Vegetable Oil; 2 tablespoons Red Wine vinegar

Why it works: Jalapeno and oregano work together. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and 253 recipes mention both. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

6 cloves garlic, peeled
2 green serrano chilies or jalapeno chiles, seeded and chopped (I use one of each)
1 1/2 teaspoons Sea Salt or Kosher Salt
6 medium ripe tomatoes, peeled,seeded,and chopped
1 cup finely chopped sweet Spanish onions or vidalia onions
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4-1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
2 tablespoons Red Wine vinegar

Directions

Make the salsa

In a mortar, crush the garlic, chile peppers, and salt and make a paste, using a circular motion with the pestle.
Transfer mixture to a serving bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.

Store

Will keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

Jalapeno + oreganotop 6% of all pairs

Aroma overlaplow

Mentioned together253 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together29,030 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Tomato + oreganotop 2% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together2,767 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Garlic + tomatotop 2% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together14,075 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Garlic + oreganotop 3% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together3,756 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Garlic: Provides the sharp, pungent aroma that defines the salsa.
Serrano chilies or jalapeno chiles: Supply the heat and fresh pepper flavor of the salsa.
Tomatoes: Add bulk, moisture and fresh acidic sweetness to the salsa.
Onions: Add sharp crunch and a sweet, pungent bite.
Vegetable oil: Adds richness and carries flavor through the salsa.
Red wine vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the flavors and balances the oil.

Flavor stand-ins for the jalapeno

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (garlic, tomato, onion, oregano, red wine, vinegar):

Thymebetter flavor fit
Basilbetter flavor fit
Cuminbetter flavor fit
Jalapenothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against garlic, tomato, onion, oregano, red wine, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.