I've got a taste for hot sauces. This one has a plenitude of hot, that's fancy-pants talk for "lots of hot". However, it's not like most ordinary hot sauces. It's only mildly salty (most hot sauces should be called "salt-and-hot sauce" anyway). To top it off, it's very sweet from the peppers. So, you get a sweet, sweet burn that builds up in your mouth instad of the sharp, salty assault that most ordinary sauces provide. It will be a lot thinner than commercial sauces, since it doesn't have anything like xantham gum or other thickeners blended in. However, if you want something as hot as the sun and as sweet as all love, you'll want this.
| Ingredients | |
|---|---|
| Scotch Bonnet Peppers | 14-15, various colors |
| Bell Pepper | 1 |
| Garlic | 1 head |
| Culantro | 20 leaves |
| Ginger Root | 1 Tablespoon, grated |
| Thyme Leaves | 3 sprigs' worth |
| White Vinegar | 1 cup |
| Salt | 1 Tablespoon |
| Dry Mustard | 2 Tablespoons |
| Lime Juice | from 2 limes |
| White Vinegar | as needed (after aging) |
| Hardware | |
|---|---|
| Blender or Food Processor | |
| Chef's knife | |
| Measuring cup, liquid | |
| Measuring spoons | |
| Grater | |
| Bowls | |
| Funnel | |
| Jars | |
| Strainer | |
| Bottles | |
Bringing it Together
First things first, "culantro" is not a misprint for "cilantro". They're very different. You can often find culantro at a well-stocked Asian or Hispanic market. It's also called 香菜 (xiāngcài) or ngò gai. Remember, that's "culantro", not "cilantro". Culantro is tough and fibrous, and scotch bonnets can be dry and not very tender. I've seen similar recipies that have you toss everything into a blender and grind away. That's a great path to frustration and a burnt out blender or food processor. So, what you want to do is peel all that garlic, get rid of the thyme stems (keep the leaves), take the garlic, the hot and bell peppers, the culantro, and the thyme leaves, and give them a good chop on your cutting board.
Mix the chopped stuff and the grated ginger with the vinegar. Then blend/process gradually and in batches until smooth. Don't just stuff it all in and blaze away. You may want to re-blend/re-process until you achieve smoothness. This is not a race. You don't get better sauce for doing it faster.
After everything is nice and smooth (and in a bowl), mix in the dry mustard and lime juice. Transfer to jars and put in the refrigerator.
The Long Nothing
This is the most challenging part of the recipel. Do nothing for at least a month. Two would probably be better. That's right, nothing. Do nothing. Just let it sit, in the refrigerator, for a long time. It will change color and texture. Those are good things to happen.
And now, Sauce
After months of nothing, get the proto-sauce out of the refrigerator and pass/push it through a mesh sieve-preferably a strong one that you won't accidentally poke a hole through or rip (don't ask). The idea is to extract the liquid, which holds the flavor and leave behind the solids (but you already knew that). Dilute 1:1 (equal parts) with white vinegar. Bottle and store in the refrigerator. It's more than half vinegar, so it will keep for a very long time. If your bottles have shaker tops, it will make it even easier to use.
