The Best Damn Guacamole Ever w/ Charred Poblano, Mango, and More (Guac Nirvana)
Difficulty: 2/5 (5 being hardest)
Spice Level: 1/3 (3 being spiciest)
Prep & Cook Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 2 cups
The Challenge: Guacamole
Guacamole. Yes! This is an art form. What I am about to unveil to you is the ultimate recipe for guacamole. Are you ready?!
I told this story in my first post, but I will tell it here again. How did I learn how to make guacamole. In my college years, I worked at a Mexican chain, On the Border! It was quite an experience. My job there was to do GUAC LIVE. Essentially, I went table-to-table preparing guacamole, helping people choose the guacamole they want, and because I'm such an experimenter - I tried lots and lots of variations.
Here is what I learned. Blended guacamole might as well be in the trash. Limes are the key. Smoked poblanos for the win!
Here are my five rules to making amazing guacamole:
1. Use a fork and knife to mix it.
2. Use plenty of lime and plenty of sea salt
3. Use various textures - mango, radishes, carrots, etc. add unique textures
4. A sweet flavor like mango or tomatillo add amazing flavor diversity
5. Add avocados last, cut last, and treat last
Ingredients:
Other (crudite + more for serving)
- tortilla chips
- cucumber slices
- banana chips
- plantain chips
- carrot sticks
- pepper slices
- broccoli
- cauliflower
- radishes
Guacamole Nirvana
- 2 avocados, slightly soft to the touch but some firmness still. Not super firm and not really soft.
- 1 medium poblano
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
- 1/4 cup orange pepper, diced small
- 1/4 cup radish, diced small
- 1 medium poblano
- small handful of cilantro, chopped roughly
- 3 tbl carrots, diced small
- 1 small shallot, diced small
- 1/2 small mango, diced small
- 1 corn on cob, kernels cut off
- Pink Sea Salt, to taste
Equipment You'll Need:
Medium Fork . Medium Spoon . Cutting Board . Medium Chopping Knife . Medium Mixing Bowl . Serving Dishes . Mixing Spoons
Before You Cook:
- Wash and chop/prepare all vegetables
- Squeeze lime juice and crush sea salt into lime juice for a few seconds in medium sized bowl
1. The first main task we'll have is charring poblano. The best way to do this is carefully turn on your burner whether gas or electric and carefully set the pepper on the burner. Let it char for a minute and rotate. Use tongs to carefully rotate it from side to side until you get a blackened edge.
2. Next, add your chopped vegetables, mango, and cilantro into medium sized bowl with lime juice + salt. Mix it well and coat with lime juice. Taste and season with more crushed sea salt. You want it to taste a bit limier and saltier than you expect the final taste to be since the avocado will soak up a lot of flavor.
3. Next add your avocados. Cut down the middle and squeeze out all the flesh and pits into the bowl. Grab a fork + spoon. Reverse the fork + spoon direction as you see above. Press down and push out. Continue to do this to break apart the avocado.
4. Keep going until you have a nice chunky texture as you see above. The final step is to stir the mixture together. Push the spoon down to the bottom and bring the lime infused veggies to the top.
5. Serve guac in a nice dish with a spread of crudite. Some of my favorites are up above and provide a wonderful spread of healthy snacks to eat this treat. It is pretty tasty on its own as well.
