[HN Gopher] How to make fermented hot sauce (2021) ___________________________________________________________________ How to make fermented hot sauce (2021) Author : Kaibeezy Score : 186 points Date : 2022-08-16 18:06 UTC (4 hours ago) (HTM) web link (www.seriouseats.com) (TXT) w3m dump (www.seriouseats.com) | bitwrangler wrote: | I make sauerkraut in an old clear Costco nut container, the kind | with the large mouth on top and a threaded lid. Any plastic | container with a large lid works. | | On a kitchen scale, place the container and then reset tare | weight to zero out. Add cabbage previously chopped using a food | processor, then add a little (about 1/4 cup) spring water (not | tap water) and stir in 3% by weight of kosher salt. Leave it on | the counter for two weeks and release the lid some to let out | gas. Use clean spoon and stir it a couple times over the two | weeks to keep it mixed. The bright green cabbage turns more tan, | then move it into the fridge. | | Toss it onto some on salads or sandwiches, etc. It is one of the | easiest healthy yummy things to make. | short_sells_poo wrote: | Why does the salt have to be kosher? | bitwrangler wrote: | mostly to avoid any iodine which could interfere with the | fermentation process. I suppose one could use pickling salt | too. Maybe regular table salt is fine, but that's what I use | since I keep it on hand. | scrumbledober wrote: | It doesn't, but kosher salt is a lot easier to work with. | Kaibeezy wrote: | Is it Diamond Crystal or Morton's in the recipe? That's a | big difference in NaCl. | cp9 wrote: | if you are measuring by weight rather than volume they | contain the same amount of sodium | unwind wrote: | Isn't 3% by weight always right, even if you get there by | shaving chips from a giant rock salt crystal or whatever? | Kaibeezy wrote: | Ah, right! So many recipes! | Turing_Machine wrote: | Koreans use a similar coarse-grained salt to produce | kimchi, for much the same reasons. | kazinator wrote: | The "corn" in "corned beef" refers to coarse grains of | salt. | hnfong wrote: | The added iodine in non-kosher salt probably affects | microbiological growth in | undesirable/unpredictable/unexpected ways. | [deleted] | selectodude wrote: | In North America, the coarse salt with zero additives is | called "kosher" salt because the Jews used it to brine meat. | It's generally approved by a Rabbi but even if it weren't | actually Kosher, it would still be called kosher. | _whiteCaps_ wrote: | Some salt (table salt) has additives like iodine or anti | caking agents that you don't want in your ferment because it | will cause it to be cloudy (or even more cloudy). | | There's also some people who claim the iodine will inhibit | fermentation, but studies have shown that it doesn't have | much of an effect [1]. | | 1 - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S07 | 400... | selimthegrim wrote: | I think it just has a discoloring effect. | nick__m wrote: | Kosher salt contains an anticaking agent. My box of Morton | Kosher salt list Salt and Yellow Prussiate of Soda | (anticaking agent) and so does my box of Windsor Kosher | salt. | Turing_Machine wrote: | Kosher, in this sense, describes the texture of the salt | (coarse-grained), not necessarily that the salt is kosher in | and of itself (though it usually is). | | It's used for producing kosher meat. | mvcalder wrote: | Here's a tip, you can remove chlorine from tap water by | spinning it for a minute in the blender. Then it won't | interfere with fermentation. | uxamanda wrote: | Never heard this, nice tip! I just leave it out overnight if | I am removing chlorine. | agitator wrote: | You can also boil water to remove chlorine. Stove or electric | tea kettle works. | alphalima wrote: | A slightly different beginner lacto ferment is turnip + beetroot | "pickle". 