The Quick Tip For Avoiding Watery Pico De Gallo

Pico de Gallo, also known as salsa bandera, is a tasty, often healthy, snack that pairs well with tortilla chips. It can also be a side or addition to a Mexican dish like tacos. Think of pico de Gallo as a cousin to salsa. It's made entirely of vegetables, including tomatoes, onions, and hot peppers.

Pico de Gallo means "beak of rooster" in Spanish, though no roosters are involved in the preparation process. Its name is supposedly derived from the idea that you'd eat it with two fingers that, when pinched together, resemble the beak of a rooster. It originated near Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and was reportedly prepared by the Aztecs. It dates back thousands of years.

Today, we see it as an easy, refreshing snack, though it does take a bit of a technique. If you prepare it improperly, you might wind up with overly watery pico de Gallo, and nobody wants that. The secret lies in the tomatoes. Make sure they're drained and salted, which will help eliminate the water.

When it comes to your pico de Gallo's water level, it all depends on how you prepare the tomatoes. The key is to salt your fresh tomatoes prior to putting the pico de Gallo recipe together. That's because the salt will help draw water out of the tomatoes. Once that salt has been drawn from the tomatoes, you can mix the tomatoes with the rest of the vegetables and won't have to worry so much about a watery mixture.

Once the pico de Gallo is made, you can store it in the refrigerator for up to a week and a half. However, water from the mixture might start to pool as it sits. So in order to continue avoiding a water dish, make sure to drain the mixture each day. Add a bit of lime juice, too, to keep the mixture as fresh as possible as it ages.

Pico de Gallo and salsa are made with many of the same ingredients and are often eaten the same way. However, the main difference between the two is in how the vegetables are prepared. Pico de Gallo is made with fresh vegetables that are chopped — but not too finely. It's chunky with little water, so it's less of a sauce than salsa.

Salsa, on the other hand, is made with vegetables that are either finely chopped or placed in a food processor or blender to make the mixture minimally chunky. Plus, whereas pico de Gallo is made with fresh vegetables, salsa can be made with either fresh or roasted vegetables or only made from hot peppers. It depends on the flavor you're after. Fresh salsa can taste quite similar to pico de Gallo, though roasted salsa will have a smokier flavor. Both are usually served as either an appetizer with chips or alongside a Mexican dish.