There seems to be a new wave of popularity for hot chiles lately. Or sauces that are made from them anyway. This is the second wave of this I've experienced. The first was in the 90's when I lived in San Francisco.
Back then it got so crazy that there was a store on Fillmore Street (I think) that sold nothing but hot sauce. The store did not make it, but what a great idea. I loved going there and looking at the hundreds of sauces available. Very fun!
Since there is no such thing as a perfect hot sauce, as every person has slightly different tastes, I decided to make "my perfect hot sauce".
So I sat down to figure out what characteristics mine would contain. I started out thinking about the sauces that I like and the sauces that I don't.
Currently I am fond of Chalula Chipotle Sauce. Not particularly hot, but tasty! I also like the green Tobasco, but with all Tobasco products that I have tasted, the vinegar level is a bit too much for me (this one less so than the regular Tobasco). Tapatio is also nice but somewhat unremarkable. I also like Seracha but for this endeavor I am going to avoid an Asian quality and go for a more tex-mex southwestern sort of of sauce.
The sauces that I don't like are ones like the regular Tobasco which for my taste has WAY too much vinegar and sauces like it. I also am not very fond of most of the habanero sauces that I have had as they are focussing on hot at the expense of flavor. Habanero chiles have the most delightful flavor if you can work with them to minimize the heat to a level that you can actually taste them and not be steamrolled by the intense heat.
To get going I decided to focus on the chiles that I like the most. I chose Pobanos, Red Jalepenos and Anaheims. I also am fond of roasted peppers. I just love the flavor of roasted chiles. So I decide to roast all of them.
Here are my thoughts on the three main suspects: Poblanos are hit and miss in regard to the level of heat that they contain. Some are very hot, some mild and you don't really know until you taste them. Red Jalepenos have a really nice heat and a sweetness underlying it that is just wonderful. They are also used to make Chipotle peppers which are red Jalepenos that are smoked and usually dried as well. Anaheims are a mild pepper with great flavor especially when roasted. Not much heat in these, but great flavor.
I started out by roasting the three peppers (see my post about roasting peppers). (http://tastelikechicken-whatsmikecooking.blogspot.com/2012/05/roasted-peppers-two-methods-and-why-i.html).
I read the ingredients of many commercial sauces to get an idea of what I wanted to put in my sauce. This was simultaneously helpful and confusing. They all list the main peppers and vinegar, but all of the bottles that I consulted also listed "spices". Not vey helpful. I guess that I am on my own.
By the way, if you want to increase the heat of your roasted peppers, chile powder etc. try freezing them for a month or so. I don't really understand why, but freezing them intensifies the heat. I learned this the hard way by smoking ten pounds (4.5 kg) of red Jalepenos, packing them in oil and freezing what was not given away or in current use.
The sweetness that made them so amazing was replaced with some near volcanic heat. They still had a great flavor, but the subtle sweet that was evident in them after smoking was eventually lost and over-powered by the increased heat thus making them less of a joy for myself.
If you are likely to be on my Christmas list, stop reading now please.
Here is my recipe:
2 roasted Pobano peppers
3 roasted Red Jalepeno peppers
2 roasted Anaheim peppers
1/2 yellow onion (diced) (about 1/4 C or 4 oz/ 100 grams)
2 medium sized garlic cloves (about 2 T or 1/4 oz/ 7 grams)
1 T extra virgin olive oil/canola blend (15 ml)
2 oz apple cider vinegar (60 ml)
Kosher Salt
1 tsp Chipotle powder (10 ml)
1 C Water (235 ml)
1/8 tsp Xanthan Gum (.5 ml)
1 tsp granulated sugar
Additional water to adjust the final product.
Here is the method:
Dice the onion and place into a small sauté pan with the oil and sweat it on low heat until translucent. When the onions are soft and translucent, add the garlic.
Dice the roasted peppers and add them to the pan.
Sauté until fragrant.
Add the Chipotle powder.
Continue to sauté.
When the smokey flavor/smell of the Chipotles just starts to register add 1 C water (240 ml).
Let it roll for about 10-15 mins and add the Xanthan Gum. 5 more minutes and taste what you have. If the flavor is pleasing, put the entire mix into a blender, add the vinegar and purée.
If you don't have Xanthan Gum in your kitchen and don't know where to find some, go ahead and make your sauce without it. What it does is keep the particles in solution so that you are less likely to have to shake your sauce before using it as it is less likely to separate.
A word of warning here. When you put hot stuff into a blender, be sure to hold the lid on tightly! If you do not, you are likely to blow the lid off of it and you will be finding your sauce for months, literally. Inside the cupboards, on the ceiling etc. Also, use a kitchen towel over the top of the blender to protect you from the hot ingredients. Burns are an occupational hazard, don't seek them out!
There is a reason that I use a blender for this rather than a food processor. A processor will chop the product but a blender will make it very smooth. That is what I am after.
Taste your sauce again and adjust your seasoning to your taste by adding more salt, Chipotle powder, white pepper etc and blend again.
Pour the sauce into a container add the sugar and adjust the thickness of your sauce with water. Let it cool.
Place into your bottle or container that you have chosen.
I have been saving my Chalula bottles and will be using these to bottle my sauce for my use and presents for family and friends. I am looking for a very small funnel for this purpose, but have not found the right one yet.
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