9 parts turnips, 1 part beetroot, 2% salt of combined | turnip + beetroot + water, all by weight. | | Super tasty, not spicy, can be done in 5 days, fermentation kicks | off quickly due to sugar content in beets so you get quick | feedback. | WaitWaitWha wrote: | Growing up and till today, we ferment our excess vegetables. | | I will have to try hot peppers as I have never done them. | | We use a small piece of home made bread on the bottom of the | primary jar. It works every time. | nolroz wrote: | Wow, this is cool to hear. Do you use any vegetables at all? Is | there a particular flavor you are going for or just anything | goes? | | Do you leave it chunky like a Kimchi? Do you make a sauce out | of it? What do you serve it with? Do you put the veg in a salt | water brine or just pile it in the jar with the bread? | joshu wrote: | i have six different kinds of chilis fermenting right now. it's a | lot of fun and the results can be spectacular. also you can put a | bit of dried chilis in there to add a bunch of lovely smokiness. | | i do lactofermentation in a vacuum bag. it works very well, just | need to put a pinhole in it before it explodes. | sbf501 wrote: | I started making fermented hot sauce during COVID in 2020. | There's a fancy grocery store near me that sells scorpions, | ghosts, and reapers, as well as burdock, tamarind, mango, etc. I | usually fermented for a week, and I've tried longer with little | difference. I made an entire spreadsheet full of recipes that I | tried, but ultimately I thought the fermented sour flavor | overwhelmed everything. So, I started making them without | fermenting, but with a little cooking to help break down some of | the fruits and veggies and blend the flavors, and suddenly | everything tasted 10x better. I was surprised, because for some | reason I got it in my head that hot sauce _must_ be fermented, | when that 's totally not true. Anyway, my $0.02 on fermenting | hotsauce. | chefandy wrote: | The fermentation slows down after a few days so the difference | between one and two weeks isn't huge but the difference between | a week and 4 months is significant. Consider that | Worcestershire sauce is mostly fermented onions and fish... | It's amazing what a couple years of aging can do. Also, there's | no reason your final product can't be a mix of both! Get the | best of both worlds. | agitator wrote: | Yeah was going to say the same thing. I've been making | kombucha for a while, and I have a process down where at the | final stage I blend kombucha from various fermentation stages | to get the mix of tartness, sweetness, fruit flavor, and | alcohol content I'm looking for. | | It doesn't need to be binary. You can always mix cooked sauce | with fermented to get the flavor profile you are looking for. | hardwaregeek wrote: | It's so fun to ferment stuff! Yogurt and sauerkraut are good | starter ferments. Kimchi too. With hot sauce make sure to wear | gloves and try to remove the pith and seeds. In my experience it | can make the sauce quite bitter. | uxamanda wrote: | Agree, it is fun :-) Kefir is even easier than yogurt once you | get the grains. | wjnc wrote: | Any tips to calm an overly cautious mind for food based | tinkering like fermentation? My rational part understands that | with a proper recipe and clean work there's no more risk than | from a random food locality and still ... when I was young my | mom was a cooking enthousiast and a great cook and she landed | in the hospital with a nearly lethal food poisoning one day. | That has probably shaken my senses for the more adventurous | cooking like fermentation. | Tomte wrote: | Fermentation is pretty much safe. Make sure you get two | things right: | | 1. Salt. You want at least 2% by weight (vegetables and | water). Recipes differ, up to 5-ish %, just follow the | recipe. | | 2. Anaerobic. No need to fear opening the jar every now and | then, but submerge the vegetables in the brine and don't stir | the brine much when you open the jar (to taste it, for | example). There may be white fungus on top where the brine- | air line is, but that's benign. Just skim it off. | | If you make sure those two conditions are met, lactobacilla | (and yeast) will out-compete everything else. Especially | everything dangerous. | weaksauce wrote: | Fermentation can be safer than raw veggies actually. just | make sure you have 2%+ brine by weight of the veggies and the | water and you should be ok. keep the ferment in a cooler to | let the lacto bacillus do their thing at optimal | temperatures. | | if there is stringy/fluffy mold then your ferment went south | and you should throw generally to be on the safe side. if | it's more brain like white folding without wispy bits you | should be ok to just skim it. (kahm yeast is harmless | generally) | | if you are really paranoid you can buy some pH strips to see | if the lacto bacteria got the veggies down to the proper pH. | botulism is basically impossible for a setup like