Is my Sriracha sauce the glossy bright red of the one that comes in a squeeze bottle (the one with a rooster on it that we all know)? No, it is not, because I used a mix of green and red peppers rather than all red ones and added purple shiso to the mix. Is my Sriracha sauce flavorful and funky and fiery? Hell to the yes, it is. I am rather impressed by the final result, which makes about 3/4 cup of thick, complex, spicy sauce.
As those of you who read my first post about this know, I made this in order to use up a mess of peppers but may buy peppers just in order to make this again when I run out of it. The inspiration recipe below worked well; just make sure that you make this sauce right before taking a shower. The smell of the chilis and vinegar (though delicious) is pungent and will linger in your house, your hair and your clothes.
1 lb hot peppers (I used a mix of jalapeno, poblano and serrano but use ripened jalapenos, often labelled as Fresno Reds, or another red hot pepper if you want to achieve the vibrant red color of the bottled sauce)
2 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 Tbsps brown sugar
2 tsps salt
1/2 cup red shiso leaves (or coriander leaves would taste great)
1/2 cup white vinegar
Cut the stems off the peppers and bung the peppers in a large container (that has a lid) along with the garlic, sugar, salt and whichever herb you are using. If you prefer less heat, you can take the time to remove seeds, pith and ribs from the peppers before using them but, IMHO, this defeats the purpose of a hot sauce so I used everything (but the stems). Blitz with an immersion blender until you get as smooth a paste as you can. This will take a while. Or use a food processor if you own one and get it over with in seconds.
Cover the container with its lid and leave it on your kitchen counter for seven days, stirring once each day, pushing any pepper paste that accumulated on the sides of the container back down into the sauce.
On day 7, pour the pepper mixture into a sauce pan and add the half cup of vinegar. Bring to a boil over low heat and, once the mixture has boiled, cook for an additional 5 minutes, stirring from time to time.
Once the mixture has cooked, remove from the heat and blend again with an immersion blender (or food processor) to process into an even smoother end result.
At this point you have chunky Sriracha on your hands and can stop there depending on what uses you have for it. The final step however, is to pass the mixture through a sieve, pressing on the solids with the back of a spoon, for a smoother sauce.
Inspiration recipe. here.
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