06-27-2009, 02:59 AM
Brian,
I have made a few different styles over the years and there are just that, styles. It does not really require a recipe. Basically you start with a "mash",choose chili peppers of your liking covered with water. I always use fresh peppers or at the very least a combination of dry and fresh. If I use larger peppers I roast them on the grill first. For instance, sometimes I start with patron peppers and also add some cayenne, poblanos, and habaneros. You add elements of flavor, always vinegar (also because that will keep the finished product from spoiling). Some people add a little sugar. A bit of salt is needed but just a bit. My favorite, Belizian style adds different fruits or vegetables choose one or two that you like (citrus, carrots, onions, garlic, celery, tomatoes,lilikoi, mango, sweet peppers etc.) If you are adding these elements, remember that the hot pepper is the main reason you are making this sauce, so keep tasting and adding little bits at a time. All of this is cooked down until the product is as thick as you would like it, anything from a watery sauce like Tabasco to the thicker styles of Belize, Mexico or Jamaica. I usually take an extra step and run my sauce through a food mill or chinois to remove the skins and make the sauce smoother, some people do not do that. The sauce needs to be boiling for a good 5 minutes, and then you pour into sterilized hot jars or bottles and seal. You can then store the sauce at room temperature until opening and if you have used enough vinegar, even after opening. That is what I do, but there are many people that even keep their mustard in the refrigerator. If you are doing that, then do it at the beginning. IMHO, the flavor needs to have more than just "HOT", it should have a balance of layers of flavor with the ending and most dominate being hot and spicy on a variety of levels, on a 1-10 scale I like mine to be a 9 or 10 in heat, but I know people that prefer it in the 7-8 range. This is also where "picking your peppers" comes in, there are many that have excellent layers of flavor on their own, such as habaneros and patron peppers and even where these peppers are grown can make a difference. I am looking forward to trying a sauce with the Hawaiian peppers which are much like birds eye chiles.
Oh... it takes a LOT of peppers to make a mash, at least a gallon to get 2-3 pints of sauce once it has been filtered and cooked down.
Finally, wear safety equipment: gloves (mandatory if you wear contacts), goggles and a mask or better yet a respirator. This is especially true if you are using very hot peppers. I do my sauces on the side burner of my grill, so my house is not permeated with toxic eye burning fumes. Personally I am not as sensitive to the capsicum as many people are. My husband would be a sneezy eye watering mess if he was even in the same room where the peppers are cooking.
Aloha au i Hawai`i,
devany
www.myhawaiianhome.blogspot.com
www.eastbaypotters.blogspot.com
I have made a few different styles over the years and there are just that, styles. It does not really require a recipe. Basically you start with a "mash",choose chili peppers of your liking covered with water. I always use fresh peppers or at the very least a combination of dry and fresh. If I use larger peppers I roast them on the grill first. For instance, sometimes I start with patron peppers and also add some cayenne, poblanos, and habaneros. You add elements of flavor, always vinegar (also because that will keep the finished product from spoiling). Some people add a little sugar. A bit of salt is needed but just a bit. My favorite, Belizian style adds different fruits or vegetables choose one or two that you like (citrus, carrots, onions, garlic, celery, tomatoes,lilikoi, mango, sweet peppers etc.) If you are adding these elements, remember that the hot pepper is the main reason you are making this sauce, so keep tasting and adding little bits at a time. All of this is cooked down until the product is as thick as you would like it, anything from a watery sauce like Tabasco to the thicker styles of Belize, Mexico or Jamaica. I usually take an extra step and run my sauce through a food mill or chinois to remove the skins and make the sauce smoother, some people do not do that. The sauce needs to be boiling for a good 5 minutes, and then you pour into sterilized hot jars or bottles and seal. You can then store the sauce at room temperature until opening and if you have used enough vinegar, even after opening. That is what I do, but there are many people that even keep their mustard in the refrigerator. If you are doing that, then do it at the beginning. IMHO, the flavor needs to have more than just "HOT", it should have a balance of layers of flavor with the ending and most dominate being hot and spicy on a variety of levels, on a 1-10 scale I like mine to be a 9 or 10 in heat, but I know people that prefer it in the 7-8 range. This is also where "picking your peppers" comes in, there are many that have excellent layers of flavor on their own, such as habaneros and patron peppers and even where these peppers are grown can make a difference. I am looking forward to trying a sauce with the Hawaiian peppers which are much like birds eye chiles.
Oh... it takes a LOT of peppers to make a mash, at least a gallon to get 2-3 pints of sauce once it has been filtered and cooked down.
Finally, wear safety equipment: gloves (mandatory if you wear contacts), goggles and a mask or better yet a respirator. This is especially true if you are using very hot peppers. I do my sauces on the side burner of my grill, so my house is not permeated with toxic eye burning fumes. Personally I am not as sensitive to the capsicum as many people are. My husband would be a sneezy eye watering mess if he was even in the same room where the peppers are cooking.
Aloha au i Hawai`i,
devany
www.myhawaiianhome.blogspot.com
www.eastbaypotters.blogspot.com
Aloha au i Hawai`i,
devany
www.SassySpoon.wordpress.com
www.myhawaiianhome.blogspot.com
www.EastBayPotters.com
devany
www.SassySpoon.wordpress.com
www.myhawaiianhome.blogspot.com
www.EastBayPotters.com
]