The Mexican Condiment That Transforms Your Plain Tomato Sandwiches

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A simple recipe you shouldn't count out, the tomato sandwich is an ideal way to show off the bright, fresh, peak-of-season best from your garden. Hitting all of those high notes, this handheld snack is an umami explosion and far from boring. That being said, there are ways to enhance what many already perceive as plain perfection, one of which is by adding chamoy.

Chamoy is a spicy-sweet Mexican sauce with Asian roots that goes with almost anything. It's known for its bold, multifaceted flavor — an irresistible balance of sweet, tangy, salty, and spicy. When added to a sliced tomato sandwich, the sweet tang of the fruit is both balanced and amplified by chamoy's tart, salty flavor.

How much or how little you use all comes down to a matter of preference. Start with 1 teaspoon mixed into ¼ cup of mayo or go for the gusto and leave the mayo out completely, layering each slice of hearty white bread (toasted or not) with a hefty helping of chamoy. Just be sure to taste a tiny bit first to judge the heat level.

Versatile and vibrant, chamoy is frequently used as a dip for fresh fruit (most commonly mango, watermelon, and pineapple), making it an ideal pairing for ripe tomatoes. Chamoy is often made from dried apricots and prunes, hibiscus flowers, tamarind, and Mexican chili powder — all of which pair well with the sweetness of fresh tomatoes and enhance the experience of a sandwich that relies only on them as its star ingredient.

Some versions of chamoy incorporate the original Asian umeboshi (pickled) plums or even Mexican Tajín, the popular chili-lime seasoning. Others swap dried fruit for jams or preserves, giving chamoy a range of textures and intensities that reflect regional and personal twists, and all will mingle deliciously with the acidic and sweet flavors in tomatoes.

Although you can find a bottle of chamoy on Amazon, you can make a quick and easy chamoy sauce at home with some apricot preserves, fresh lime juice, and chili powder. After the first taste, you may want to add chamoy to all of your recipes with fresh tomatoes — from a cucumber, tomato, and onion salad to a festive chili-lime Michelada cocktail, the Mexican answer to a Bloody Mary made with beer, lime, and tomato juice.