Tomatillos

Tomatillos are essential to a carne asada for their high acid and refreshing flavor when transformed into a salsa. Prepping a tomatillo is pretty straightforward. The husks can be easily removed with your hands and discarded. The sticky film on the surface of the fruit comes off with a quick rinse under water. For all recipes, we recommend the marble-size milpero variety of tomatillos over the standard tomatillos, which are twice their size, for their slightly sweeter flavor and lesser water content, but the bigger ones are fine if milperos are not available. For milperos, look for tomatillos that aren’t wrinkled and that have a dark-purple leopard pattern. For big ones, look for tomatillos that don’t have any blemishes underneath the husk. They can be blended raw for an exceptionally tart salsa, boiled for a sweeter salsa, and fire-grilled or roasted for a smokier salsa.