Home Made Chilli Sauce?

[mawnansmiff]

On a thread I started a while ago seeking ways to liven up my scrambled eggs, several folk recommended sriracha sauce which until then I'd never come across.

Well I got a bottle of Tabasco Sriracha Sauce last week and really love it though it is a tad over salty in my view. I also got some Tabasco Sweet and Spicy Sauce which I really like (if a tad sweet). I intend to make a 50/50 blend of the 2 just to see how it comes out.

Up until then my preferred chilli sauce was Encona but I also like Tabasco red & green which got me thinking about home made chilli sauce.

I shouldn't imagine it would be too complicated to make, just chillies, vinegar (white pickling vinegar?) and salt. Thing is, would you macerate the chillies before pickling or would that come afterwards?

The variables would be huge what with all the varieties of chilli out there (especially so in the States), you could even add garlic, ginger and goodness knows what.

So have any of you cooks actually given this a go? If so, how did it turn out? All samples gratefully received .

Regards,

Jay.

 

[David D. Davidson]

I’m an avid hot sauce enjoyer, I make a few batches every summer with the jalapeños and habaneros I grow! My biggest piece of advice is to ferment your peppers and veggies - it adds an incredible amount of flavor. Without fermentation, I find most of the sauces I made lacked depth and complexity - they just tasted hot and sour, rather than rich and tangy.

Most professional sauces make a pepper mash and ferment that, like tobasco or sriracha, but I like to just chop up my peppers, ferment, then blend afterward.

If you’re not familiar with fermentation it can feel a little daunting, but it’s as easy as weighing some water, adding ~4% salt by weight, then leaving it in a clean jar somewhere for awhile! I highly recommend it.

The straight vinegar method can be a little lacking in flavor and it’s a bit harsh in my opinion. It’s a great deal of fun, and shockingly easy! I highly recommend. I’m an avid fermentation enthusiast - hot sauces, pickles, kimchi, sauerkraut, all are far more easy than they seem and it’s a very gratifying process to watch them ferment and taste test each week.

 

[AJL67]

Pepper Fermentation Recipe: Learn How to Ferment Any Type of Pepper

How do you make fermented peppers? What is the best salt ratio for fermenting peppers? how long to ferment peppers? With our Easy Pepper Fermentation Recipe you'll have the best fermented peppers in just 5 weeks! Learn how to ferment peppers at home.

cultured.guru

 

[captainsousie]

It's easy to make a chili crisp oil and it goes with so many things. Make a bit of it and put it on your eggs, pizza, steak, pasta, salad, etc. I'd give a recipe but I really recommend finding a recipe somewhere like youtube and tweaking it to your liking.

 

[madox07]

On a thread I started a while ago seeking ways to liven up my scrambled eggs, several folk recommended sriracha sauce which until then I'd never come across.

Well I got a bottle of Tabasco Sriracha Sauce last week and really love it though it is a tad over salty in my view. I also got some Tabasco Sweet and Spicy Sauce which I really like (if a tad sweet). I intend to make a 50/50 blend of the 2 just to see how it comes out.

Up until then my preferred chilli sauce was Encona but I also like Tabasco red & green which got me thinking about home made chilli sauce.

I shouldn't imagine it would be too complicated to make, just chillies, vinegar (white pickling vinegar?) and salt. Thing is, would you macerate the chillies before pickling or would that come afterwards?

The variables would be huge what with all the varieties of chilli out there (especially so in the States), you could even add garlic, ginger and goodness knows what.

So have any of you cooks actually given this a go? If so, how did it turn out? All samples gratefully received .

Regards,

Jay.

Jay, if you enjoyed the tabasco version I would certainly recommend Huey Phong sriracha. As far as I know that is the original, and the main difference from the tabasco is that in the original you can clearly taste the garlic.

My godson and I make our own sauce on a regular basis. We grill a bunch of hot peppers ranging from carolina reaper, blue bonnets, pepper x, habanero, etc. We peel them, chop them, and mix them with a tomato base (usually a pomodori pelati base), garlic, and aromatic herbs. As far as preservatives we use crushed aspirin. Jared in the local version of Mason jars, they can last as long as a couple of years unopened and unrefrigerated. The first couple of months it is unbeatable, as you can imagine the scovile score is off the charts. But it settles after a while, and it gives salsa or chilli con carne, for example, a great taste in addition to the extra oomph.

 

[CoffeeAndBourbon]

I’m an avid hot sauce enjoyer, I make a few batches every summer with the jalapeños and habaneros I grow! My biggest piece of advice is to ferment your peppers and veggies - it adds an incredible amount of flavor. Without fermentation, I find most of the sauces I made lacked depth and complexity - they just tasted hot and sour, rather than rich and tangy.