this as | long as you are following the basic guidelines and not trying | to do some weird canning/fermentation setup. (botulism needs | low competing bacteria[aka improper canning where you kill | off all the good bacteria and leave the botulism spores], low | salinity [more canning], anaerobic environment[technically | this can happen in a ferment since the outgas from the | bacteria is co2], and finally non-acidic environment[the | lacto bacillus makes it an acidic environment pretty | quickly]) | | there's also two schools of thought to letting it be or | pushing down. some people push the ferment down under the | brine every day until it gets established and some people let | it go until they taste it however long it that takes. the | first camp think that by doing that you push any potential | contaminants down under the brine where it can't reproduce | that well so there is never any big problem. the second camp | just take the chance that they were clean enough to not | introduce any molds (but there are molds in the air) | | the other thing you can do to help is to make your own co2 | blanket by mixing baking soda and vinegar and then pouring | the co2 over the open jars. Be careful not to splash any of | that liquid into your brine though! (similar to how you blow | out a candle in science class). I've tried it and it seems to | help but i'm not 100% convinced it is required. | tsumnia wrote: | Agreed! I picked up brewing kombucha over lockdown and its been | a fun vehicle for trying out flavors you won't see in stores. | I've made watermelon mint, lychee, mango carolina reaper (it | took 2 attempts to get the heat right), and even attempted a | bloody mary that went horribly wrong. | mindcrime wrote: | _mango carolina reaper_ | | You are God to me now... | | OK, not seriously, but that _does_ sound amazing. I love | mango and I love hot peppers, including Carolina Reaper, so | that sounds like something I should try. | tsumnia wrote: | When I make it I use 1 carton of Goya Mango Nectar and TWO | reapers. Let that simmer in a pot for 20-30 minutes. Let | the mixer come to room temp and mix with your kombucha brew | before moving to second fermentation. It'll give a | noticeable burn, but the mango counters it nicely. Don't be | tough with the peppers, those TWO go a long way. My first | attempt I did six because I had no gauge and it felt like I | was drinking sandpaper. | | When reapers are out of season, you can substitute with 6 | habaneros. Same level of heat (maybe a bit less), but | slightly different flavors since reapers and habaneros' | fruity flavors are different. | knodi123 wrote: | Have you had this? | | https://queenmajestyhotsauce.com/products/queen-majesty- | scot... | | Seriously my favorite hot sauce of all time. It would be | easy to let the scotch bonnet overwhelm things, but it's | such a nice balance, it's only considered a "medium" heat | overall. | jonnycomputer wrote: | When fermenting pickles and peppers, mine always end up being too | salty; I tend to want to error on the side of being too salty to | make sure its a safe ferment, but then I have to soak the pickles | in potable water until they aren't too salty anymore. I'll get it | right someday. | | I suspect that using volume measurements instead of mass might be | part of the problem. | Ironlikebike wrote: | If it's hot in the kitchen (I ferment on the counter so I don't | forget about the ferments), I ere on the side of caution and | use quite a bit of salt. After a few days I taste the brine. It | should be starting to sour. If it's clearly too salty, I just | add a bit of fresh water to the crock, taste again, and repeat. | | I taste it every day and refrigerate the ferment once it's at | the right sourness. | bitwrangler wrote: | I would suggest using a kitchen scale to weight the food (minus | the container weight) and then add in the 3% of salt (or | whatever percent you want). Using the scale made all the | difference for me with getting the consistency and flavor. good | luck! | MrMetlHed wrote: | Two of my most used and most useful kitchen tools are a | Thermapen and a digital scale. Just being able to measure | accurately makes all of the difference in cooking just about | anything. A cup of flour or a teaspoon of salt can weigh very | differently depending on how tightly packed or how fine the | grain is, better to be exact and not risk screwing