• If you have a question about commercial production or the hot sauce business, please post in Startup Help.

Chef John's version of Sriracha

I have a bag of red japs just waiting for me to have the free time to make some. I'll probably add some hotter red peppers like cayenne though to make it a bit zestier.

Cant go too hot or my wife wont touch it.
 
Jeff H said:
I have a bag of red japs just waiting for me to have the free time to make some. I'll probably add some hotter red peppers like cayenne though to make it a bit zestier.

Cant go too hot or my wife wont touch it.
Yeah I was thinking Thai over Serrano. Might do it both ways!
 
I just made two quart jars full with something similar except I used white sugar and a mix of red japs, orange and red habs, and ghost peppers. Fermenting now.
 
Fun fact: Huy Fong used to be made with red serranos, then he switched to red jalapenos.

Hold up folks...
 
I used about 75% red jalapenos, also sold as “Fresno chilies,”
 
These are different peppers!
 
JoynersHotPeppers said:
Yeah I was thinking Thai over Serrano. Might do it both ways!
 
I think you're on to something. I don't have near as many thai peppers as you, but I have a couple of red varieties. They might be better than cayenne. 
 
 
The Hot Pepper said:
Fun fact: Huy Fong used to be made with red serranos, then he switched to red jalapenos.

Hold up folks...
 
I used about 75% red jalapenos, also sold as “Fresno chilies,”
 
These are different peppers!
 
 
Yeah, I noticed that too. 
 
I'm going to use cayenne, red Thai, and Caribbean red.  If I can just set aside the time... next week at the earliest, but I'm looking forward to the mash/ferment.  Been wanting to do that for years (successfully).
 
As The Boss said, red jalapenos are not the same as the ubiquitous red chiles found in supermarkets.  Also, rooster sauce is fermented.... no way to replicate that flavor without fermenting (at least for a week from what I've read~) 
 
Chef John may need a refresher course in Chiles 101...:rolleyes:...
 
The point is fermented sauce. Not aged.

Like soy sauce. They ferment soy beans for 2 days.

Sriracha is fermented.

Tabasco is aged.

Think grapes to wine (100% fermented) and wine to aged wine.

They are all different stages of flavor.
 
Okay so I ended up processing this yesterday. The taste is wonderful. This was my first attempt at any sort of ferment. Seemed to go pretty well. Today I am going to start a longer ferment with salts and whey. So my question is that after heating to 190 for 15 minutes, then blending again, then heating again to 190 for another 15 minutes, should I still see separation and slight bubbling in the bottles. My temps were good, PH was 3.1.  I read the 101 yet I am still curious. thanks
 
thai peppers all the way. this is similar to the recipe i use and it is my go to sauce for everything. i have not tried fermenting this but "if it ain't broke don't fix it". i also have just found palm sugar and find it adds another note to the sauce, kinda butterscotch/ caramel.
 
TheBuck78 said:
Okay so I ended up processing this yesterday. The taste is wonderful. This was my first attempt at any sort of ferment. Seemed to go pretty well. Today I am going to start a longer ferment with salts and whey. So my question is that after heating to 190 for 15 minutes, then blending again, then heating again to 190 for another 15 minutes, should I still see separation and slight bubbling in the bottles. My temps were good, PH was 3.1.  I read the 101 yet I am still curious. thanks
Once you heated it to 190F for 15min, that kills all the fermentation action.  There can be bubbles in the sauce just from the process of bottling it, and separation is normal for a blendered sauce.  All sauces will have some separation eventually unless they have some kind of emulsifier.  It just takes longer for thicker sauces to show the separation than for thinner sauces. 
 
It may take a few days for the bubbles to come to the top of the bottle but once they do and you shake them down, you shouldn't see any more bubbles.  If you shake down the bubbles and a few days later you notice MORE bubbles....then I might be worried....
 
Have you ever noticed that chileheads have this telling habit of shaking bottles whether or not the bottle needs it?  :lol:     
 
Thai, cayenne, red jalapenos, Caribbean reds.  The mug is now in a cool dark closet and I'll give it a stir once or twice a day for the next few days.
 
r100_9620_zpse64c1fd4.jpg

 
r100_9624_zps71730a9c.jpg

 
r100_9627_zps3a9fda76.jpg

 
r100_9628_zps7450c460.jpg
 
pepperjunky,
looks good.  I'd suggest putting a rubberband over the plastic wrap to lessen the chance of oxygen getting in.
 
Back
Top