Cómo hacer salsa verde sin motas oscuras

What does “pochar” mean in a Spanish recipe?

Pochar means to cook something gently in oil — usually onion or garlic — at low heat until it turns soft and translucent, without ever letting it brown. This cook corrects himself mid-sentence to make the point: “dorando no, pochando” (“not browning — sautéing gently”), because letting the garlic brown would leave dark flecks in his green sauce.

Dorar (“to brown”) and pochar are easy to confuse because both start with raw ingredients in hot oil, but the target result is opposite: dorar wants color and caramelization; pochar wants softness with no color at all. Knowing the difference is the difference between a clean green salsa verde and one speckled with dark motitas.