everything | up. | nbk_2000 wrote: | I love Thermapens! I've been looking for an equally well | built kitchen scale. Have any recommendations? | bobthepanda wrote: | Salty fermentation products are good for stir fries or soups | where a little goes a long way, and you can dilute with other | ingredients. | powersnail wrote: | Using volume measurement for salt is a bit problematic, because | different brand of salt come with different sizes. A teaspoon | of finer salt might be twice as heavy as a teaspoon of coarser | salt. It's not always easy to find out that ratio between your | salt and the one used by the recipe author. | nomel wrote: | I wonder if the gasses could be sampled and monitored, or maybe | some spectral analysis of the fluids, to find if undesirable | biological activity were happening? | bagels wrote: | I use litmus paper to test acidity of the brine. Usually ends | up around 3.0-3.5 ph. | | Also monitor smell, bubble formation (good) and watch for bad | colors (white, black, green mold on top), browning of | ferment, especially near the top (bad) | hahamrfunnyguy wrote: | I make a lot of fermented food. This guide complicates things a | bit. You don't really need an airtight container with a | fermentation lock. The easiest thing to do is just keep a layer | of brine above the top of whatever you are fermenting. I use | mason jars of all sizes and flip the lid over backwards and put | the ring on loosely. This allows any gas to escape and keeps | contaminants out. | uxamanda wrote: | Your method works, but to make it easier to keep the food below | the brine, I put a tiny bowl (like you'd use for spices when | prepping) inside the mason jar to push things down while still | allowing it to bubble. Cover with a piece of cheesecloth and a | rubber band. | | Food below the brine is key, it will mold otherwise (as I've | learned the hard way...). | LesZedCB wrote: | you can also get glass fermentation weights that are made to | fit inside the mouths of mason jars. we've had good luck with | those. | | other nice simple one is the silicon nipple looking covers. | just screw it onto the mason jar and it self burps | uxamanda wrote: | Yes for sure, I need to upgrade my system at some point. | Another one I've used is a ziplock bag partly filled with | water. I don't love the idea of plastic in fermentation, | but it has worked in a pinch. | slimsag wrote: | Look at e-jen containers, they're for kimchi normally but | I use them for fermenting tons of things. They're great. | dendrite9 wrote: | I wish that worked for me, I've found there are folds in | the bag that seem to be good starting points for | mold/infection. Unfortunately I'm not certain what in my | process caused this, after a few tests I decided it | wasn't for me. | eth0up wrote: | Nipples are dandy, but one overlooked and very simple, | effective method is a foodgrade plastic bag (sandwich, | ziplock) placed over the mouth of the jar and held on with | a rubber band. The flexibility of the rubber band allows | gas to escape and if paranoid about the top layer, a leaf | or more of cabbage (or something else) can help press the | desirable layer beneath the brine. I've found that after | 10-14 days the leaves become unappealing but do not affect | anything beneath. Note: I ferment in Florida, with the AC | rarely below 80f unless such occurs naturally. I have | learned to increase the salt and decrease the time when the | temp is above 77f. | tylersmalley wrote: | The Noma Guide to Fermentation mentions using a vacuum-sealed | plastic bag. I find this much easier to manage. You will only | need to "burp" the bag by cutting a corner off, releasing the | air then re-sealing. | bagels wrote: | Can also use a zip lock with water in it, just squeeze air | out of the corner. | LesZedCB wrote: | how do you reseal after you cut off a corner? | crygin wrote: | An impulse sealer bar, like you'd use to seal the vacuum | bag originally. | tylersmalley wrote: | The vacuum sealer uses heat to seal special bags. You re- | seal the same way you seal it originally by placing the | part of the bag with a corner cut off in the machine and | turning it on. The bag will get a bit smaller each time, | but even for long ferments I don't need to do it more than | 1 or 2 times. I just make sure to size the bag originally | to account for it. | spelunker wrote: | Question for fermentation hot sauce