Easy Chili Sauce or Chili Oil?
August 11, 2020 9:42 AM Subscribe
I have Thai chilies. Want to try making sauce or oil. Snowflakes abound...
A good friend just gifted me with a reasonable couple of handfuls of Thai chilies*. Yay!
My first inclination is to make a chili oil or a chili sauce. However, my pantry, while relatively well-stocked, is missing some ingredients that most of the recipes I've found online require. For instance, most oil recipes I find seem to require both fresh chilies (which I obviously have) and Sichuan chili flakes, which I do not have nor will be in the position to try and find locally any time soon. Similarly, star anise and cinnamon stick seem to pop-up in recipes a lot. I have neither. Dried shrimp or shrimp paste looks to be a must-have in most of the Thai recipes I've encountered.
So, I guess what I'm asking for is a dead-simple, flavorful chili oil or sauce recipe that can be made in a more-or-less average US kitchen. "Authenticity" isn't a thing here. I'm just looking to make a flavorful oil or sauce with these Thai chilies, that I can keep in the fridge as a condiment.
Many thanks!
*-Not sure if it matters, but the chilies are a mix of red and green, not all red.
A good friend just gifted me with a reasonable couple of handfuls of Thai chilies*. Yay!
My first inclination is to make a chili oil or a chili sauce. However, my pantry, while relatively well-stocked, is missing some ingredients that most of the recipes I've found online require. For instance, most oil recipes I find seem to require both fresh chilies (which I obviously have) and Sichuan chili flakes, which I do not have nor will be in the position to try and find locally any time soon. Similarly, star anise and cinnamon stick seem to pop-up in recipes a lot. I have neither. Dried shrimp or shrimp paste looks to be a must-have in most of the Thai recipes I've encountered.
So, I guess what I'm asking for is a dead-simple, flavorful chili oil or sauce recipe that can be made in a more-or-less average US kitchen. "Authenticity" isn't a thing here. I'm just looking to make a flavorful oil or sauce with these Thai chilies, that I can keep in the fridge as a condiment.
Many thanks!
*-Not sure if it matters, but the chilies are a mix of red and green, not all red.
Would a fermented sauce fit your goals? I've made a piri-piri sauce that's used Thai bird's-eye chilis as a substitute a couple times, it's pretty delicious.
Fermented Piri-Piriposted by CrystalDave at 10:15 AM on August 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
• 30 stemmed piri-piri or Thai bird's eye chiles (~1 fistful)
• 12 cloves garlic (~1 lean fistful)
• Salt, 2-2.5% of the above by weight (Might be around 3/4tsp, but you want to measure this by weight if you can)
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil
1. Pulse chiles in a food processor, scrape the sides down. If you have a small processor, remove the peppers to a separate bowl, otherwise leave them in.
2. Pulse garlic, same as step 1.
3. Mix in salt & lemon juice.
4. Pack this mash into a mason jar. If you let it rest some brine should settle above the pulp. If you have a fermentation weight or can make one with some parchment paper (there's options if you google around, depending on what size jar you have & what you have on hand)
5. Screw the lid down finger-tight, it shouldn't degas too much but you don't want anything getting in, naturally.
6. Let it sit out of sunlight for ~2 weeks. (time depending on ambient temperature) At about a week & a half, start tasting it to know when to pull it.
7. When it tastes ready (sharp flavors have mellowed, kinda vinegar-y), return to the food processor & blend in the olive oil.
8. Return to jar & start using it.
This'll keep for about 3 months in the fridge.
Quick chile vinegar. If you have fish sauce you can replace a tablespoon or two of the vinegar but it's not necessary.
posted by VelveteenBabbitt at 10:27 AM on August 11, 2020
posted by VelveteenBabbitt at 10:27 AM on August 11, 2020
I usually keep a jar of vinegar with sliced habanero/scotch bonnet peppers in it for adding to soups. It's super easy to make. If you have chilies left over from what actual sauce or oil you make I'd suggest using them for this.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 10:52 AM on August 11, 2020
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 10:52 AM on August 11, 2020
usually keep a jar of vinegar with sliced ... peppers
Lately I've been using vodka instead of vinegar as the preservative.
posted by kingless at 11:10 AM on August 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
Lately I've been using vodka instead of vinegar as the preservative.
posted by kingless at 11:10 AM on August 11, 2020 [1 favorite]
kingless, I would love to hear more details about that!
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:39 AM on August 11, 2020
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:39 AM on August 11, 2020
I was thinking about making hot sauce and came across this site, chilipeppermadness, which I found very informative. Beyond the main two ways to make hot sauce, it lists broad regional categories of sauces, basic sauce ingredients, seasonings, equipment, safety, etc. It gave me lots of ideas and ways to think about making different sauces. Have fun and let us know how your sauce turns out!
posted by winesong at 11:45 AM on August 11, 2020
posted by winesong at 11:45 AM on August 11, 2020
kingless, I would love to hear more details about that!
