Why the onions, garlic, carrots and fruit juice?

Turbota · May 22, 2013

I see so many recipes for hot pepper sauce that contain onions, garlic, carrots, coconut juice, mango juice, pineapple juice, etc ... you would think we are making some kind of vegetable soup.

I am not talking about the non-fermented fresh style "Salsa" that you might find at a Mexican restaurant served with warm tortilla chips ... What I am talking about is your average homemade fermented "Hot Pepper Sauce" that is supposed to be something like store bought "Tabasco" sauce (except better)

If you read the labels on the various hot sauces available in the grocery store such as Tabasco, Texas Pete, Crystal, Frank's, etc ... they all pretty much just contain red peppers, vinegar and salt.

There are no onions, no carrots, and no other ingredients that you would find in vegetable soup or what you might find in some exotic South-Seas fruit juice drink your wife might order while at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville in Key West while on vacation (of course, topped with the compulsory paper umbrella).

I am just wondering if all this extra 'stuff' is really necessary in homemade hot sauce (ie: Tabasco)?

Ron,

salsalady · Jun 21, 2013

Turbota said:
If you look at the ingredients on a bottle of Tabasco, Crystal, Texas Pete, Frank's or many of the other brands of bottled hot sauce, about the only ingredients in them is red peppers, vinegar and salt.

Opinions?

Those companies have been making the same sauce the same way for a loooong time. They are not going to change their original recipes. But does that mean that style of sauce should be the ONLY sauce available to consumers? Apparently Tabasco brand has been paying attention to what's happening in the hot sauce world. They've brought out a green sauce, a chipotle sauce.....Melinda's and some others have also been around a long time, and they use fruits and veggies.

Like The Boss said....if you don't like onions, don't use 'em! It's your sauce, make it the way you want! There is no right or wrong recipe......

well, maybe the only wrong recipe is one that goes bad from nasties.

Turbota · Jun 21, 2013

[SIZE=11pt]I think my first small batch of hot sauce is going to look like this:[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]1 1/2 cups                   Thai Dragon Red Peppers            (Stemmed, Seeds Removed and Chopped)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]1/2 cup                        Fresh Cherries                              (Pits Removed and Chopped) [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]1 tablespoon               Yogart Whey    [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]1 teaspoon                  Sea Salt[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]1 cup                           Bottled Drinking Water[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]1/2 cup                        'Silver Swan' Coconut Vinegar    (Philippines)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]_________________________________________________[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]1.[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] Remove the stem from each pepper. Then slit lengthways and scrape out the seeds and chop.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]2.[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] Place the peppers, cherries and whey into a sterilized mixing bowl. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]3. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Completely disolve the sea salt into the water, and then pour into the other ingredients.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]4. [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Mix well, and then pour these ingredients into a sterilized 16oz Mason jar. There must be a minimum of at least 2" airspace left at the top of the jar for the mixture to expand during it's fermentation.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]5.[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] Ferment the mixture for 40 days in a warm room environment, but away from sunlight.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]6.[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] [/SIZE][SIZE=11pt]Once a week, momentarily loosen the jar lid to let the gasses escape and then re-tighten the lid.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]7.[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] After 40 days, pour the fermented pepper mixture into a blender. Add the vinegar and blend until smooth. Add a little water as needed until the desired consistency is achieved.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]8.[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] Pour the pepper sauce into a pot and bring to a light boil, then simmer for an aditional 20 minutes.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]9.[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] Add more water as necessary to achieve the desired final consistency of the hot sauce.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]Caution:[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] Do not breathe in the fumes from the pot while heating. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]10.[/SIZE][SIZE=11pt] After cooking, pour the still very warm sauce though a sterilized small fine wire mesh sieve and [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]into a sterilized jar or bottles. Mashing the sauce through the sieve will allow the finished sauce to [/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]pass through the sieve, and only the heavy pulp will remain ... Discard this remaining pulp.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=11pt]__________________________________[/SIZE]

SmokenFire · Jun 21, 2013

Turbota said:
There must be a reason that these companies don't add vegetables like carrots, onions and garlic to there fermented sauce.

There are many reasons to make additions to your mash, flavor and balance being the best imo.

Whitewookie · Jun 22, 2013

Jayzus boys, I thought I would come here and gather information to aid my quest to build the one perfect sauce.... Now I learn that there are several, used for different reasons or foods, or moods.... Dammit man, this is gonna be expensive and time consuming.... Thanks for that.

salsalady · Jun 22, 2013

Whitewookie said:
Jayzus boys, I thought I would come here and gather information to aid my quest to build the one perfect sauce.... Now I learn that there are several, used for different reasons or foods, or moods.... Dammit man, this is gonna be expensive and time consuming.... Thanks for that.

Don't worry, it's all a conspiracy and you've just been duped. We suck you in for one reason and before you know it, you're growing 200 plants, and making fermented things, and grinding and drying.........

:carvesanothernotchinthewoodenspoon:

Phil · Jun 23, 2013

Ingredients in Iguana brand Mean Green jalapeno sauce: Jalapenos-36.5%, water, cane vinegar, salt, carrts, cane sugar, onion, corn starch, garlic, ascorbic acid, & 1% sodium benzoate as a preservative.

I don't have a bottle of Tabasco brand habanero sauce, but I ibeliieve there are bananas and carrots in there. So even Tabasco brand branches out from the three traditional ingredients.

I think it depends on the type of pepper you're using and the flavor profile you're after. That iguana brand above is a phenomenal green sauce on pizza! I also slather their XXX Habanero sauce on food. The flavoor is amazing!

Sometimes you want a bolder, more complex flavor than just peppers and viinegar. Sometimes you want straight forward epper sauce. I don't think any one way is defined as "THE" way to do it.

ALSO, usiing things like onions helps to balance out the acidity of the sauce. Onions introduce a little alkalinity to the mixture, so whiile you add flavor, you also mellow the acitity and balance that sour flavor. Personally, I choose to leave out the onions. The more sauces I experiment on, the less ingredients I find myself using. I wasn't pleased with any of the first few batches I made last year until I made my jalapeno/serrano sauce because it was the simplest and tastiest. It's the only one I actually used all of.

Whitewookie · Jun 23, 2013

salsalady said:
Don't worry, it's all a conspiracy and you've just been duped. We suck you in for one reason and before you know it, you're growing 200 plants, and making fermented things, and grinding and drying.........

:carvesanothernotchinthewoodenspoon:

I know, I know... It's like some mind control cult or something. Seriously, we are already planning to double our pepper growing space next season.