aficionados: my Anaheim | peppers are doing great in my garden and I have far more than I | know what to do with; Anaheim are pretty mild, so are they even | worth making a hot sauce out of? | nbk_2000 wrote: | If it's the flavor you like, and just want to add heat, you can | augment the heat with a high scoville neutral chili. I've done | this before by adding habanero or high scoville cayenne after | the ferment is several days in. | hahamrfunnyguy wrote: | I'd say so if you could figure what you wanted to put it on. It | would be sweet and sour instead of spicy. I bet it would be | good on meatloaf. Maybe you want to slice them up and just have | them as pickled peppers. You could also make pepper ketchup or | relish. | bagels wrote: | You can still ferment them to preserve. Will make a sweeter | sauce that would still make a nice condiment. | uxamanda wrote: | It's always fun to mix peppers when fermenting. Could add a | couple habaneros if you wanted heat! I also sometimes char half | of them to get a smoky flavor. Just make sure some are raw so | that it ferments. | LesZedCB wrote: | kombucha is also REALLY good and pretty easy! and once you scale | up a little bit you can have basically as much kombucha as you | want for mere pennies. way better than the $/bottle at the | grocery store or costco. | onychomys wrote: | I use this system [0], which is basically foolproof and is easy | as pie. The end results are amazing. Right now I have two jars of | blended up hatch chiles (with onion, garlic, carrots, and 4% salt | by weight) on the counter, probably two more months to go on | them. It's a super fun way to make food. | | [0] https://nourishedessentials.com/products/the-easy-fermenter | enviclash wrote: | I love carrots pikcled and fermented, what makes them so | special? | 01100011 wrote: | Made some last year using fresno chilis, garlic and onions. It | came out great but had a tendency to go right through me. I threw | some in a pot and boiled it briefly and now it doesn't cause any | issues. I'm guessing the fermentation bacteria were warring with | my natural flora. Anyway, try this if you have similar issues. | ksaj wrote: | I just opened one 2 weekends ago. I bought a kit (because of the | really nice bottles), but then ignored the instructions and found | significantly better recipes online. First time I've fermented | one, and it came out gloriously. | | I'm proud of the result because it tastes nothing like other hot | sauces I've had (and there have been very many!), but also | doesn't taste the least bit strange or out-of-place. I expected | it to taste like Tabasco, but it came out more like Hunan because | of a much darker flavour. | | I also make regular hot sauces with fruits and herbs that I | forage from the neighbourhood. My current dipper is a slightly | smokey medium heat made with morita, cascabel and guajira | peppers, plum-like damson fruit and some wild mint that I | lovingly call "ditch-mint" because that's where I found it. It | would probably work fermented, but I've only tried fermenting | once so far. | | Once you get the connection with how certain ingredients alter | the taste and texture when combined, you can pretty much wing it | as you go. The more complex, the better. There is a balance, and | you quickly learn flavourful vinegars / citrus, and sweeteners | (brown sugar/honey/maple) will balance out just about any amount | of spices and herbs. It's very rewarding if you like hot sauces, | dips, marinades, etc, and the results will pretty much always | make you feel like an old pro. | wackget wrote: | Which better recipe did you follow? | ksaj wrote: | I literally Google Image surf and choose one that looks good. | Then I use it as a guide so my ingredient portions would be | reasonably correct. I also tend to stay reasonably faithful | to the spices used, since that's where a lot of the | characteristic flavour besides the pepper itself comes from. | I don't follow them entirely faithfully since I use | ingredients from my garden and from the neighbourhood. Like | the Damson I used - those are like little black plums. But | literally any fruit even remotely like them will work. | | For example, I didn't have enough wine vinegar for my most | recent dipper that I mentioned, so I mixed what I had with a | little cooking rice wine with about 1/8 cup of sherry, and | then added less salt than was originally called