Have any of you ever heard of Salsa Lizano? It's a brand of sauce (not hot or spicy nor like a Mexican "salsa") made in Costa Rica. I first discovered it when I visited Costa Rica, where it is VERY widely used, but found that it is also sold here in Honduras (even in sizes up to a gallon!). It IS available in the States through certain specialty or ethnic stores, so you'd just have to do a little searching around.
The sauce has a very different flavour, since it has (translating the ingredient list from Spanish):
It is absolutely delicious, and I especially like it with pork. Here's about one of the simplest recipes one could find, but that has scrumptious results:
Chuletas Encebolladas (Onion-Smothered Pork Chops)
(This is for one. Multiply as needed.)
1 Pork chop
1 Large onion, sliced
Salsa Lizano to taste
Olive oil and/or butter for frying
That's all there is to it, but that is how they serve it at the little hole-in-the-wall "restaurants" in Costa Rica.
When I visited my parents, recently, I took some Lizano with me and made this for them. When I talked with them on the phone the other day, they told me they had just made it again. It's so ridiculously simple, but everyone loved it. Of course, as with so many things like this, the secret is in the sauce, and the Lizano sauce really does have a unique, delicious flavour. I hope you are able to find some and give this a try.
The sauce has a very different flavour, since it has (translating the ingredient list from Spanish):
- Water
- Sugar
- Salt
- Onions
- Carrots
- Cauliflower
- Cucumbers
- Spices
- Acetic acid
- Chiles
- Modified food starch
- Vegetable protein
- Sodium benzoate
It is absolutely delicious, and I especially like it with pork. Here's about one of the simplest recipes one could find, but that has scrumptious results:
Chuletas Encebolladas (Onion-Smothered Pork Chops)
(This is for one. Multiply as needed.)
1 Pork chop
1 Large onion, sliced
Salsa Lizano to taste
Olive oil and/or butter for frying
- Heat a large, non-stick pan, and add butter and/or oil.
- Add the sliced onions and cook slightly.
- Move the onions to the perimeter of the pan, add the pork chop in the middle.
- Put salsa Lizano onto the chop and into the onions.
- Cover and cook for a few minutes (depending upon thickness of chop).
- Stir the onions, turn the chop over, and put a little more salsa Lizano onto the chop.
- Cover and cook for a few more minutes, until the chop is done.
- Plate the chop, then stir the onions around to make sure the sauce is mixed evenly, and dump them right on top of the chop.
That's all there is to it, but that is how they serve it at the little hole-in-the-wall "restaurants" in Costa Rica.
When I visited my parents, recently, I took some Lizano with me and made this for them. When I talked with them on the phone the other day, they told me they had just made it again. It's so ridiculously simple, but everyone loved it. Of course, as with so many things like this, the secret is in the sauce, and the Lizano sauce really does have a unique, delicious flavour. I hope you are able to find some and give this a try.
If blueberry muffins have blueberries in them, what do vegan muffins have?