Homemade Sauce for Your Mexican Cooking – It’s Easy and Versatile

 If you only master one sauce let this be it.

I was born in Brooklyn, and moved to California when I was 13. California was great. Sunshine, suburbs, beaches, mountains and Mexican Food. Back then, only the states that bordered Mexico had tacos, burritos, tamales, quesadillas, and all the other wonders of south-of-the-border cooking.

I remember the first taco I ever ate. It was at Aunt Joan’s house. She was the family taco maker. Between my brothers, cousins and the adults there were about 15 of us sitting in Aunt Joan’s kitchen. 

This was my introduction to the best food since my Grandma’s spaghetti, or Mom’s fried chicken

I became a Mexican Food Super Fan

I ate in many chain restaurants and in all the “Mom & Pop out of the way Mexican places” I could find. A few years stationed in

Coronado led me to some great finds. I remember introducing my son to Lydia's a fantastic family restaurant.  
 They were closed that day; having a private family party, but after telling my story they let us in and fed us in the back of the kitchen. I met these wonderful people twenty years before. They pretended to remember me, but ..... well they had thousands of former customers.  I think they were just nice and happy that I had such great memories.

I also spent a lot of time in in towns on both sides of the border tasting and trying the foods. Going a little further into Mexico I discovered that although tacos and burritos were great, Mexican Cuisine went far beyond those dishes.

One Common Denominator Was The Sauce

The heart of the foods greatness was in the sauce. Whether it was in a pot simmering for hours or some fresh ingredients sautéed for a few minutes. The sauce took the food and made it into a meal.

Grandpa’s Mexican Sauce

If you are a world-renowned Chef of Mexican Cooking this recipe is probably too easy for you. But for the family cook, who wants to improve your Mexican Cooking, it's truly a winner

Works with Mexican Food, Tex-Mex, Aussie-Mex, EU-Mex or California-Mex

It is a variation of a family recipe that we  used on Huevos Rancheros. But by making a few changes you can use it to make a great sauce to compliment many dishes.

For Huevos Rancheros, or topping a Mexican Omelette leave it with the chunkiness of the chopped onions and chillies.

The chunky style would also be great to add to pulled pork, beef or chicken to make a Mexican Pork, Beef or Chicken. Any of them would  make a great taco, burrito or a super addition to a quesadilla.

If you puree the sauce in a blender it makes a great tasty enchilada sauce or a wetting/flavour agent for bean and cheese burritos.  Let your imagine fly.

Take a Step to Mexican Food Greatness

Watch This Video of This Sauce Being Made

Notes about the ingredients:
Ancho Chilli is a dried Poblano Chilli. It is milder than a Jalapeno, but brings a hearty, smoky, almost sweet taste. They are available in Australia from speciality stores or on line. I’ll have some info on where to purchase at the bottom of the post.

Our taste favours the mild over the hot so I don’t use too much chilli, but you can always add more or use a hotter variety. Don’t be scared to experiment.

The chilli powder: many of the recipes we see in Australia are from the US. What we call chilli powder here is different than in the US.  The US chilli powder is a blend and is much milder.
Here is a link for how to mix your own US Chilli Powder.

Grandpa’s Mexican Sauce

½ of a long Ancho Chilli – seeds removed and rehydrated

1 cup of  red roasted peppers - (capsicum or bell peppers)
                                             I often used the ones in a jar 

1 medium diced onion

2 cloves of crushed garlic

1 ½ tsp of American chilli powder (if using Australian chilli powder use less)

2 to 3 tsp oregano

2 or 3 TBS of tomato paste

1 can chopped tomatoes 400g or 14 oz

1 cup of water

Splash of Worcestershire sauce

Salt & pepper to taste

Sugar to taste (0 – 3 tsp) if sauce seems too tart.

Additional(s) to suit family's taste
At the end of cooking add some fresh cilantro or coriander

Adjust chilli to suit, but if you are leaving out powder add a like amount of paprika

If you want additional heat consider jalapeno or chipotle chilli.

Click to see the sauce on Grandpa's Huevos Rancheros

Some sources of Ancho Chilli in Australia

Herbies

 Herbie's Spice - Ancho Chili Page

Herbie's is an Australian business. Established over 25 years ago they offer a great range of hard to get spices. In fact it the even have file gumbo powder. That is a pretty hard spice to find and important in Cajun Cooking.

Fireworks Foods

Fireworks Foods - Ancho Chili Page

Remember, when you make it yourself you know what is in it and it is almost always better for you than what comes off the shelf.