Making Your Own Sriracha Easy Fermented Hot Sauce At home

red chili peppers

🥗Healthier: jalapeños

💰Cheaper: cayenne pepper

Jalapeños are lower in heat and calories, while cayenne pepper is often more affordable.

sugar

🥗Healthier: honey

💰Cheaper: brown sugar

Honey is a natural sweetener, while brown sugar can be less expensive.

Wash the cayenne peppers under running cold water.

Remove the green stalky bits from the peppers.

Chop the peppers into rings or half them lengthwise into half circles.

Place the chopped peppers into a bowl and set aside.

Clean and bruise 130g of fresh garlic cloves and add them to the bowl with the chilies.

Transfer the chilies and garlic into a fermentation jar.

Fill the jar with clean, drinkable water until the contents are just covered.

Note the weight of the water, then pour it out into a bowl.

Multiply the weight of the water by 0.02 to determine the amount of salt needed (30g).

If you don't have scales, add 2 tablespoons of salt instead.

Pour the water back into the jar with the chilies and garlic, leaving a little space at the top for gas production during fermentation.

Optionally cover the jar with food-safe plastic or a rubber glove to track fermentation.

Stick a date on the jar to keep track of the fermentation time.

Ferment at room temperature for about 4 days or until desired sourness is achieved.

Once fermented, pour the contents through a sieve, discarding the liquid.

Add 50ml of rice wine vinegar, 50g of sugar, and 1g of xanthan gum to the mixture.

Blend the mixture using a hand blender or high-speed blender until smooth, leaving it chunky if desired.

Pass the blended mixture through a fine mesh sieve to extract all the liquid.

Optionally blend the pulp again to achieve desired consistency.

Bottle the sauce and store it in the fridge.

Cooking Techniques

Equipment Needed

Spice Level:

Dietary