Fermented Hot Sauce

We are a spicy family, so we do big batches of fermented hot sauce every year to use throughout the year. (We generally do this in batches of 5 pounds or so at a time.) And if you have spicy people in your life, these make fun gifts! This recipe is for the red serranos to make a lovely red hot sauce, but you can make a sublime green hot sauce by using jalapenos instead of serranos, and adding 2 bunches of cilantro. Enjoy!

If fermentation is new to you, it can be a bit overwhelming or scary. The internet is full of great tips to develope a trust in your fermentation abilities. And as long as you have enough salt, it’s not going to “go bad.” Things smell really gross if they have gone bad.

1 pound serrano peppers, stems removed, chopped into large chunks

1/4 pound carrots, chopped into large chunks

1/4 pound onions, chopped into large chunks

2-3 garlic cloves

4 tsp salt

2 TBSP lime juice

2 TBSP maple syrup

splash of water

In a food processor or blender, blend the serrano peppers, carrots, onions, garlic, and salt until they are a fine smoosh. Use splashes of water as needed to make them blend up, but not too much water. Put the mixture in jars, leaving a bit of headroom on the top. Lay a lid on top of each jar. (DO NOT FASTEN THE LID! The lid just keeps fruit flies and dust out, but there needs to be the ability for air to escpape from the jar as the fermentation process happens, or else you are going to have an exploded jar at some point. I just lay a lid on top, often slightly askew.) Put the jars on a plate to collect any liquid that escapes during fermentation. Sit it in a room temperature place out of the way for about 5-8 days. (During that time you will notice a bubbling as the mixture ferments. Taste it to see if it’s done fermenting. It will have a vinegary taste and not be overwhlemingly salty. Often the very top layer can be soft or have some mold growing on it. I scoop the top layer off and discard that, and everything underneath is wonderful.) At that point, mix in the lime juice and maple syrup, and put it in the fridge. (The fridge will stop the fermentation process and keep the hot sauce fresh indefintely. We are still using some from our cooler from last year!) Many people will strain this fermented hot paste at this point to have a liquid hot sauce, and then dry the strained out solids to have dried pepper flakes. All of that sounds like too much work for me, and we love it as a chunky paste, so we don’t do that.