Raw Onions and Green Bell Peppers are Gross

Ok, I am just gonna be honest with ya’ll. This recipe for Chimol is basically a bowlful of onion and green bell pepper. I hate raw onion and I hate raw green bell peppers. If I eat raw onion, I taste it for days. I can brush my teeth and gargle mouth wash and it will still be there. That faint bite of onion sitting in the back of my throat, ruining every other thing I eat. With green bell peppers all you taste is a bitter vegetal flavor. It’s not delicious, it’s just blah. I will cook with them all day long. When they are cooked, they are transformed into deliciousness that I would never want to avoid. Raw though? That is another matter.

Why Eat Chimol?

So why in the world would I post a recipe for Chimol? First, I have a hack for you. Secondly, for some mysterious reason, this stuff is actually delicious. All the flavors magically combine to provide the perfect balance of flavors you need for rich foods like Honduran Skirt Steak. If you have ever had Pico de Gallo, this can be used anywhere you would serve pico. It is a great little salsa that can sprinkled on your taco, nachos, steak, or what ever sounds good to you!

An Onion Hack

So even as a raw onion hater, I have on occaison been served raw onion and eaten it if someone went through the effort of making me something they think is delicious. The least I can do is try it, right? In Spain I was astonished at all the raw onion around that did not attack my palate. I wondered for AGES what the secret was, and one day in a Fernen Adria cookbook, I discovered the secret. Soak your sliced onions in water for about 15 minutes before your add them to your dish. Its soooo simple, but it really, really works. I also find that shallots are much tastier in raw applications than onion, so I often just substitute in shallots for onion, but even then, soak those babies first!

Serve with Honduran Skirt Steak, Curtido de Repollo, rice and beans