for since | cooking wine tends to already be salty. And it came out quite | yummy. | grigri907 wrote: | Care to share some links to your favorites? | ksaj wrote: | I don't keep them around since I mainly use them more for | inspiration. But the non-fermented dipper I mentioned was | based on the one here: https://plantedandpicked.com/habanero- | plum-hot-sauce. | | Pretty much the only thing I really stick to verbatim is the | spices and some of the herbs. And I use the recipe volumes | (tsps or cups or whatever) to gauge what I need to do to | ensure the finished sauce will be recognizable and balanced | appropriately. | rdudek wrote: | Do you have a recommendation on a kit to use? | ksaj wrote: | Not really. I literally only bought this because I was | interested in the bottles that came with the kit. Well, I | looked because I'm interested in the subject, but I bought it | for the bottles because they are nicer looking than what I | was using prior. The kit came with a sampling of different | types of dried peppers, so I'm using them for things as well. | | If you want to go for a kit, find one with several types of | peppers. There is a lot of variety in flavour and heat | levels. I mentioned cascabel, for example... they're not | particularly hot, but instantly make you think "Mexican!" | when you taste it. Even with kits, you still have to buy all | the other ingredients, so I think it is actually better to | just go that route and use ingredients you already have or | buy with groceries. | | If you are going to ferment, I did use a water bubbler that I | got from a wine brewing place. They are not expensive, since | they are simply clear plastic valves and a rubber sealing | ring. I've seen them for super cheap on Wish dot com even. I | don't use a pH tester (although I may in the future), but | after 2 weeks, just taste it. You'll know if it is ready | because it'll taste very different than how it tasted when | you bottled it. Chance of it still fermenting after 2 weeks | is nearly zero anyway. At least that's the general consensus | I read online, and it worked out that way for my first | attempt. | nomel wrote: | > but then ignored the instructions and found significantly | better recipes online | | How did you compare them? | prichino wrote: | He did a peer-reviewed, double-blind study with 1000 test | subjects over the course of 10 years. | ksaj wrote: | The included recipes were of the "introductory level" type | that would of course be passable, but devoid of any | complexity. I've made enough sauces now that I can make a | pretty good guess on how it'll turn out with various | ingredients. | tschwimmer wrote: | This is obviously a well-researched and well written article, but | I do disagree with one of the food safety recommendations the | author makes. About mold, they say "Mold is another issue. If you | see green, blue, black, or orange mold growing on the surface of | your ferment, you don't always have to throw it out. Just scrape | it off if the growth isn't extensive." This may seem like | reasonable advice, but in fact the visible mold is merely the | fruiting body. The roots (I believe they're called mycelium) of | the mold grow down into the substrate (in this case your hot | sauce). I can't speak to the health effects of consuming the | mycelium vs the fruiting bodies, but it's not sufficient to just | scrape off the surface. | ubercore wrote: | Every ferment has some level of mold in it, though. As do most | air cured meats. | mewse-hn wrote: | If you consider yeast a type of mold then sure | ssnistfajen wrote: | It depends on the texture and density of the fermenting | food/substrate. In some cases such as hard cheeses the mycelium | doesn't penetrate very deep which means the mold part can be | cut off and the rest is still reasonably safe to eat for anyone | who isn't immuno-compromised. | | Although generally if there's unintended mold on home made | fermented foods it means something went wrong in one of the | preparation steps e.g. acidity too low, moisture too high, | something was exposed to air instead of submersed in brine. | Many Chinese language Youtube tutorials on fermented chili | sauce also suggest thoroughly wiping the inside of the | container with high ABV spirits before adding the mixture. | [deleted] | eushebdbsh wrote: | mold is bacteria not fungi | l33t2328 wrote: | I'm curious if you're just