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share-a-recipe Rocoto/pear sauce recipe

Siv

Siv

Kroger has become our standard grocery store and other than the occasional trip to 99 Ranch to pick up Asian items, it's rare that we'll shop anywhere else. The other evening my wife wasn't feeling too great so asked me to take the kids to karate class; which I happily did and planned to use the 45 min class as a spot to pick up some sauce making ingredients. After getting to the the dojo, I googled the nearest supermarket and it happened to be Fiesta. So off I went - I don't think I've ever been to a Fiesta before so had no expectations. Wow, just wow! The produce looked natural, not the carefully curated, picture perfect stuff you get in Kroger. I rabidly grabbed tomatoes, tomatillos, onions, garlic etc and then came across a shelf full of these!

51802587332_9506272e6b_b.jpg


Why did no one tell me that I can get rocotos so easily? Naturally I grabbed a couple lbs and came home and started researching recipes. The most interesting one I found that didn't have cream or mayonnaise is this one: Bicolana’s Kitchen Hot Chili Sauce

I slightly modified the quantities and left out a few things:
  • All the rocotos I bought (about 10)
  • 2 brown onions
  • 1 bulb garlic
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 6 brown pears
  • 3 tomatoes
  • apple cider vinegar until the pH hit 4.0
  • 2 tbsp lime juice
And instead of all the complicated cooking instructions, I simply put everything in the blender (deseeding the peppers and pears), blended the snot out of it and then stuck it in a saucepan to simmer for a while. I added another tsp of salt, a tbs of soy sauce and a dash of vegan Worcestershire sauce to round it out. I'm very surprised - it's not the hottest sauce in the world but has great flavour, natural sweetness and the slow burn of the rocotos. It's also pretty thick so definitely one for the squeeze bottles. I'm pretty terrible at writing down recipes but I wanted to make a record of this one as it turned out pretty good from the start. Now I just need to make a label...

51812773203_5c70d807bb_b.jpg
 
I've never been a big fan of pears, but your recipe got me thinking... I remember that as a child we had a few trees of cooking pears, and my mum prepared them with wine, sugar, and cinnamon (if my memory serves me correctly). Perhaps with a dash of chile...
 
Siv said:
Kroger has become our standard grocery store and other than the occasional trip to 99 Ranch to pick up Asian items, it's rare that we'll shop anywhere else. The other evening my wife wasn't feeling too great so asked me to take the kids to karate class; which I happily did and planned to use the 45 min class as a spot to pick up some sauce making ingredients. After getting to the the dojo, I googled the nearest supermarket and it happened to be Fiesta. So off I went - I don't think I've ever been to a Fiesta before so had no expectations. Wow, just wow! The produce looked natural, not the carefully curated, picture perfect stuff you get in Kroger. I rabidly grabbed tomatoes, tomatillos, onions, garlic etc and then came across a shelf full of these!

51802587332_9506272e6b_b.jpg


Why did no one tell me that I can get rocotos so easily? Naturally I grabbed a couple lbs and came home and started researching recipes. The most interesting one I found that didn't have cream or mayonnaise is this one: Bicolana’s Kitchen Hot Chili Sauce

I slightly modified the quantities and left out a few things:
  • All the rocotos I bought (about 10)
  • 2 brown onions
  • 1 bulb garlic
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 6 brown pears
  • 3 tomatoes
  • apple cider vinegar until the pH hit 4.0
  • 2 tbsp lime juice
And instead of all the complicated cooking instructions, I simply put everything in the blender (deseeding the peppers and pears), blended the snot out of it and then stuck it in a saucepan to simmer for a while. I added another tsp of salt, a tbs of soy sauce and a dash of vegan Worcestershire sauce to round it out. I'm very surprised - it's not the hottest sauce in the world but has great flavour, natural sweetness and the slow burn of the rocotos. It's also pretty thick so definitely one for the squeeze bottles. I'm pretty terrible at writing down recipes but I wanted to make a record of this one as it turned out pretty good from the start. Now I just need to make a label...

51812773203_5c70d807bb_b.jpg
Click to expand...
This sounds amazing, might have to dig in my freezer later today and make some.
 
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Finally got around to labels. Now that it's had some time to mellow, I think the sauce is a little low on the salt for my taste. It's flavourful but quite light on the palate. Having said that, my buddy tried it and he absolutely loves it as is - he refused to leave until I gave him a bottle. I'm more of an "in your face" flavour kinda guy and this may need a little more enhancement. I'll be eating this over the next few weeks and see if my opinion changes.

IMG_2131.jpeg
 
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Salt may not be the issue. It can be with more basic sauces, but with more complex sauces you can use other ingredients to make it more dimensional, like garlic, etc.
 
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Cool! Maybe more PEPPERS! Ha! Heat often solves the issue too. Awesome pepper favor and you don't miss salt. I usually think it needs more salt with the milder/simpler sauces with 5 or less ingredients. But yeah getting it right is key. I often have to salt a soup I buy in a can. Makes it really pop when you get it right.
 
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