I love all things spicy, but I think it comes with the territory of being a redhead. I always order the hottest sauce possible at restaurants and Trader Joe's jalapeno hot sauce is drizzled on even the most inappropriate of foods. To me, eggs are almost inedible without hot sauce. I almost wonder why it took my so long to make my own hot sauce... especially because I have a strange love of making my own condiments.
To make this recipe even better, it is so easy to make. Essentially all you need to do is let roughly chopped peppers sit overnight in a brine. The hardest part is simmering the peppers and waiting for them to cool. But that glorious moment that you get to taste your own hot sauce on a veggie burger (...well, that's what I did...) it's worth it. I brought the sauce to a game/"make-your-own-pizza" night with some new friends here in Seattle and it worked well on most of the pizzas that we made! I know I poured an obnoxious amount of it on the pizza I ate. But please remember, I like hot sauce on everything. There is definitely some heat to this sauce, but the actual flavor of the peppers and garlic is still able to shine through.
Homemade Sriracha Sauce
Ingredients:
- 1/2 pound red fresno chiles, coarsely chopped (I used 0.7 lb)
- 4 garlic cloves (5.6)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt (I used 1 2/5 tsp)
- 1 cup distilled white vinegar (I used 1 2/5 cups)
- 2 tablespoons palm sugar (I used 2.8 TBSP)
- Place all the ingredients except the sugar in large glass bowl, loosely cover with plastic wrap and allow to sit overnight. This brine helps mellow the heat of the peppers.
- Place the mixture and sugar in small saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool to room temperature.
- Blend with an immersion blender (or a food processor/blender) until a smooth, orange-red mixture forms. Run through a strainer and smush out as much juice as possible.
- Once refrigerated, the sauce should have the same consistency and texture as Sriracha, BUT I think it tastes better, is less salty and tastes much fresher.