misremembering or if there's some | particular reason you say that. | imaltont wrote: | No, mold is fungi. Some of them even contain anti-bacteria | properties (penicillin). | twelvechairs wrote: | Sauces are hard to get right in small batches. A good | demonstration for me was Epicurious YouTube series on 'expert | guesses cheap vs expensive' for various foods. The one for hot | sauce [0] is basically the only one in this series where the | 'expert' often preferred cheaper items to the more expensive - | basically as some of the small batch ones werent as carefully | flavor balanced | | [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVRl8VzQMQM&t=1 | shaburn wrote: | This place has really exceeded its reputation as bastion of | intellect. | enviclash wrote: | Fermentation shepherd here. I fusion India's and America's spicy | tradition with my alioli-romesco-paella EU background. Thus a | suggestion for the article: Add curcuma with the cumin, and | ginger and cardamom with the garlic. | | My latest work is habanero-arbol-carrot-cauliflower pickle with a | complex spice mix, smashed and fermented two more days. Somehow | carrot & chili fermented sauces make us happy ;) | Kaibeezy wrote: | Curcuma is turmeric, yes? | enviclash wrote: | Exactly, online you can find dry root chips or cut the dry | roots into chips, then smash them with the coffee grinder, it | will taste 10x better. | nbk_2000 wrote: | I find carrot based fermented sauces very versatile as well. | Yum. | sva_ wrote: | This is funny to see, since just yesterday I randomly stumbled | upon this HN contribution[0], which discusses an "open sauce" | fermented chili sauce[1]. | | [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17540401 | | [1] https://github.com/aweijnitz/recipe-el_fuego_viviente | jamal-kumar wrote: | In Central America, most restaurants and bars serving local food | makes their own "Chilero" - it's pretty much a fermented hot | condiment which often has more whole pieces of ingredients that | aren't just chiles, such as various sliced/diced vegetables and | quite often cabbage. It's something like a hot sauerkraut a lot | of the time and very easy to make in a variety of spice ranges - | but if it's only a little spicy, or not spicy at all (You find | this closer to El Salvador), it's usually going to get called | "Encurtido" and is also very good with more of a herbal flavor | such as from oregano and thyme. | | One time I took a girl out to a neighbourhood bar for lunch and | it was filled with a bunch of older people, when we got our food | and after some of the patrons actually bought us some drinks they | busted out the place's special bhut jolika chilero. Haha I swear | they made it just to watch whoever was new to the place burn and | sweat for a laugh. | | I think interestingly that the proportion of people who like | spicy food vs people who don't is about the same between North | and South/Central America. | UnpossibleJim wrote: | Nevermind, I answered my own question =) I found an Encurtido | recipe made with red onions and I think I'll try it: | | https://lacooquette.com/encurtido-curtido/ | | Thanks for bringing this up. Never heard of it, now I have =) | | EDIT: this one isn't fermented, but at least I know what to | look for. Anyways, thanks! My fermenting jars are ready to go! | jamal-kumar wrote: | Yeah, there's more fermented versions that use maybe only a | bit of vinegar for preservation purposes for sure. It's | really quite a lot of different kinds you can make, the one | in that recipe is on the milder end of the curtido/chilero | spectrum. One I learned in the Caribbean which you find more | often in Panama is mostly just scotch bonnets, garlic, onions | and lemon juice as a base which is insanely hot (The woman in | this video is having a hard time with making it even, and | it's pretty much just throwing things in a blender and | letting it sit for a while so don't worry if you don't speak | the language): | | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72eSB8d1gt4 | | I search 'chilero fermentado' for results. | nortonham wrote: | In El Salvador it's called curtido, and it's very simple to | make. Traditionally it's not meant to be spicy. Usually served | with pupusas. Some people add jalapenos or serranos when making | curtido to add some heat to it; varies from place to place, | family to family. | jamal-kumar wrote: | I love