This Pineapple Salsa is addictive! It’s a sweet, sour and spicy flavour bomb that complements many dishes, but I love it with grilled fish, prawn tacos or as shown below, with smoked meat. Sometimes I even eat it on it’s own with a spoon! I first had this salsa in a pub in London; it was served with a slow cooked streaky bacon chop. The flavours balanced so well that I went straight home and tried to recreate it and the result I got was very close!

Slow-cooked pulled ham hock, with fried quail eggs and pineapple salsa⁽¹⁾

Ingredients

Salsas are usually made up of simple finely-chopped up vegetables mixed with some herbs and oil. In this case, we only cook the pineapple slightly, just to take off the raw edge and warm it up a bit. Because there is not much that is done to the raw ingredients, it is very important to use produce of the best quality. You will not be able to get a good result with a pineapple that is not ripe, sweet and juicy.

You can try making the salsa using canned pineapple. If you do, you will need to adjust the amount of sugar you use accordingly because canned pineapple is usually stored in sugary syrup which makes it a lot sweeter. I also find that canned pineapple looses a bit of it’s tanginess so I would add a bit of vinegar to help with that.

How to choose a ripe pineapple?

As with any other fruit, pineapples get sweeter and juicier as they ripen. So when buying pineapple, you need to make sure you’re buying ripe ones; unlike bananas for example, pineapples won’t continue to ripe at home.

Colour – choose a pineapple whose outer shell is light yellow. If the pineapple is green, then it is still not ripe. If the pineapple is dark yellow or orange in colour, then it is probably too ripe and might have started to go off.
Firmness – squeeze the pineapple gently and feel it’s firmness. The pineapple should be firm but give very slightly. If it feels hard like a rock when squeezed, then the pineapple is not ripe. If it’s easy to squeeze the pineapple, then it’s likely too ripe.
Weight – this applies to most fruits, not just pineapples. A ripe and juicy fruit should feel heavy for it’s size. Pick up the pineapple in one hand and feel the weight. If it feels light for it’s weight, then the pineapple is not juicy.

Herbs

I like to use coriander/cilantro when making salsas. I find that it provides a mild citrusy and herby flavour that goes well with the sweetness of other ingredients and that I usually associate with fresh dishes. This is my personal preference but of course, any other fresh herb can be used such as basil, mint or parsley. With basil and mint, I would probably adjust the amount used because they can have a stronger and more prominent taste that can overpower the other ingredients.

Variations

There are countless types of salsas that you can try. Some are simple and quick to make, others are a bit more complex and laborious. However, you can also adjust the flavour of your salsa by making simple changes to it. Some examples:

Swap the pineapple for another fruit, for example mango or peach
Change the chili paste used to alter the flavour profile. In this recipe I used fermented chili sauce, but you can use an ají amarillo paste or a sambal olek. This will not only vary the heat of the salsa but it will also vary the flavour profile slightly
Use different herbs, as explained above. Swap the coriander for basil, mint, parsley or tarragon for example

⁽¹⁾ This combination works really well! The ham hock is smoked and salty, so the sweet and sour salsa cuts through it really well. The runny egg yolk forms like an additional sauce to the ham hock, adding some necessary moisture and richness to it 👌

Pineapple Salsa

This Pineapple Salsa is addictive! It's a sweet, sour and spicy flavour bomb that complements many dishes, but I love it with grilled fish, prawn tacos or as shown below, with smoked meat. I first had this salsa in a pub in London; it was served with a slow cooked streaky bacon chop. The flavours balanced so well that I went straight home and tried to recreate the salsa.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 15

Course Sauce, Snack

Servings 4

Equipment

1 Non-stick pan

Ingredients

500 grams pineapple, peeled and chopped into small 1cm cubes
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 small garlic clove, grated on a microplane
1 fresno or serrano chilli, finely diced try to use a red chilli instead of a green one. This will make the end result look a lot better
1 tbsp chili paste you can use your favourite chilli paste, but be careful that it does not have additional flavours or sweeteners. I use fermented chilli sauce. Sambal Oelek is also a good alternative
1 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves
salt to taste

Instructions

Sprinkle the sugar onto a small non-stick pan and spread it so that it coats all the pan surface. Place the pan on medium heat.
As soon as the sugar is melted, add the pineapple pieces and cook for 4 minutes.
Add the garlic to the pan and cook for another minute, or just enough for the raw garlic flavour to be cooked through.
Turn off the heat and allow the pan to cool slightly. Mix in the chilli paste, chilli dice and coriander. Be careful with the chilli paste and chilli dice. Depending on how spicy you want the salsa, you may need to vary the amount used.
Taste the salsa. Season with salt and lime juice to taste.
Let the salsa rest for a few minutes before serving. You can also prepare it in advance and store it in the fridge. Let it come to room temperature before serving.

Keyword salsa