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fermenting Dried Japones mash?

I am new to this whole fermentation thing, but so far have managed to make some decent kimchi, sauerkraut, and a couple of batches of hot sauce using dried Piquin Chili (fresh chilies are a little tough to find this time of year here).
 
I spotted dried Japones chilies the last time I was in the grocery store and was wondering how they would work for a hot sauce. Anyone have any experience with them?
 
I'm also wondering how you get your sauces to thicken up? I don't want to boil them down and kill off all those good bugs. Is there a good way to get them thick right from the fermenter?
 
Thanks much in advance,
 
Dave
 
First, welcome.
 
Second, chile Japonés are hot but nothing you can't handle since you've already used pequin.  I'd suggest they will behave comparably to the pequins.
 
( "Yatsufusa" may be the variety.  Save seeds: there's a very good chance they will be viable.)
 
Third, I agree with you on not destroying the beneficials we've worked to create.  I don't boil my vegetable mashes just like I don't boil yogurt after it has fermented.  This does seem to be a minority (or at least more quietly held view) here.
 
Fourth, on thickening, I'm not sure.  Yesterday, I did take November's jalapeño/sweet chile mash and added steeped guajillo, the stock, tomatillo, and honey for flavour.  Straining didn't go well, so I left everything in, and that did have a thickening effect.  Just ate half a cup with a hefeweizen, but I'm leaving the jar out for a secondary fermentation to knock back the sweetness a touch.
 
Fifth, next time I'll abandon the enumeration. :cheers:
 

 
IMHO, just add less water in the ferment.
 
Rehydrate the japones, grind them up in the food processor with other ingredients and salt. Ferment then run it through a food mill. Done. As long as the mash is thick enough, the sauce shouldn't be too thin.
 
Ferments usually settle out.  It will mean loosing a bit of product but you could let everything settle for several days, then ladle off some of the excess liquid from the top of the jar.  Blender the snot out of what's left, should give you a fairly thick sauce.  I'd save the liquid ladled off in case it needs a bit more liquid after blendering.
 
and :welcome:
salsalady
 
Thanks all - skipped a run to the store and ended up using arbol, piquins, guajillo, and ancho to clean up some of my dried pepper supply. Covered with very little soaking water overnight, then blended the mash with some garlic, brown sugar, and sea salt. Added 1/4 cup laco starter in a 2% brine, and loaded everything into a 1 quart fermenter. Wish me luck!
 
Bottled it off today. Very nice! A little smoky and earthy, good heat, and nice tang. Reminds me of Valentina. Should be great on tacos and the like. Added a tablespoon of white wine vinegar to open it up a little. Got about 2 1/2 cups. Thanks for the help!
hotsauce-4130407.jpg
 
Wow that looks great, man! I was just about to ask around if you can make a fermented sauce from dried peppers when I found this post. I want to make a sauce from all red tabascos but if I dont have enough at once I could just dry them out and wait for more to ripen. That sound about right to yall? 
 
baylor said:
Wow that looks great, man! I was just about to ask around if you can make a fermented sauce from dried peppers when I found this post. I want to make a sauce from all red tabascos but if I dont have enough at once I could just dry them out and wait for more to ripen. That sound about right to yall? 
 
Indeed that is right Baylor.  Welcome to the site :)
 
Thanks! For it only being my second try at fermenting hot sauce, I'm pretty happy with it.
 
I've just been using dried peppers because our fresh pepper supply is pretty limited right now. I know that some peppers dry better than others. Not sure about tabascos, but the taste of Japones and Pequins is supposed to get better after they are dried. You could also try freezing your peppers. I've done that with habaneros in the past - just keep tossing the ripe ones in a ziplock bag in the freezer until you get enough.
 
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