Fermented Jalapeño Hot Sauce
Spicy, tangy, fermented, endlessly adaptable, probiotic hot sauce.
Instead of using vinegar for acidity, this recipe recruits friendly bacteria to lower the pH, add some tang, and create a dynamic flavor for your sauce. It’s the hot sauce version of sauerkraut or kimchi. Probiotics in my hot sauce? Yes please! This recipe should be treated more like a guideline, measurements are exact but don’t need to be. Fermentation should be fun and spontaneous . . . Pun intended! Use different types of peppers, take out the seeds and ribs to decrease piquancy (fancy word for spiciness), fresh herbs, maybe some onion, anything you want. Just be sure to use kosher or sea salt and filtered water as iodized salt and chlorine can interfere with the fermentation. If you like this fermented sauce and want to learn everything you need to know about fermentation, check out The Art of Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz. His book is informative, empowering and a wonderful resource that I check frequently.
This sauce will take very little time to prepare in the initial step. Then, it will be very hands off for seven days as it ferments. On the final day it takes only a few minutes to blend and bottle. Very little investment for lots and lots of delicious and probiotic hot sauce as a reward.
Fermented Jalapeño Hot Sauce
Makes a lot so you will always have some on-hand.
10 large jalapeños, 650g; stems removed, cut in half lengthwise and sliced into “half moons”
1 head garlic, 44g; peeled, each clove smashed with the flt side of a knife
2 teaspoons dried oregano, 2g; lightly crushed
1 teaspoons coriander seed, 2g
2 bay leaves, .5g
7 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt, 27g
Filtered water, approximately 287g
Gloves to protect hands while handling peppers
Goggles and face mask, optional but recommended for blending
Large bowl
Spoon
Cutting Board
Knife
Blender, food processor, or immersion blender
Jars with lids: a few 16oz jars or one 16oz and one 32oz should do the trick
Weight
Time
Mix everything except the water in a large bowl making sure that the jalapeño are thoroughly coated with the salt. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes to 1 hour. This will give the salt time to soften the jalapeño, making it easier to pack into the jars.
Once the mixture has softened, pack it into the jars. Push them down firmly into the bottom of the jar. There should be at least one inch of space to the top of the jar, two is even better. Add water to cover the jalapeños by about ¼ inch. Add a weight to keep the jalapeños submerged. It’s okay if some of the seeds and spices float. The weight could be a designated fermentation weight, like this one, or a baggie filled with salty water. Put a lid on it. One that releases gas as it ferments, like this one, is great but a normal jar lid works too.
Leave the jar in a calm spot where it can be undisturbed for the next 7 days. I tuck mine in the underused corner between my knife block and the dish rack. Check it daily for progress on the fermentation; the liquid should get cloudy and the jalapeños will darken to an olive green. If the water level gets low, press down on the jalapeños to resubmerge them and top up with a small amount of water, if necessary. If using a normal jar lid, briefly unscrew the lid each day to “burp” the jar and release any gasses. If you don’t, you risk creating a pressure device that can explode and cause harm. Not trying to be overly dramatic, just emphasizing how important it is to release that pressure. Keep in mind the ambient temperature of your house: if it’s hot the fermentation will happen faster and you might want to start checking it at 3-4 days or you could add a little extra salt to slow things down. If it’s cold it will go slower so you may need to leave your jar to ferment longer, just be sure to check every few days to see if any mold or floaties have appeared. If it has (and this is totally normal because you are doing something to encourage the growth of microorganisms), just scoop it out with a spoon and wipe the inside of the jar above the water line with a paper towel. White mold is harmless and nothing to worry about. If you haven’t checked your jar in multiple days and the mold is colorful, you might need to throw it out and start again. Preventing unnecessary food waste is a good incentive to check your jalapeños daily.
After 7 days, remove the lid, weight and the bay leaves from the jars. Use a spoon or wear gloves to protect your hands. The rest of the ferment can be added to the jar of a blender. Put on goggles and a face mask. The blending will aerosolize the hot sauce, essentially creating pepper spray. It’s not a bad idea to open a window or turn on a fan. Blend for about 2 minutes, scraping the sides down at least twice, until the sauce is a very smooth consistency and there are no traces of coriander seeds. I love my Blendtec, but any high powered blender or food processor should do the trick. An immersion blender will work fine but might not get it as smooth.
Pour into clean jars. Or get fancy and funnel the sauce into bottles for easy dispensing.
Store hot sauce in the refrigerator. Since it is fermented, aka naturally preserved, will last a super long time. And if you notice that the jar has built up pressure, that’s totally cool. It just means that those healthy little microbes are still alive and at work! It also probably means you haven’t opened the container in a long time because the microbe activity will slow way down at the cooler refrigerator temperature. I’m guessing it’s too spicy for you. Maybe offer to share it to a friend who loves spicy food. They’re going to be so impressed that you made this!
