Raw foodists will scoff at fermenting and then boiling this hot sauce. Why go to all the trouble creating that healthy bacteria if you’re just going to kill it and drown it in vinegar?
Well, raw foodists, I do it because the recipe says so, and in a pickling or fermentation recipe you follow the recipe to the letter. The next time I invest in $25 worth of chilies maybe I’ll have the guts to not boil it after and see what happens. I’d have to seal it like sauerkraut, weighted down with something touching the surface of the chili purée while fermenting, instead of using plastic wrap above a layer of air. The recipe probably has enough salt and sugar to keep what’s underneath safe, but as much as I’m a fermented foods advocate for gut health, I have enough digestive problems without adding food poisoning to the mix.
So this year I did three fermented Srirachas—the rooster sauce you see in big red bottles with the green tips in Vietnamese, Chinese, and Thai restaurants. There are tons of brands on the market for these sweet and hot sauces, and all levels of heat, sugar, and salt, but when you make your own, which is relatively easy, you get a freshness that’s just not there in the commercial brands.
The only thing is you need a ton of chili peppers, so I only do it i chili season, when I can buy a big basket of them for $16 or so. That makes a couple litres of sauce, depending on the juiciness of the chilies. the little Thai chilies have a much smaller yield.
The best part about the recipe, though, is you don’t have to remove the seeds of the chilies. That would take forever, and leave you in pain if , say, forgot to use gloves while ripping the seeds out…what idiot would do that, you ask?
This recipe is adapted from Viet World Kitchen. I’ve made the original version, and I’ve made a couple of variations using different types of chilies, different sugars, and fish sauce for more fermented umami flavour.
Here’s my favourite version:
Fermented Sriracha Chile Sauce with Fish Sauce
Makes about 1 ¼ cups, so I generally do a double batch to make it worth the effort.
¾ pounds long hot red chili peppers (Fresno, Cayenne), stems snipped down to the flora-tasting buds, and cut into two or three pieces to blend
2 cloves garlic
1 ¼ teaspoons kosher or other non-iodized salt
2 ounces Thai or Vietnamese palm sugar (you really need to weigh the palm sugar, since the original recipe’s indication of “or 2 tbsp” really wasn’t the equivalent. You can also taste and adjust the sweetness of the purée before fermenting. Also, about 1-2 tbsp light brown sugar works, or coconut sugar, or cane sugar, or white sugar mixed with a tiny bit of molasses. But palm is traditional.)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tbsp fish sauce
Water, as needed (about 3 tbsp for my blender to work)
Combine the chiles, garlic, salt, and sugar in a blender or food processor and process until blended. Add up to 3 tbsp of water to facilitate blending. We’re not talking Vitamix-smooth here. Just until it’s all combined. It can be a little chunky.
Place in a glass or ceramic bowl or jar and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside at room temperature for 3 days, or until small bubbles have formed under the surface of the mixture (or you start to see a little fuzz or mold on top. If you do see this, don’t worry. It’s fine. Lift it off with a spoon and discard. This is also why the boiling is important.
Bring remaining purée to a boil with the vinegar and fish sauce in a small saucepan. Lower the heat to simmer for 5 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Blend mixture again for 3 minutes, until it’s a smooth purée.
Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a large, clean bowl. Press the sauce out of the solids.*
Leave the sauce develop its flavours at room temperatures. Taste and adjust seasonings (more fish sauce, sugar, salt, or vinegar) before transferring to a clean jar and storing in the fridge. The sauce will keep refrigerated for 1 month.
*Don’t throw out the seeds. Instead transfer them to a jar and stir in 1 tbsp sesame or canola oil (depending on whether you want to add flavour or just preserve). Then create an air barrier in the jar by topping up with 1 more tbsp oil. Do not stir. Now you have preserved chili paste version two!!! It’s the thick one you see in dumpling houses but it’s a sweet Thai version like you’ll see in Thai, Indonesian, and Malaysian places.
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