Chili sauce is served with various dishes, it is very popular in Latin America, the USA, and Asia. Making it at home, you can adjust the spiciness, add fruits, vegetables, and juices, and adapt any recipe to your taste.
Why is chili so popular?
Chili sauce is popular because of its simplicity and brightness: it is quickly prepared from ordinary ingredients and gives dishes a recognizable hot sweet taste. It is added to soups, vegetables, salads, noodles – buckwheat or egg, shrimp, salmon, you can simply pour it over corn – it will be delicious.
Chili is our everything. We have different varieties of this pepper. In Mexico, they say that those who do not like chili are not Mexican. Some cook chili only from green peppers, some – only from red, adding spices: coriander, oregano, garlic and onion are the most common of them. And some mix a mixture of hot peppers with bell peppers. Some add zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms, tomatoes and beans to this mixture. There are those who add flour or starch for thickness. And also meat broth, – says Mexican chef Gustavo Alvarez.
Tips for Making Chili at Home
- Toast the spices for one to two minutes over medium heat to intensify the flavor, then add vinegar, water, fruit, or juice if the recipe calls for it.
- When handling very hot peppers, such as jalapenos , wear gloves and avoid touching exposed skin as this may cause irritation.
- If you want to reduce the heat, don’t change the recipe, just remove the chili seeds, either partially or completely. The alkaloid capsaicin, which gives peppers their hot taste, is found in the seeds, veins, and skin of the fruit.
Interesting fact The Thai chili sauce recipe, sriracha, was invented in 1935 by Thanom Chakkapak, a resident of the city of Si Racha, which is how the product got its name. It contains pepper, vinegar, salt, sugar and pickled garlic.
1. Chili pepper sauce
A classic recipe, this sauce goes well with fried chicken wings and a neutral side dish, such as plain rice. To allow everyone to choose the right spiciness, serve the sauce separately in small bowls.
Ingredients:
- chili – 320 g;
- garlic – 2 heads or 80 g;
- black pepper – 1 tsp;
- salt – 1.5 tsp;
- sugar – 3 tbsp;
- table vinegar 9% – 3 tbsp.
Time in the kitchen: 20 minutes.
Chop the peppers and garlic, add the remaining ingredients and transfer to a saucepan, heat over medium heat for 10 minutes. Serve or transfer to jars once the sauce has cooled.
2. Hot sauce
Sweet pepper added to the sauce softens the spiciness, and starch makes it thicker, so it will be convenient to dip pieces of meat, flatbread or vegetables into it.
Ingredients:
- bell pepper – 250 g;
- chili – 105 g;
- garlic – 40 g;
- salt – 1 tsp;
- sugar – 100 g;
- vinegar – 50 ml;
- starch – 10 g.
Time in the kitchen: 10 minutes.
Grind two types of pepper and garlic in a meat grinder – this way the vegetables will give more juice. Then put everything in a saucepan, add salt, sugar, vinegar and put on the fire. When it boils, pour in the starch.
3. Sweet with pineapple juice
The combination of sweet and spicy works well with rice, noodles, meat and vegetables, and they can be cooked with a minimum of spices. The basic recipe includes soy sauce and ginger, but this is up to you.
Ingredients:
- pineapple juice – 180 ml;
- starch – 1 tbsp;
- rice vinegar – 25 ml;
- garlic – 1 clove;
- chili – to taste;
- coconut sugar – 2 tbsp;
- salt – 0.5 tsp;
- soy sauce – 40 ml;
- ginger root – 20 g.
Time in the kitchen: 10 minutes.
Grind all ingredients in a blender until creamy. To get a more pronounced sweet fruity taste, add some pineapple pulp. Transfer the resulting puree to a saucepan and cook until thickened.
4. Vietnamese sweet sauce
The most unusual chili recipe in our selection. The classic combination of chili, garlic, vinegar and sugar is used as a base here, and the main ingredient is fish sauce . It is made from fermented fish, usually anchovies, and has a sharp, specific smell, so it is added in small quantities.
Ingredients:
- chili – 75 g;
- bell pepper – 95 g;
- garlic – 3 cloves;
- water – 200 ml;
- rice vinegar 4.2% – 3 tbsp.;
- cane sugar – 3 tbsp;
- salt – 0.5 tsp;
- fish sauce – 1 tbsp.
Time in the kitchen: 20 minutes.
Chop the pepper and garlic, put the resulting puree in a saucepan, add vinegar, water, salt, sugar, cook for 10 minutes. Then remove from heat, pour in fish sauce and bring to a boil again.
How to store at home
The sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for several days. The period depends on the amount of vinegar, the time of heat treatment and the container – it is better to use sterilized jars . It can be kept in the freezer indefinitely , but it is better to eat the sauce within three months, while the taste properties are preserved.
What can be done?
Make chilli con carne , which combines hot peppers, meat and vegetables in one dish. Use beef or, if you need it faster, mince . For a vegetarian version, replace the meat with tofu , and if you want more variety, add corn and different types of beans.
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