Most professional sauces make a pepper mash and ferment that, like tobasco or sriracha, but I like to just chop up my peppers, ferment, then blend afterward.

If you’re not familiar with fermentation it can feel a little daunting, but it’s as easy as weighing some water, adding ~4% salt by weight, then leaving it in a clean jar somewhere for awhile! I highly recommend it.

The straight vinegar method can be a little lacking in flavor and it’s a bit harsh in my opinion. It’s a great deal of fun, and shockingly easy! I highly recommend. I’m an avid fermentation enthusiast - hot sauces, pickles, kimchi, sauerkraut, all are far more easy than they seem and it’s a very gratifying process to watch them ferment and taste test each week.

^^ This. Fermented hot sauce is so much better and complex than just adding vinegar. I do several batches a year.
I recently started fermenting in a vacuum sealed bag - leaving a lot of extra bag for the CO2 to collect into. If needed, I'll cut a slit int the bag and push out some of the CO2 and then just heat seal it back again.

Works great!

 

[CoffeeAndBourbon]

Jay, if you enjoyed the tabasco version I would certainly recommend Huey Phong sriracha. As far as I know that is the original, and the main difference from the tabasco is that in the original you can clearly taste the garlic.

My godson and I make our own sauce on a regular basis. We grill a bunch of hot peppers ranging from carolina reaper, blue bonnets, pepper x, habanero, etc. We peel them, chop them, and mix them with a tomato base (usually a pomodori pelati base), garlic, and aromatic herbs. As far as preservatives we use crushed aspirin. Jared in the local version of Mason jars, they can last as long as a couple of years unopened and unrefrigerated. The first couple of months it is unbeatable, as you can imagine the scovile score is off the charts. But it settles after a while, and it gives salsa or chilli con carne, for example, a great taste in addition to the extra oomph.

If you can find it! Pepper shortage has really hurt their production.

Rumors of it going for $150 a bottle on the e-bay

 

[madox07]

If you can find it! Pepper shortage has really hurt their production.

Rumors of it going for $150 a bottle on the e-bay

Yes ... it was a bit of a shortage situation. One can find it now in Europe with ease, albeit prices went something like 40% up.

 

[orlandofurioso]

Pepper Fermentation Recipe: Learn How to Ferment Any Type of Pepper

How do you make fermented peppers? What is the best salt ratio for fermenting peppers? how long to ferment peppers? With our Easy Pepper Fermentation Recipe you'll have the best fermented peppers in just 5 weeks! Learn how to ferment peppers at home.

cultured.guru

You just made my friend very happy, thank you for the link

 

[mawnansmiff]

It never occurred to me that the peppers need fermenting. And as for using aspirin as a preservative...wow!

I'll do some web reading on the morrow. Who knows, I might even have a go at making something. I already got 2 boxes of unused Mason jars. I wouldn't be interested in making a paint stripper sauce, just one that is hot and pepper tasting.

When I used to make my own chilli con carne I'd use a mix of dried red chillies and fresh green chillies but I always added Encona sauce during cooking. If I happened to overdo it I'd just add more raw cocoa powder to calm things down a bit.

Some great tips and info guys, thanks ever so for taking the time.

Regards,

Jay.

 

[shanez]

Whether it's sauce or salsa, a tip I picked up somewhere in Mexico is to take a portion (50/50 is a good starting point) of your fresh ingredients and char them on the grill and then mix the fresh with the cooked.

If you don't have a grill nonstick cookware will work but more attention/patience is required.

 

[shanez]

Also, carrots are a welcome sauce ingredient to bring the sweet (as opposed to sugar) for enhancing the overall flavor. And don't forget about fresh lime juice!

 

[madox07]

Also, carrots are a welcome sauce ingredient to bring the sweet (as opposed to sugar) for enhancing the overall flavor. And don't forget about fresh lime juice!

I was always under the impression that the role of sugar was to reduce acidity. Carrots on the other hand .. it never occurred to me, it could give a natural sweet taste.

 

[The Amish Tyrant]

If going store bought, the Hoy Fung version of Sriracha is hard to beat. I love the heat, garlic flavor, and slight sweetness. While numerous other types of Sriracha exist, this is the gold standard and no others come close.

Slightly hotter and more of a paste, Sambal Oelek is also worth a shot. While I'm not a huge fan, the paste has its place as more of a cooking ingredient rather than a condiment.

