Inspired by Don Pepe Taqueria in Fresno, this fiery salsa and cooling guacamole accompany hearty shrimp tacos; but you can use the two sauces to add dimension to any taco night.

Ingreadients:

•  5 chiles de árbol, stemmed and seeded
•  ¹⁄₄ cup boiliing water
•  5 plum tomatoes (4 cored, 1 minced)
•  4 cloves garlic (half peeled, half minced)
•  2 serrano chiles (half stemmed, half minced)
•  ¹⁄₃ cup cilantro, roughly chopped
•  ¹⁄₄ tsp. sugar
•  1 small white onion, minced
•  Kosher salt, to taste
•  2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
•  1 ripe avocado, peeled, pitted, and mashed

Direction

1. Make the salsa: Heat a 12″ skillet over medium-high. Cook chiles de árbol until lightly toasted, 1–2 minutes, and transfer to a blender; add water and let sit 10 minutes. Meanwhile, cook 4 cored tomatoes, unpeeled garlic, and stemmed serrano, turning as needed, until charred all over, 8–10 minutes; transfer to a plate and let cool. Peel garlic and seed serrano; transfer to blender with charred tomatoes. Add half the cilantro, the sugar, half the onion, and salt; purée until smooth and set salsa aside.
2. Make the guacamole: Stir minced garlic, tomato, and serrano, the remaining cilantro and onion, the lime juice, avocado, and salt in another bowl; cover guacamole and chill.