by Henry Gould – June 19th, 2019

Don’t be scared! Fermenting is easy. Lots of people make kombucha at home, and it’s really no big deal. After all, people have been fermenting for hundreds of year. Ever made bread at home with yeast? You’ve fermented.

Feel free to experiment with adding different spices and vinegars or other flavourings. Hot sauce like this also makes for a great gift at holiday time.

Homemade Fermented Hot Sauce

• 2 handfuls of chilis (red thai chilis for a red hot sauce, serranos or jalapenos for green)
• 6 cloves of garlic
• Sea salt
• White vinegar
• Water

Take all the stems off the chilis and put into a food processor. Peel the garlic and throw in, along with 2 tablespoons of salt and 1 cup of water. Process for 30 – 60 seconds so that everything is well mixed. Scrape the sides of the processor bowl with a spatula and process again. If you’re brave, taste the mixture. It should be quite salty… the salt helps protect the fermentation process from any “bad” bacteria or mold growing. If it’s not salty enough, add some more salt. If it tastes too salty (is it saltier than Frank’s hot sauce?) add some more water.

Take the chili mixture out and put into a jar or a tupperware container. Cover the top with saran wrap or just the normal lid. Set aside in a warm part of your house and check every day for 7 days, taking the lid off briefly and allowing it to “breathe”.

After 7 days check the chili mixture. If there is any mold growing you can just scoop it off, or if you’e really concerned throw it all out and start again. With this amount of salt it should be fine.

Put the chili mixture back into the food processor or a blender. Add about 1/2 cup of white vinegar and blend for about 60 seconds. At this point it’s a fine balance of salt, water and vinegar. The best advice I can give is use your favorite hot sauce as a guide. If you like it really acidic, put more vinegar. Saltier, put more salt! More liquidy, add more water.

Store in a jar or clean bottle in the fridge. Will keep for months.