This serrano tartar sauce definitely an American fusion! Modern day tartar sauce rooted in French steak tartare recipes. The French tartare sauce is coarsely chopped beef with a chunky mayonnaise sauce. Named after the Tartar people of Mongolia, who the French considered “rough” at the time, the French tartare sauce approximately translates to “rough sauce.” Although there is some evidence that it was inherited from Medieval and Roman delicacies several millenniums prior.
Today, most Americans have dropped the French “e” in “tartare” and tend to associate it more with fish and chips than steak. I like to add dill. Dill is a Mediterranean herb that’s part of the celery family. It comes from the the Norwegian word, “dilla,” meaning “to soothe,” and has been widely used for medicinal purposes.
I personally associate tartar sauce and dill with a southern potato salad recipe at a barbecue. So, when I make tartar sauce, I add a lot of dill and hot peppers. I also tend to grow a lot of dill in the summer and have to constantly prune it back and a good fish and chip recipe is both delicious and practical! Albeit not the healthiest thing in the world.
Living in Wisconsin, it’s practically a right of passage to obsess over fish and chips every Friday night. But, instead of doling out anywhere from $15 to a small fortune for what inevitably always looks like mayonnaise covered fish sticks, we like to make our own at home. Using an air fryer, instead of a deep fryer, also shaves off a few precious calories and trips to the gym.
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What to Make w/ Serrano Tartar Sauce
Tartar sauce is quintessentially for fish fries. I almost never think of it for any other purpose. My new favorite thing has been to make it with burgers. Although you can mix and match the peppers and other spices to fit your personal taste and culinary style.
This serrano tartar sauce adds a bit of a kick to a classic tartar sauce with the addition of serranos and roasted garlic. You can certainly omit the serranos and substitute unroasted garlic for a simpler recipe. I'm also quite fond of the subtler flavor or shallots, but yellow or red onions work just fine as well! It's an easy recipe to mix and match what you have on hand or to match your own culinary style and taste preferences.
For this recipe, I already had roasted garlic in the fridge. I tend to roast a couple of heads of garlic every couple of weeks just so that I already have it when I need but. To recreate this, you follow my Roasted Garlic Recipe. It takes about an hour and requires a head of garlic, olive oil, and a garlic roaster or aluminum foil. Otherwise, use half the amount of unroasted garlic.
Make Tartar Sauce
Mince all of the produce and mix all of the ingredients together.It's that simple! Just mix and voila! It can help to mix all of the wet ingredients first and then stir in the pickles, serrano, and shallot. But this is all personal preference.It can also help to refrigerate for an hour to let all of the ingredients settle. But mayonnaise and pickles are already refrigerated, so it should be pretty cold already! Just make sure not to over spice if you're letting it sit as the spices will permeate and become more pronounced over time.
Tips, Tricks, & Notes
If you're making tartar sauce ahead of time, let it sit in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours before adjusting the seasoning. It will take time for the salt, pepper, garlic, etc. to permeate the mayonnaise. They will be significantly more pronounced after refrigeration than they are initially.
This means that it can be very easy to overdo it on the seasoning, so it’s better it act with caution and add more later if it’s still necessary. I have a tendency to do this with garlic and onion, especially. If you’re like me and you tend to go to far in this aspect, adding more lemon juice and mayonnaise tends to balance it out. But it helps to save yourself the hassle and just add less to begin with!
Unless you’re a very diligent mincer, this is going to be a rather chunky tartar sauce. If you’re going for less of a rustic consistency, you can purée all of the ingredients in a food processor.
It's quite easy to change up this recipe and put your own spin on it. A lot of tartar sauces include capers, parsley, tarragon, eggs, and/or mustard. Some fanciful tartar sauces are even known to use crème fraîche, instead of mayonnaise.
For a slightly less bad for you recipe, you can substitute full fat mayonnaise for an olive oil or vegan mayonnaise variety. However, let’s be real here, nothing about a mayonnaise-based dish is ever going to be good for you! In these cases, I tend to call the whole meal desert and make a mental note to try to fit an extra workout in. Although that is likely more wishful thinking than anything else! After all, there is definitely something to be said for indulging in some good food from time to time.
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