pupusas and never make the curtido spicy if it's time | for those. It would mess with people's expectations haha | | To me the flavor of a good curtido is from fresh herbs | UnpossibleJim wrote: | Ummm, that sounds awesome! I don't suppose you have a favorite | recipe, or should I just search for "Chilero" and "Encurtido" | recipes? | | It almost sounds like a Central American spice palette version | of Kimchee, which is rad as F. | jamal-kumar wrote: | Yeah it's pretty much that. | | The recipes I'm finding in English are garbage. Try searching | 'chilero receta' or 'chilera receta' and you should find | something in Spanish to work off of in google translate. Even | better to search is 'chilero fermentado'. | MisterBastahrd wrote: | I am from Louisiana. I dislike the basic Tabasco sauce. While the | claim that tabasco sauce comes from fermented peppers is | technically true, the sauce tastes raw and far too vinegar- | forward compared to most hot sauces produced in and around | Louisiana. They claim that they ferment their peppers for 8 years | but I have my doubts just based on the sheer amount of heat. | | One of the main reasons we like the sauces, by the way, is that | our food tends to be really rich and earthy. Think red beans or | gumbo or white beans over jambalaya. The acid cuts through the | fat. | stickfigure wrote: | Tabasco has its applications. By my taste buds, no other sauce | works quite right for clam chowder or louis dressing. | Otherwise, I agree with you. | gilrain wrote: | I love Tabasco, but there's a trick to it: think of it as a | really good seasoning vinegar rather than a really thin hot | sauce. | | It stays in my fridge for use on breakfast eggs and potatoes, | where it excels. That "diner breakfast" flavor in a bottle. | Kaibeezy wrote: | Crystal hot sauce always seems right on my attempts at dirty | rice. That's the level of heat and type of flavor you mean, | yes? | MisterBastahrd wrote: | My go-to is Louisiana brand. A little less raw heat, a little | less vinegar, but more body and a better mouthfeel. I buy | large bottles of the stuff and my kids tear it up, especially | when eating things like red beans or pig feet. | selimthegrim wrote: | For some reason Louisiana brand is usually not to be found | in the joints that cater to tourists. | | What I really never see outside the state is Cajun Chef. | Saltier than most but may be an acquired taste (I like it) | qbasic_forever wrote: | Crystal extra hot is the best big name sauce out there IMHO. | _whiteCaps_ wrote: | If you're new to fermenting, I highly recommend making tepache: | https://www.thespruceeats.com/pineapple-tepache-recipe-40787... | | It's quite easy to make, although if you bottle it, you do need | to worry about overpressurization causing the bottles to explode. | I always tend to err on the side of caution so it's just a | slightly fizzy drink. | uxamanda wrote: | Agree! Tepache is easy to make and nice because it is using up | "scraps". | _whiteCaps_ wrote: | Yeah, exactly! Pineapple peel and core, plus some sugar and | tap water is all you need. | clawlor wrote: | I just tried this for the first time a few weeks ago. In | Colombia they call it chicha de pina. The stuff I had wasn't | bottled, just left on the counter in a large covered crock to | ferment for a few days. Sweetened with panela and some spices | like cinnamon and maybe anise. | _whiteCaps_ wrote: | Yup! If you want it more carbonated you can bottle it. | | I can't get panela around here so I just use brown sugar. | eth0up wrote: | A link to a great resource for learning about peppers and | fermentation, replete with many good recipes: | https://m.youtube.com/c/Chillichump (Chilli Chump) | | Edit for intriguing experiment of mine: I originally began | experimenting with fermented chillis due to a suspected h-pylori | infection. My reasons were a) h-pylori seems to swim away from | capsaicin, possibly encouraging it to develop an _excessive_ | biofilm, thus contributing to its own isolation, b) capsaicin, | despite its apparent burning effect, can be helpful with ulcers | due in part to encouraging healthy mucous formation and c) the | lactobacillus and other probiotic factors involved. I believe | this was critical in abolishing a rather nasty ulcer that nearly | debilitated me. ___________________________________________________________________ (page generated 2022-08-16 23:00 UTC)