Sarah's angry sauce
A traditional Mexican hot sauce that keeps indefinitely in the fridge. Process mostly stolen shamelessly from Rick Bayless. Adapted to use fresh chiles and different seasonings and vinegars.
Ingredients
- 70 fresh red bird's eye (Thai) chiles
- 1/2 oz dried piquín chiles
- 3 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1/4 tsp whole cumin seed
- 4 allspice berries
- 2 cloves
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup rice vinegar
- 3/4 cup water
Directions
Remove stems from fresh chiles and sort through piquín chilies, discarding stems and discolored chiles. Toast sesame seeds in a dry pan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until they are well roasted. Grind cumin, allspice, oregano and cloves in a spice grinder. Add spices, chiles, sesame seeds and vinegars to a blender, and blend until completely smooth. Let rest for 2-3 hours at room temperature to let flavors meld. Strain through cheesecloth or a nut milk bag, add water and salt, bottle and refrigerate. Keeps indefinitely as long as it's properly strained and refrigerated. A little goes a very long way -- this is a flavor additive, not a salsa for dipping.
Notes
50,000-100,000 Scoville heat units depending on the raw materials. Start by using 1/20 as much as you would Tabasco, or 1/4 as much as you would crushed red pepper flakes by volume.
If you want a less spicy sauce, substitute 20-25 rehydrated dried chiles de árbol for the bird's eye chiles, and reduce piquín peppers by half, to make something similar in heat to Tapatío. To go even milder, replace the piquín chiles completely with 1/2 of a jarred roasted red bell pepper and you'll be close to Cholula.
We use about 1/2 tsp of this recipe (as written) in a bowl of my Chili con carne to yield a bowl of chili that will make all your life problems seem insignificant by comparison.
