Comments on: What’s in the Sophie’s Cuban Green Sauce?

By: sophie’s sauce in vancouver

sophie’s sauce in vancouver — Mon, 16 May 2011 20:33:46 +0000

[...] What's in the Sophie's Cuban Green Sauce? | Midtown Lunch … Apr 16, 2009 … Inspired by this post on the Serious Eats: New York forum, I emailed Sophie's Cuban to find out what … [...]

By: What is the recipe for the green sauce at Sophie's in NYC? - Quora

What is the recipe for the green sauce at Sophie's in NYC? - Quora — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 01:47:59 +0000

[...] Gordon • Insert a dynamic date hereHmm that's true. Maybe check this midtown lunch post: http://midtownlunch.com/2009/04/…I'm sure if you dig around, you can find a mayo-less recipe which is prob closer to what [...]

By: Milanes Pernil Pork Shoulder « Lunch « ME SO HUNGRY – FOOD BLOG & REVIEWS

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 03:30:57 +0000

[...] in the Latin American Restaurant’s lean roast pork. But seriously both need to put out some Sophie’s green sauce and the world would be a better [...]

By: trehey

trehey — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 21:53:06 +0000

I just read the Sophies website and saw that they have some Peruvian influences. I immediately thought of the green sauce at Pio Pio (UES and 34th St.). Hot damn! I gotta give it a go making aji. I live in CA now and miss both Sophies and Pio Pio.

There is another place on E 7th and 1st that serves latin food and has crazy good sauce. Small place that expanded about 2 1/2 years ago.

By: Mamacita

Mamacita — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 20:40:48 +0000

HA!! DDR you were wrong! No mayo!

I can now eat with a clear conscious. ;-P

http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2009/04/sophies-cuban-green-sauce-mystery-solved.html

By: Monique

Monique — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 19:17:27 +0000

Tyler beat me to the crack reference.
Green sauce really is like crack.
“tu Casa” in Kew Gardens has amazing green sauce and the food is superb!

By: JoeR

JoeR — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:20:57 +0000

The sauce photo from the link in the first post looks like the sauce that they give you at Crisp, doesn’t it?

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oyr4gT0RaQQ/SZ8rI_R6lQI/AAAAAAAAANM/2CDT8p1Q7f0/s400/DSC_0244.JPG

By: wayne

wayne — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:53:54 +0000

Not the first time Mamacita has pretended she hates white viscous goo.

And yet she’s always back for more….

By: Justin

Justin — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:07:13 +0000

Lookes like links are truncated on yelp…

http://www.boston.com/ae/food/articles/2007/05/23/aji_verde_yucatan_green_sauce/

http://soulfusionkitchen.blogspot.com/2006/10/peruvian-green-sauce-aji.html

http://www.recipelink.com/mf/3/10303

looks like the one posted about perufood.blogspot.com has become invite only

also more info here…

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/509782

By: Justin

Justin — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:03:16 +0000

I wrote this on Yelp a long time ago…
I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS STUFF!!!

http://www.yelp.com/topic/new-york-cuban-green-sauce#VOZQZc5RH3_DgqyIjSmSxA

I love this stuff and also eat spoonfuls when I go to sophies.

First it is definately not mojo. Mojo is citrus flavors and garlic. To be strictly authentic, you’d use the acid juice of the sour orange (naranja agria), a fruit that looks like a green bumpy orange but that tastes more like a lime. Sour oranges can be found at Hispanic markets. Fresh lime juice mixed with orange juice makes an acceptable substitute.
None of these flavor profiles seem to be in Sophie’s sauce.

I have done a decent much of searching online for recipes for this sauce and haven’t come up with much in terms of Cuban cuisine. I had the sauce in two places in queens before I had it at sophie’s. Pio Pio in woodside, and randomly at a Chinese place, also in woodside. The chinese place had rotisserie chicken and plantains to catered to the latin crowd in that neighborhood.

The first ingredients I guessed were guacamole, jalapeno and black pepper, some cilantro, and possibly vinegar. I also noticed it separates when it sits, so there is probably water in it. When I first started trying to figure out the recipe I wouldn’t have guessed mayonnaise, but the more I started looking around on the internet the more I figured out it possibly could. I would guess sophie’s version doesn’t have mayonnaises.

So this is what I found searching around the internet:
It seems to be related to and/or a variant of Peruvian’s Green Aji (which sometimes has fet in it), and/or also a Yucatan Aji Verde

See a couple different recipes and you can pick the one you like best (closest to sophies is soulfusionkitchen)

http://www.boston.com/...
http://soulfusionkitch...
http://perufood.blogsp...
http://www.recipelink….

I’m serious about sauces!
Enjoy!!!

Justin:)

The green aj that you find in the US seems to be slightly variant based on availability of ingredients. In peru they don’t seem to use jalepeno, but since is more readily availible in the US it used as a substitute. Another ingredient that can also be used is huacatay, or what in English is called Black Peppermint.