Green Fermented Hot Sauce


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FERMENTATION 4EVA

Have you heard about how much I love hot sauce? Fermented hot sauce might actually be the most awesome. Explosive heat, delicious flavor, and yes, it’s good for you too—full of enzymes, beneficial lactic acid bacteria (i.e., probiotics), and vitamin C. In traditional cultures, all hot sauce was made through fermentation. Why? It's a natural way to preserve fresh food as the lactic acid produced is strong and protective, and prevents any bad bacteria that can kill us (like botulism) from developing. Did you know that some of our beloved classic American hot sauce brands are still made this way? Both Tabasco and Sriracha are fermented with the time-honored fermented hot sauce formula: chillies + salt + time. Tabasco is then aged for 3-years in whiskey barrels; I highly recommend you read the story of this product, as it's pretty cool.

PICK-A-PEPPER

What pepper variety to use? Be creative. I like a mix of Cayenne chili peppers and habaneros as they have good flavor and nice balanced heat. Scotch Bonnets are sweet, fruity (very hot), jalapenos (usually medium hot), serranos (medium hot), poblano (mild), Fresno (medium hot) and cherry bomb peppers (medium hot) are all good choices. Try the Eckerton Hill Farm booth at the Union Square greenmarket, or Stokes farm at the Fort Greene Farmer’s market on Saturdays for a great selection of peppers.

Check out my recipe for fermented Smoky Scotch Bonnet + Bourbon hot sauce, as that recipe is extra, with lots of flavor and pizazz.

This recipe is simple, beautifully green and so tasty.

HOW TO DO IT

Fermented hot sauce is made with chilies + salt + time as a base. You can make this recipe more extra by adding ginger, garlic, herbs or fruit after it has fermented.

Let’s get started. Here’s the overview of the recipe.

Start by making a saltwater brine, using 3 tablespoons sea salt per 4 cups of warm water so that you’ve got a 2% salinity solution.

A SIMPLE FERMENTED GREEN HOT SAUCE

TOTAL TIME: 20 MINUTES | MAKES APPROXIMATELY 2 QUARTS

:::: INGREDIENTS ::::

  • 1 pound fresh green chilies (such as serano, jalapeno, or habanero)

  • 4 garlic cloves

  • 3 tablespoons fine sea salt

  • 4 cups warm water

:::: EQUIPMENT ::::

  • latex or other protective gloves (you can even use dish gloves or ziplock bags, in a pinch)

  • a ziplock baggie

  • a blender

  • mason jar or crock

:::: INSTRUCTIONS ::::

THE PREP

  1. WEARING PROTECTIVE GLOVES, remove the tops from the peppers, and split them in half lengthwise.

THE FERMENTATION

  • Using gloves, tightly pack a 2-quart size mason jar with the hot peppers, leaving about 1-inch headspace. Shove in the cloves of garlic.

  • Make your brine: whisk the salt into the 4 cups of warm water until it dissolves. Pour this brine over the chiles and garlic.

  • Place a small ziplock bag filled with 1 cup of water and tightly sealed on top of the chiles and garlic so they remain submerged beneath the brine.

  • Cover with a kitchen towel and leave in a cool dark spot (such as a cupboard) for 3 or 4 days or until brine appears slightly cloudy and bubbly. The longer it sits, the funkier it will get. Don’t let it go past 7 days or it will be too funked (even for you).

  • Strain the brine and reserve it. Transfer the chiles to a high-speed blender. Add 1 cup of the reserved brine, 1 cup of fresh cilantro (omit if you don’t like the taste) and 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar to the blender, and process until very smooth. Strain the pulp through a fine-mesh sieve, and bottle.

  • Store in the refrigerator. The flavors will continue to develop and get more complex over time, and the heat will mellow. This will keep for at least 12 months in the fridge.

Laena McCarthy