It's similar to vinegar, except more expensive. Cut up the peppers, cover them with vodka in a jar, leave it in the fridge. The smaller the slices, the more heat leaches into the vodka. Use the peppers wherever you like. The vodka may require caution in mixed drinks, consider dilution with its uninfused ancestor. Pretty sure I've used everything up before anything spoiled, peppers-in-vodka last a few months at least.
I love hot peppers and most of the ways I've tried to keep my harvest waste too much heat. I was using vinegar but kept winding up with jars of hot vinegar I had to purge now and then. When I mentioned this to a friend from Belarus, he suggested vodka. (He suggests vodka often.)
This summer I only have one plant, a Carolina Reaper that research monkey gave me a little over a year ago. Didn't get much from it then but it survived the winter in a sunny room and has been overwhelming me for about a month, 4 jars so far.
posted by kingless at 12:56 PM on August 11, 2020 [5 favorites]
It's similar to vinegar, except more expensive. Cut up the peppers, cover them with vodka in a jar, leave it in the fridge. The smaller the slices, the more heat leaches into the vodka. Use the peppers wherever you like. The vodka may require caution in mixed drinks, consider dilution with its uninfused ancestor. Pretty sure I've used everything up before anything spoiled, peppers-in-vodka last a few months at least.
I love hot peppers and most of the ways I've tried to keep my harvest waste too much heat. I was using vinegar but kept winding up with jars of hot vinegar I had to purge now and then. When I mentioned this to a friend from Belarus, he suggested vodka. (He suggests vodka often.)
This summer I only have one plant, a Carolina Reaper that research monkey gave me a little over a year ago. Didn't get much from it then but it survived the winter in a sunny room and has been overwhelming me for about a month, 4 jars so far.
posted by kingless at 12:56 PM on August 11, 2020 [5 favorites]
This is a take it or leave it warning, from someone who sometimes takes it and sometimes leaves it, but there is a botulism risk with anaerobic oil/produce infusions. More info is here (just a random site from a search):https://www.aboutoliveoil.org/read-this-before-making-homemade-infused-olive-oil
posted by papayaninja at 5:54 PM on August 11, 2020
posted by papayaninja at 5:54 PM on August 11, 2020
I'm not sure how big your chilis are. I had a very productive Thai chili bush a while back, lots of super-hot chilis about 1 cm long. I froze them raw in jars and now keep them in the freezer. If I need some chili, I pull out one or two, finely chop them while frozen, and just add them to whatever I am cooking, usually frying into whatever oil I am using for a 30-60 seconds or so.
posted by carter at 6:01 PM on August 11, 2020
posted by carter at 6:01 PM on August 11, 2020
If you're looking for simple, you want a recipe that looks something like this:
hot peppers
garlic
salt
vinegar
water
Like this one (haven't tried it specifically. Mine recipe is buried right now).
But, there are hot sauce recipes and there are hot sauce recipes. If a recipe has sugar in it, move on. Single pepper sauces are...OK. Thai chilis in particular are pretty hot and if you want pain, go for it. IMHO hot sauce should taste good, not just burn. Burn is easy. I use a mix of peppers. Fresno, cayenne, serrano and cherry bomb peppers add fantastic flavor. Jalapeños add a little smoke overtone. Habaneros? Pain. Honestly, there's no real flavor, just pain. Now, one thing the recipes don't tell you is that stone fruit really compliments the flavor of hot peppers. For a typical recipe, try adding in one large peach or nectarine pitted and coarsely chopped (they're in season now in most places) or several apricots or a couple plums. They go in the pot with the hot peppers and when you blend it down, leave them in. Besides the flavor, it adds body to the sauce.
posted by plinth at 12:25 PM on August 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
hot peppers
garlic
salt
vinegar
water
Like this one (haven't tried it specifically. Mine recipe is buried right now).
But, there are hot sauce recipes and there are hot sauce recipes. If a recipe has sugar in it, move on. Single pepper sauces are...OK. Thai chilis in particular are pretty hot and if you want pain, go for it. IMHO hot sauce should taste good, not just burn. Burn is easy. I use a mix of peppers. Fresno, cayenne, serrano and cherry bomb peppers add fantastic flavor. Jalapeños add a little smoke overtone. Habaneros? Pain. Honestly, there's no real flavor, just pain. Now, one thing the recipes don't tell you is that stone fruit really compliments the flavor of hot peppers. For a typical recipe, try adding in one large peach or nectarine pitted and coarsely chopped (they're in season now in most places) or several apricots or a couple plums. They go in the pot with the hot peppers and when you blend it down, leave them in. Besides the flavor, it adds body to the sauce.
posted by plinth at 12:25 PM on August 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
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Slightly more advanced, but uses common ingredients:
Basic sweet Thai chili sauce (requires some fresh mild peppers + your hot ones)
Sriracha (requires garlic, vinegar)
posted by Lyn Never at 10:01 AM on August 11, 2020 [1 favorite]