I got to make some fermented hot sauce this year using thai chiles that I grew in planters on my deck. The first sauce I made was month ago but I ended up getting a bit more peppers so I started a second smaller batch. The second small batch just finished up so I figure I would show both.
Here's the first batch, it came out very good. It has a nice subtle carrot taste with a hot kick. It is absolutely delicious on Chinese food.
2 organic carrots
4 cloves garlic
1/2 thumb ginger
1/2 red onion
8oz. bag of mini sweet peppers ( I wanted orange and red to keep the color of the sauce)
5 or 6 Habaneros
20 Thai chiles
3% brine (purified water and pickling salt)
Fermented for 2 weeks
White vinegar
sugar
*Xanthum gum to thicken( I didn't have this)
Roughly chop ingredients and add to a clean and sterilized mason jar. I left the onions in big pieces to tuck the rest of the ingredients below the brine. Onion is less susceptible to mold so it went in last. Weighed all ingredients down with a ziploc bag filled with brine. Airlock has vodka in it.
2 weeks later.
Once fermented for two weeks, vegetables were strained and brine reserved. I added approx 1/2 cup of brine and 1/2 cup of white vinegar and blended everything together. I didn't strain the pulp because it didn't make a lot. I also added a Tbsp of sugar. Sauce was 3.4 on the PH scale, but I also heated to kill the fermentation process. Taste your sauce because if you want more tang, add vinegar...saltier...add brine. After the sauce was finished, I bottled it in clean 5oz woozy bottles that were also sanitized with Star San.
Since I got a little bit more peppers, I quickly made a second batch. I just used what I had on hand, the thai chiles and garlic. I let this batch go for 3 weeks.
I decided to strain this batch. Once strained I added 1/4c. brine and 1/4c. Apple cider vinegar to the blender. I also added some raw honey, about 3T worth.
Here's it strained with the pepper mash left behind.
Here's the finished sauce. I decided not to heat the sauce this time to kill the fermentation process. Since there was such a small amount plus added honey, I'm just going to keep the bottle in the fridge to slow the fermentation process. I want to taste the sauce and see how the flavors change and develop over time.
For only having the chiles and garlic fermenting with only honey added, I must say I really enjoyed this sauce as well. It tastes a lot better than I thought it would. I'll keep the big bottle in the fridge and refill a small woozy bottle with a drip stop cap because this sauce is much thinner than the first one I made. If I had xanthum gum on hand, I would have added it to this sauce to help with separation and thicken it a bit. But it's nothing a few shakes can't fix.
Since I didn't want to waste the leftover mash, I spread the mash out on parchment paper and threw it in the dehydrator. The mash dried for about 8 hours.
Once it was dried, I crumbled it up into a jar. Here's the chili flakes it made. These were awesome, and they smelled absolutely great too!
Decided to take it a step further and grind the flakes up with fine kosher salt. I used a 1:1 salt ratio since these peppers aren't exactly hot to me. This fermented chili salt smells exactly like hot buffalo wings. You could still smell the tangy fermented peppers. This made 2 full McCormick salt grinders (I pull the tops off and reuse them)
Hopefully next year I can make a lot more. This was a fun and enjoyable project for me.
Here's the first batch, it came out very good. It has a nice subtle carrot taste with a hot kick. It is absolutely delicious on Chinese food.
2 organic carrots
4 cloves garlic
1/2 thumb ginger
1/2 red onion
8oz. bag of mini sweet peppers ( I wanted orange and red to keep the color of the sauce)
5 or 6 Habaneros
20 Thai chiles
3% brine (purified water and pickling salt)
Fermented for 2 weeks
White vinegar
sugar
*Xanthum gum to thicken( I didn't have this)
Roughly chop ingredients and add to a clean and sterilized mason jar. I left the onions in big pieces to tuck the rest of the ingredients below the brine. Onion is less susceptible to mold so it went in last. Weighed all ingredients down with a ziploc bag filled with brine. Airlock has vodka in it.
2 weeks later.
Once fermented for two weeks, vegetables were strained and brine reserved. I added approx 1/2 cup of brine and 1/2 cup of white vinegar and blended everything together. I didn't strain the pulp because it didn't make a lot. I also added a Tbsp of sugar. Sauce was 3.4 on the PH scale, but I also heated to kill the fermentation process. Taste your sauce because if you want more tang, add vinegar...saltier...add brine. After the sauce was finished, I bottled it in clean 5oz woozy bottles that were also sanitized with Star San.
Since I got a little bit more peppers, I quickly made a second batch. I just used what I had on hand, the thai chiles and garlic. I let this batch go for 3 weeks.
I decided to strain this batch. Once strained I added 1/4c. brine and 1/4c. Apple cider vinegar to the blender. I also added some raw honey, about 3T worth.
Here's it strained with the pepper mash left behind.
Here's the finished sauce. I decided not to heat the sauce this time to kill the fermentation process. Since there was such a small amount plus added honey, I'm just going to keep the bottle in the fridge to slow the fermentation process. I want to taste the sauce and see how the flavors change and develop over time.
For only having the chiles and garlic fermenting with only honey added, I must say I really enjoyed this sauce as well. It tastes a lot better than I thought it would. I'll keep the big bottle in the fridge and refill a small woozy bottle with a drip stop cap because this sauce is much thinner than the first one I made. If I had xanthum gum on hand, I would have added it to this sauce to help with separation and thicken it a bit. But it's nothing a few shakes can't fix.
Since I didn't want to waste the leftover mash, I spread the mash out on parchment paper and threw it in the dehydrator. The mash dried for about 8 hours.
Once it was dried, I crumbled it up into a jar. Here's the chili flakes it made. These were awesome, and they smelled absolutely great too!
Decided to take it a step further and grind the flakes up with fine kosher salt. I used a 1:1 salt ratio since these peppers aren't exactly hot to me. This fermented chili salt smells exactly like hot buffalo wings. You could still smell the tangy fermented peppers. This made 2 full McCormick salt grinders (I pull the tops off and reuse them)
Hopefully next year I can make a lot more. This was a fun and enjoyable project for me.
