Who's got the best one?

I've been making Chef John's guac recipe for the past few years. To be honest though, while good, it's a bit labor intensive. I'm looking for one that I can whip up easily and that is REALLY good.

Whatcha got?

To me the most key ingredient in a good guac?

SALT

lots of salt

Those avocados are so bland on their own and the lime juice and salt are crucial.


I won’t hesitate to salt guac that I think needs more.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: PASig,

I just use avocado, garlic, lime juice and salt and everyone loves it.

I fine chop a little sweet onion and a tad of tomato minus the seeds and use garlic salt instead of regular if available. Been doing it that way for almost 50 yrs.

Here’s mine:

Avocados mashed just a little with a fork

Hand-shredded lettuce

Tomato diced

Onion diced

Salt

Pepper

A little hot sauce

Lime juice (almost forgot)

Served with blue corn chips

The recipe on a can of Rotel diced tomatoes and chilis is quite good.

OldMick's recipe (above), with a bunch of crushed garlic added, will work fine. I can live without the lettuce.

Fresh garlic, diced green chili, diced tomato (peeled if you like) some finely diced hot pepper depending on how much heat you like ranging from jalapeno to habenero or scotch bonnet or ghost. Lemon or lime, a bit of cayanne or chili powder if you like.

I process with a pastry blender.

Seven replies and no mention of cilantro? That's a fairly critical ingredient. Stuff like this is why I have no faith in Mexican food outside of California.

Avocado
Onion
Cilantro
Lime
Garlic
Salt

Optional: jalapenos

Tomatoes if I want to bulk it up for scooping with chips.

Mashed Avocados
Chopped onion
Diced fresh tomatoes
Chopped jalapeños
Salt to taste

Everything mentioned by Aeteocles in his post above. I seed the jalapeño, don’t want to bite into one of those seeds. I use finely chopped red onion, cilantro and chopped tomatoes. No garlic in this dish though.

Chopped fresh tomatoes
Finely chopped red onion
Cilantro
Chopped, seeded jalapeño
Avocados, several, lightly mashed
Salt
Lime juice

Yum.

Red onion and tomatoes. I like those ideas.

For a quick and easy guacamole, I use salt, black pepper, lime juice and a little sriracha.

Pico + Avocados = Guacamole.
Simple as that.

Onion
Tomatoes
Jalapenos
Cilantro
Lime Juice
Salt + Pepper

Depending on how smooth you want the Guac you can blend or crunch the Avocados accordingly.

YMMV

Instead of salt, use what the Mexican's use, Tajin...or, the Trader Joe's knockoff.

Otherwise:
lime juice
cilantro
white onions
jalapeños

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Seven replies and no mention of cilantro? That's a fairly critical ingredient. Stuff like this is why I have no faith in Mexican food outside of California.

Y'know, there are other border states with large Mexican immigrant populations.

As a Texan soon to be moving to southern California, I am looking forward to seeing how southern California Mexican food compares to Tex-Mex (which isn't exactly Mexican food from Mexico, but done right is pretty tasty) and south Texas Mexican food (which is pretty much the same as what you get in the part of Mexico on the other side of the Rio Grande).

I'm not sure how I will cope if I can't find a good barbacoa place.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
Pico + Avocados = Guacamole.
Simple as that.

Onion
Tomatoes
Jalapenos
Cilantro
Lime Juice
Salt + Pepper

Depending on how smooth you want the Guac you can blend or crunch the Avocados accordingly.

YMMV

Interestingly, I know several first-generation Mexican immigrants who put diced avocado in their pico (maybe 1/4-1/3 of the total solid volume of the recipe - no mashing involved), and think it isn't really pico - or at least is a poor excuse for pico - if it doesn't have avocado in it.

In a different direction, growing up, we had a Salvadoran housekeeper who made pico all the time with what I think of as the usual ingredients, but all finely minced rather than diced as I see virtually everywhere else.

quote:

Originally posted by maladat:

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Seven replies and no mention of cilantro? That's a fairly critical ingredient. Stuff like this is why I have no faith in Mexican food outside of California.

Y'know, there are other border states with large Mexican immigrant populations.

Almost 20% of the population has the gene that makes cilantro taste like soap and they just don't like it.
But I agree that guacamole should have cilantro in it.

quote:

Originally posted by maladat:

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Seven replies and no mention of cilantro? That's a fairly critical ingredient. Stuff like this is why I have no faith in Mexican food outside of California.

Y'know, there are other border states with large Mexican immigrant populations.

As a Texan soon to be moving to southern California, I am looking forward to seeing how southern California Mexican food compares to Tex-Mex (which isn't exactly Mexican food from Mexico, but done right is pretty tasty) and south Texas Mexican food (which is pretty much the same as what you get in the part of Mexico on the other side of the Rio Grande).

I'm not sure how I will cope if I can't find a good barbacoa place.

Like you pointed out, Tex-Mex is influenced by those regions which border the Rio Grande.

SoCal Mexican, and really all throughout CA, the Mexican food representation, is much broader in influence. Not only is the Baja coastal culture is strong, which is lighter and more seafood focused (you see this more around San Diego-region) but, very heavily represented by dishes from Jalisco, Oaxaca, Michoacan and Guerrero. You'll even find a handful of Yucatan/Mayan-gems with their distinct dishes. While you'll likely miss your familiar Tex-Mex, you'll also get a much broader array of food options from our southern neighbors. Of course, all my friends who are Mexican background, all lament they can't find a good place here in Estados Unidos, but they do have their favorites

White onions over red.

I'm looking for the sharpness and crunch without adding fragrance or sweetness.