A link to both products is here:

Huy Fong Foods, Inc. – Known Worldwide for Our HOT Chili Sauces

www.huyfong.com

 

[mawnansmiff]

I looked at Hoy Fung Sriracha Sauce on Amazon (£24 for 2x482g bottles) and it looked (contents, bottle and label) remarkably like Flying Goose Sriracha Sauce which despite looking good is according to the ingredients list packed full of E numbers though sells for a mere £11:20 for 2x730ml bottles.



I shall now delve into looking up fermentation of chilli peppers....I may be gone a while

Regards,

Jay.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

I looked at Hoy Fung Sriracha Sauce on Amazon (£24 for 2x482g bottles) and it looked (contents, bottle and label) remarkably like Flying Goose Sriracha Sauce which despite looking good is according to the ingredients list packed full of E numbers though sells for a mere £11:20 for 2x730ml bottles.

View attachment 237231

I shall now delve into looking up fermentation of chilli peppers....I may be gone a while

Regards,

Jay.

This one is crap and depending on one's consumption I advise against buying any hot sauces in large containers.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Once you taste peppers or pickles that were home fermented over some granny making them with vinegar, you will find it hard to swallow the vinegar added stuff.

I made fermented pickled green beans earlier this summer and it is awesome. It also will make someone understand the difference between vinegar added to tobacco and a bacterial fermented tobacco.

 

[mawnansmiff]

Once you taste peppers or pickles that were home fermented over some granny making them with vinegar, you will find it hard to swallow the vinegar added stuff.

I made fermented pickled green beans earlier this summer and it is awesome. It also will make someone understand the difference between vinegar added to tobacco and a bacterial fermented tobacco.

Interesting point Michael. Of the Tabasco Sriracha that I bought last week, my only gripe was the salt, to my tastes it is way over salted though perhaps that is a part of the fermentation process and if less salt was added maybe it wouldn't taste right. Thing is I have no other sriracha sauce to compare it to.

Out of curiosity, what are your thoughts on the regular Tabasco red & green sauces? I believe they both use vinegar.

Regards,

Jay.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Interesting point Michael. Of the Tabasco Sriracha that I bought last week, my only gripe was the salt, to my tastes it is way over salted though perhaps that is a part of the fermentation process and if less salt was added maybe it wouldn't taste right. Thing is I have no other sriracha sauce to compare it to.

Out of curiosity, what are your thoughts on the regular Tabasco red & green sauces? I believe they both use vinegar.

Regards,

Jay.

When vinegar is listed in the ingredients, it will tell you that it was not fermented.
I am cursed as a super taster, and hot things and things where vinegar were added overwhelm me. I would never buy a Tabasco product. But, my stepson loves it, so my wife keeps a fresh bottle for him in the fridge.
There is one pepper sauce that I like. El Yucateco chile Habanero (black label reserve). It is fermented in old whiskey barrels and aged to a deep black. It isn’t very hot, but damn if the taste just doesn't explode. Very good sauce.

But, I do make a banana pepper sauce using my own strain of peppers that have a very citrusy taste. I make a wine bottle full each year, and it adds a citrusy, pepper taste with that fermented vinegar flavor. No vinegar added. And, the heat is replaced by more of an IPA bitter. I hate IPA beers, but the flavor is sort of like that, which is way better as a sauce.

 

[mawnansmiff]

When vinegar is listed in the ingredients, it will tell you that it was not fermented.
I am cursed as a super taster, and hot things and things where vinegar were added overwhelm me. I would never buy a Tabasco product. But, my stepson loves it, so my wife keeps a fresh bottle for him in the fridge.
There is one pepper sauce that I like. El Yucateco chile Habanero (black label reserve). It is fermented in old whiskey barrels and aged to a deep black. It isn’t very hot, but damn if the taste just doesn't explode. Very good sauce.

But, I do make a banana pepper sauce using my own strain of peppers that have a very citrusy taste. I make a wine bottle full each year, and it adds a citrusy, pepper taste with that fermented vinegar flavor. No vinegar added. And, the heat is replaced by more of an IPA bitter. I hate IPA beers, but the flavor is sort of like that, which is way better as a sauce.

You hit the nail on the head there with " It isn’t very hot, but damn if the taste just doesn't explode". I think some chilli sauce manufacturers vie with each other to make the hottest paint stripper they can and don't care a fig about the actual taste.

Your banana chilli sauce certainly sounds interesting. How do you ferment your chillies? Also, do you smoke yours also?

I just added these 2 to my Amazon basket....


...they also do a 'El Yucateco Salsa Picante De Caribbean Chile Habanero Hot Sauce 120ml £6:55' which I might try.

Regards,

Jay.

Edit: I just bought all 3.