I love a good pico de gallo. I think its delicious eaten alone with tortilla chips but it also adds the perfect flavor and acidity to tacos and other Mexican food.  Although most recipes are similar, I have a few tips to make this the perfect pico de gallo. The tricks are in the method of preparing the ingredients.

First, you want to make sure you pick the best ingredients. You will want Spanish or yellow onions that are nice and firm, no soft spots. Pick large limes, with a little bit of give when you squeeze them instead of ones that are rock hard.  Choose bright, fresh cilantro with no brown spots. Your tomatoes should be firm and vibrant red.

Okay, so now you’ve rounded up the perfect ingredients and are ready to make the pico!

First secret:  After you have removed the outside skin of the onion, slice off the top and bottom and cut the onion in half. Run both halves of the onions under cold water to rinse. This helps to take the “bite” out of the onion. You can also soak your onion in cold water to remove more of the bite, but I find rinsing works great for me.  Dice your onion small and put into a glass bowl.

Second secret (and I think the most important):  Sprinkle the entire teaspoon of salt over the onions. Using the back of a large fork or spoon you are going to smash the onion down with the salt. Do this for a couple of minutes and your onion should start to look wet and glossy. Now add your lime juice, chopped cilantro and tomatoes. Allow flavors to mix for about 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy with tortilla chips or on your favorite taco or burrito! It is also excellent on this carne asada recipe.

Perfect Pico de Gallo

1 large yellow onion diced
2 large hot house tomatoes (or your favorite tomato), diced
1 bunch cilantro, chopped finely (no stems)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 large limes, juiced

Rinse onion and dice. In a large glass bowl, add onion and salt. Using the back of a fork, smash onion pieces down, until wet and glossy. Add lime juice, pepper, cilantro, and tomatoes and stir to coat. Allow to rest for 15 minutes before serving. Taste and add additional salt and pepper as needed.