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Sriracha

Source of Recipe

From "The America's Test Kitchen D.I.Y. Cookbook"


Recipe Introduction

"There's a commercial for hot sauce on TV with the tagline, 'I put that #%*& on everything.' That's how I feel about Sriracha. Sriracha is a fiery-red Thai-American hot sauce fondly known by its loyal followers as rooster sauce (just look at a bottle). The condiment's popularity means that it can be found everywhere, from mega-marts and convenience stores to truck stops and four-star restaurants. Chiles, sugar, salt, garlic, and distilled vinegar are the main ingredients. Then comes potassium sorbate and sodium bisulfate. I wanted to figure out how to make my own rooster sauce, minus the preservatives. I found a few recipes that called for cooking a mixture of chopped red jalapeños with a little sugar, garlic cloves, a few tablespoons of vinegar, water, and fish sauce. After I simmered and puréed the ingredients in the blender, strained it, and pressed out all the seeds, I gave it a taste. It was ripping hot, for sure, but it tasted more like a spicy red bell pepper sauce and was the wrong color; more orange than the deep red I was looking for. Then I found a recipe that puréed the peppers raw, along with significant amounts of water and vinegar. The mixture was pressed through a fine-mesh strainer, simmered until thickened, and aged for about a week. The balance was better, and the consistency was the ketchup-y thickness of the original. But I wanted to make it easier. By removing the seeds before blending, I can skip the straining step later, so it only needs to refrigerate for a day before using. It's hot (but not searing), spicy (if you want it spicier, add up to 1 tablespoon of the chile seeds), salty, sweet, sour: the perfect condiment. And yeah, I will put it on just about anything."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 1 pound red jalapeño chiles, ½ stemmed, seeds reserved
â—¦ 12 cloves garlic, peeled
â—¦ 1 cup water
â—¦ ¾ cup distilled white vinegar
â—¦ 1 cup sugar
â—¦ 3 tablespoons salt



Recipe

Process jalapeños, up to 1 tablespoon reserved jalapeño seeds, if desired, garlic, water, and vinegar in blender until smooth, about 2 minutes. Transfer mixture to large saucepan and whisk in sugar and salt.

Bring to boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally and skimming any surface foam, until mixture is thickened and reduced to about 2 cups, about 25 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let cool 5 minutes.

Return mixture to blender and process on low speed until smooth, about 20 seconds. Transfer to large liquid measuring cup and let cool to room temperature. Pour cooled mixture into jar or plastic squeeze bottle with tight-fitting lid and refrigerate for at least 1 day before using. Sriracha can be refrigerated for up to 3 weeks.

Makes about 2 cups