Some Like It Hot

It is pretty safe to say that a day does not go by without me using some type of hot sauce.

A few days ago, the Google Doodle celebrated Wilbur Scoville’s 151th birthday with a very cool Doodle, and a cute game. Scoville was the first person to measure the heat of peppers with his now famous heat scale: Scoville Heat Units (SHU). Green bell peppers are zero SHU; jalapeño peppers rank between 1,000 – 4,000 SHU; Serrano peppers are 10,000 – 30,000 SHU; Habanero chili peppers and Scotch bonnet peppers are 100,000 – 350,000 SHU; the Bhut Jolokia, or as most people know it, the Ghost Pepper, is between 855,000 – 2,000,000 SHU (you can YouTube for hours people’s video reactions after eating a Ghost Pepper); but the hottest pepper clocks in between 1,500,000 – 2,200,000 SHU and is called the Carolina Reaper.

I digress…but all this started me thinking, why don’t I try to make my own hot sauce?

A scan of the hot sauces in my fridge showed jalapeños, vinegar, garlic, salt, water and preservatives as the principal ingredients. A quick Google search came up with a variety of recipes that all seem based on four main parts:  some type of pepper; some type of acid; some type of aromatic; and some type of salt. There were cooked versions and cold versions.

I decided to try the same basic recipe with a cold and a cooked version to see what the differences are. In both cases, I used jalapeños, white vinegar, garlic, shallots and salt. I decided to do small batches to start.

In each case,

What you need:

• 6 jalapeños chopped (de-stemmed and seeded) ELIN’S TIP: either wear gloves or be very, very careful – do NOT touch your eyes!
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 – 2 shallots (depending on size, the shallot shown above was a double shallot)
• 1/4 tsp salt (I used plain kosher salt this time)

In both cases, I did a rough chop as both sauces are then blended. The items do not have to be finely or carefully chopped.

What you do:

Cold Version – rough chop and place all items in the food processor (I used a Magic Bullet). Buzz it up until it is finely chopped. Makes roughly 250 ml (half of a 500 ml mason jar). As the cold version settled, it became less frothy and more like a commercial green hot sauce in appearance.

From left to right: ingredients; in the blender; blended.

Hot Version – add 1 tsp olive oil to a non-reactive pot on medium high heat. Add jalapeños, onion and garlic, cook for about 5 minutes until soft, add vinegar and salt, cook on medium heat for 10 more minutes. Purée in the food processor/Magic Bullet. Makes roughly 167 ml (1/3 of a 500 ml mason jar).

Top left to right: ingredients; into the pot; after cooking 10 minutes with the salt and vinegar.
Bottom: cooked version blended (right) beside the cold version (left).

Put in jars and keep in the fridge for up to 6 months.

The Verdict:

Cold hot sauce: thinner consistency, slightly chunkier, milder tasting, more vinegary, fresher tasting – would be great on tacos or oysters. The cold version will settle over time, but will still have more jalapeño pieces in the sauce.

Cooked hot sauce: thicker consistency, smoother, more heat, creamier tasting – was great on the porchetta fried rice.

The Combo:

What you need:

• 12 jalapeños chopped (de-stemmed and seeded) AGAIN: be very very careful – do NOT touch your eyes!
• 3/4 cup vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp sugar + 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt

What you do:

Add 1/2 tsp olive oil to a non-reactive pot on medium high heat, add 8 jalapeños, garlic, salt and 1/2 tsp sugar, cook for about 5 minutes until soft. Add 3/4 cup vinegar, sugar and salt, cook on medium for 10 more minutes. Purée in the food processor/Magic Bullet with remaining 4 chopped jalapeños + 1/2 tsp sugar. Makes roughly 500 ml (500 ml mason jar plus a little extra).

Left to right: raw jalapeños with the cooked mixture on top; after blending hot and cold.

The Verdict:

The combo hot sauce: smoother texture, hotter flavour, still has a vinegary punch. A nice blend of the two methods.

Coming up soon? Habanero hot sauce!