fermenting First Fermented Sauce

[stickman]

Hi All
Having put aside all the Gochu powder I need to make kimchi through the winter here, I decided to experiment with making fermented hot sauce with the remaining chiles. I talked with Rocketman about it, and he recommended starting off simply for the first time and gave me this recipe:

1 or 2 pounds of chiles (I used a little over 2 pounds)
4 cloves of garlic
1 large onion (I used a Vidalia onion)
3 good-sized carrots for consistency in the sauce
2 tpsp kosher salt
1/2 cup of starter (in this case, brine from a batch of yeolmu mulkimchi I made this summer)
Maybe add 2 tbsp agave nectar or honey to give a quick kick to the lacto-bacteria (I used honey)

I packed them into a half gallon jar after cutting them up with a kitchen knife, and topped up with tap water, leaving room for expansion.

This is the jumpoff... I'll post pics weekly to follow the progress of the fermentation. Cheers all

 

[Philip]

That looks amazing! I'm waiting for a food mill (norpro) to ship from the US and bottles from germany, then i'll start making that for myself
Oddly, there is no such thing as a food mill like yours in europe that i have found so far! I ordered one for 30 bucks including shipping from your side of the pond.

/Philip

 

[stickman]

That looks amazing! I'm waiting for a food mill (norpro) to ship from the US and bottles from germany, then i'll start making that for myself
Oddly, there is no such thing as a food mill like yours in europe that i have found so far! I ordered one for 30 bucks including shipping from your side of the pond.

/Philip

Hi Philip
Good luck with your sauce. Please post pictures so we can see how it all come out. My grandmother and mother both used food mills for years... especially when making tomato or apple sauces. It's a great way to separate the skins and seeds from the pulp after you cook them.

Tonight we had our trick-or-treat night in our neighborhood. My wife gave apples to the kids and I gave a small bottle of hot sauce to the adults!

 

[PIC 1]

Rick nice color and texture to your sauce. it looks like condensation in the bottles.....the sauce was probably still hot. The top rim of sauce has something on the edge. Are those bubbles or sedement from the ferment?
Anyways I bet it taste great!

Greg

That looks amazing! I'm waiting for a food mill (norpro) to ship from the US and bottles from germany, then i'll start making that for myself
Oddly, there is no such thing as a food mill like yours in europe that i have found so far! I ordered one for 30 bucks including shipping from your side of the pond.

/Philip

I agree theres nothing like a food mill. I use a "Rosle" from France......Stainless and very durable. It's probably my favorite kitchen tool.
It really smooths out a sauce ...

 

[stickman]

Rick nice color and texture to your sauce. it looks like condensation in the bottles.....the sauce was probably still hot. The top rim of sauce has something on the edge. Are those bubbles or sedement from the ferment?
Anyways I bet it taste great!

Hi Greg
It's bubbles at the top since I used a baster to fill the bottles with the simmering liquid. The two bottles in the middle have sediment in the neck since i managed to tip them over after filling and capping them..

The sauce came out amazing! I had it on collards for supper tonight and pumpkin curry for lunch.

 

[romy6]

Man that does look superb Rick. I just wish my kids had stopped at your house on Halloween

 

[stickman]

Man that does look superb Rick. I just wish my kids had stopped at your house on Halloween

Not to worry... I got a bit behind since things got really busy last week, but there's a small jar headed your way.

And I got a bottle in the mail today that I think you'll recognize...

My cup runneth over... or at least my selection of hot sauce bottles. Thanks Vincenzo!

 

[stickman]

I made macaroni and cheese tonight and added coheed's Sinister Strawberry hot sauce generously to it. I made the cheese sauce with a blend of New York extra sharp, Gruyere and grated Romano with some soy sauce and toasted sesame oil in the roux, and I thought the dry Strawberry flavor was an excellent accompaniment.

 

[badger126]

Alright dude that just sounds bomb.....I hadn't thought of strawberry hot sauce before. I gotta make or buy some of that!

Stellar job on the fermentation, I just started my first as well so I'll be keeping an eye here. Don't think mine will turn out as good as yours though!

 

[romy6]

Oh man Rick I love Vincents sauce. It is pretty damn hot . Just the way I like it. But just love the flavor. Very unique like nothing I have had before. The man has skills

Cannot wait to try your sauce . It looks super yummy Thank you Rick!!!

 

[stickman]

I finally located some pH test strips at a local brew supply shop and tested the sauces I've made so far...The fermented Gochu pepper sauce came in with a pH of 3.5 and so did the Yucatan Habanero sauce. Also got a dozen 5 oz. woozies and caps while I was there.

 

[romy6]

Man Rick that could not be more perfect. Can't wait to try it

 

[RocketMan]

So, Rick sent me a bottle of his first Fermented sauce to give him some feedback on. The actual color of the sauce is a bit darker than the pics online, a really great shade of red like a really good tomato sauce. Taking off the cap the sauce has a very upfront Garlic scent then fades to really good Peppers and Onion. Taste is just the opposite though with peppers and onion upfront that fades to a nice garlic after taste. There is also sweetness to it that I wasn’t expecting. I didn’t note that you added anything after the fermentation that to me would account for the sweetness being there. For this sauce though it’s a good sweet that’s not over the top. Heat wise I’d say this sauce is in the mild range that just about anyone could handle. Now, here are a few pics of how I’ve used it today. For Breakfast I had a Western Omelet.

The sauce went nicely with it and the sweetness really brought out the onions and bell peppers.

Lunch was an Italian Hero.

On the sandwich the salty meats really subdued the sweetness of the sauce and balanced it out causing the sauce to add a really great garlic flavor to it. Again the heat was just enough to let you know it’s there without being over the top..

Overall, you have a great sauce here Rick. I think it’ll make a great base for you to get creative from. With the sweetness of the sauce a couple of good things that come to mind are Ginger, maybe some Graham Masala or some Raisins.

Great job Rick
RM

 

[stickman]

Thanks for the feedback Bill, I appreciate it. I'll keep experimenting until I get something I'm really excited about. Cheers!