If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you’ll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don’t forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I’ll be sure to share! Thanks! – Mike H. Sriracha has taken the nation by storm in the last several years, overflowing from grocery store shelves and finding its way into a myriad of mass-made products, from potato chips to beer. It’s everywhere, isn’t it? It’s so ubiquitous now here in the states, it’s practically become synonymous with the term “hot sauce”. This is not a bad thing! I should provide a bit of history, though. The stuff you get from the store is produced in California with red jalapeno peppers and has deviated quite a bit from the original Thai recipe. The sriracha sauce we get here is thick, like ketchup, where the original has a thinner consistency. My recipe will produce a Sriracha sauce closer to what was originally intended, though you can easily thicken it up with more peppers and less vinegar, or by adjusting your cooking times. Of course the heat level of your sriracha sauce can vary based on your pepper choice, but some peppers have thicker walls and are therefore meatier, and will produce a fuller sauce. For this particular batch, I used a combination of different hot red peppers grown in my garden, including red jalapeno peppers, and the results were out of this world. So delicious! Simmer the Ingredients. Bring to a quick boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Process the Sriracha Sauce. Cool, then add to a food processor. Process until smooth. Strain and Bottle. Strain the solids out through a strainer and discard (or keep them for dehydrating – they make great seasonings). Pour into bottles and use as desired. Fermenting the peppers breaks down the carbohydrates and converts them to acid, which mellows the peppers considerably, affecting the overall flavor. I suggest trying the recipe both ways, with and without fermenting, and see for yourself which version of sriracha you prefer. I’ve include recipes below to make sriracha both ways. For your reference, you may find this link useful: How to Make Fermented Pepper Mash. You can also adjust the thickness of your final sriracha sauce by adjusting the amount of peppers used in the recipe, by adjusting the amount of vinegar and water used, and also by adjusting your cooking time. Simmer the sauce longer to thicken it up if you’d like. Personally, I like my own homemade version better, but I wouldn’t throw away my bottle of Huy Fong Food’s rooster sauce! I mean, major KUDOS to David Tran for giving us a sauce that made Americans realize there is more to condiments than ketchup and mustard. Bring on the sriracha, please! Harissa could work in a pinch, but you can always use a Louisiana Style Hot Sauce in place of the sriracha, depending on the recipe. If you’re concerned, add more vinegar to lower the ph. Sauces made with fermented chili peppers will last even longer. The best ph meters that I recommend are from Thermoworks. Get yourself a ph meter from Thermoworks today. I am a happy affiliate. Can I process this hot sauce for longer storage? Absolutely. Just be sure to use proper canning/jarring safety procedures. Learn more about How to Make Hot Sauce.
