This was the first hot sauce recipe I ever tried and it turned out wonderfully. It's based on the classic process used by McIlhenny's for Tabasco sauce. I first encountered it in Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky (fabulous book!) and have used it twice so far with great results.
This one has a pure, fresh jalapeno flavor that will remind you of the garden in summer no matter what time of year you eat it. Bruce says "You can taste the sunshine in it!" The banana peppers add just a little bit of sweetness to it to round it out.
Ingredients:
2 to 3 lbs. jalapeno peppers
1 lb sweet banana peppers
(peppers should fill a 1-gallon container)
a little less than 1/2 cup kosher salt
2 cups white vinegar
Process:
Wash peppers and remove the stems. Rough chop peppers so they will fit easily into a food processor. Run chopped peppers (seeds and all) through a food processor until coarsely ground. Add a little of the vinegar to get it going if need be (most likely). Transfer batches of ground peppers into a very large bowl or container. Once all of the peppers are ground and in the bowl, add salt and stir in well. Transfer ground peppers with salt to a 1-gallon+ container that can seal as airtight as possible and close.
Let the pepper/salt mixture sit in the airtight container for 4-6 hours. The salt will leech the pepper juices out a bit. Once there is a little liquid in with the peppers, press the solids down so that they are below the surface of the liquid. (I use a flat plastic lid from a takeout container or food storage container. You can usually cut them down to the right size with good scissors.) If there is not much liquid from just the salt and peppers you can add a bit of the vinegar to cover.
Once the pepper/salt mixture is pressed down under liquid/vinegar, close the container and let sit for 3-4 weeks. Then add the rest of the vinegar on the top and let sit another week or two.
Once the aging process is complete (your discretion), put the mixture in a blender and puree. You will probably need to do this in batches as well unless you have a very large blender. Put each batch in a large bowl. Once the pureeing is done, run the pureed mixture through a sieve to strain out whatever little bits may still be present. This also gives the sauce a nice smooth consistency.
Bottle/Jar and serve.
Methods of adding the vinegar vary so there is some leeway with how much you put in initially and how much to add later. Any way you cut it, the longer it ages, the better.
Enjoy!
This meal, as I came to think about many of my meals in Japan, was amazing. Not only for taste, but also for diversity, precision and size. This first dish - sesame tofu with wasabi, was delicious. A perfectly silken but firm piece of tofu, topped with just enough wasabi to offset the sweet soy sauce. I don't even like wasabi, and I loved this.
The next course consisted of (clockwise from left), egg with shrimp and sea urchin, "seafood" (a bit like escargot, maybe) served in a seashell, salmon roe with daikon, chicken with black sesame, and "fish." All of it was unlike anything I've ever tasted. Even though I had salmon roe before, this batch seemed especially flavorful, as though little bubbles were bursting in my mouth. It was also amazing to have a series of such diverse tastes that clearly reflect considerable effort, all in small portions on my plate. Apparently Thomas Keller was not the first to think of the multi-course amazing tasting menu.
Next was - you guessed this one - sashimi. But also perhaps the best sashimi I have ever had. It consisted of scallop (causing me to question why I have never ordered scallop sashimi here), tuna, and flounder. The scallop possessed all of the excellent qualities of cooked scallop in terms of texture, but in an intensified way.
The grilled fish entree course, common in kaiseki meals, was mackeral with spring onion and miso. We were instructed to dip the onion in the miso bean mixture. As expected, the contrast was delicious and the fish done to delicate perfection. Because scale is not always clear, I will tell you that the fish was about three bites big, the perfect size for an eight course meal.
The next course, although not entire clear from the picture here, consisted of an amazing soup that featured crab, fish, squid and mussels topped with this odd rice-like grain (and another great addition of a little wasabi). The taste of seafood soups was always extraordinary in Japan, infused with a rich flavor. This was no exception.
The sixth course remains perhaps my favorite of anything in Japan (although I do tend toward both exaggerated and superlative descriptions, I did love this course). It consisted of crabmeat and cucumber wrapped in soy paper served on top of sliced persimmon, with rice wine vinegar and topped with chrysanthemum. A tremendous effort and a great result - all for two perfect bites.
The seventh course was a combination -- one of rich rice, infused with a mushroom that we were told was "very expensive" and prized by the Japanese, and clam soup. I wasn't sure what the fuss was about the rice, although it was rich and flavorful in an almost meaty way. But the soup was flavored simply with the clams and shiso leaf, a particularly interesting combination that was quirky and satisfying.