This sauce is crack. Immediately addicting and your nose is running but you can’t stop eating it. It’s the spicy version of the ubiquitous taqueria sauce they serve in squeeze bottles. You can scale down the amount of habanero peppers, or omit them entirely. The sauce is still great.

Inspired by a recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks.

Ingredients

• 2 roma tomatoes, halved lengthwise
• 1/2 yellow onion, sliced into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
• 5-6 habanero peppers, stems removed
• 5-6 garlic cloves, skins on
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup packed dried arbol chilies (approx 8-10 chiles), stemmed
• 1/3 cup cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 tsp kosher salt

Directions

1. Turn on the broiler and place one of the racks approx 4-6″ from the broiler.
2. Line a baking sheet with foil and place the tomatoes (cut side down), onion slices, habaneros, and garlic onto the sheet. 
3. Broil until softened and blackened, approx 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. When cool enough to touch, peel the skins off of the tomatoes (they should peel off very easily) and discard. Peel the garlic.
4. Add 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the chiles to the pan, stirring constantly, and cook for 2-3 mins until slightly browned.
5. Add the water and the vinegar to a blender. Add the chiles to the blender and let the chiles soak for 10 minutes.
6. Add the peeled garlic, tomatoes, onion, habaneros, and salt to the blender.
7. Blend until smooth and no chunks remain.
8. With the blender running, slowly add 1/2 cup oil to emulsify.
9. Transfer to jar or squeeze bottle and put on everything!