Mushroomy Scotch Bonnet Hot Sauce

This is a sweet and smoky hot sauce, inspired by a wild hot sauce that Laena tasted. You can find a version of a sauce like this in Barbados, where horseradish and scotch bonnet chilies are classic. This recipe makes 6 standard 5-oz bottles of hot sauce. The easiest place to order hot sauce bottles is on the internet, but if you snoop around there might be a bottle distributor in your neighborhood where you can get a case for cheap.

Ingredients

8-oz (1 cup, about 6) red or orange scotch bonnet peppers (you can substitute habaneros)
4-oz (1/2 cup) onion, roughly chopped
1-oz (1 tablespoon) fresh horseradish, grated
1-oz (about 4 cloves). garlic
1/4 cup tangerine juice (juice from about 3 mandarin oranges or tangerines, bottled is fine)
1 tablespoon molasses
3/4 cup red wine vinegar
3/4 cup water
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons shiitake mushroom powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika

Directions

  1. Turn the oven on to 450 degrees F, and on a sheet tray, lay out the first 2 ingredients: onion, hot peppers.

  2. Broil for about 10 minutes, until they’re all slightly blistered and soft, and peppers are bursting, turning halfway through.

  3. Transfer contents to a blender and add the rest of the ingredients: garlic, horseradish, tangerine juice, molasses, vinegar, water, salt, mushroom powder, black pepper, and pulse until desired texture is reached.

  4. Fill bottles or jars with a funnel (or your super pouring skills) and cap.

  5. Refrigerate when cool.

  6. Hot sauce should last at least 6-months in the fridge after opening. How do you know if it has gone bad? It will get moldy.

 

Laena McCarthy