The post Making Hot Sauce detailed making a red hot sauce. Making other hot sauces is very similar to this process. Making the hot sauce yourself allows you to make either hotter or milder than what you would normally buy depending on your taste. Here is how I make a mango habanero hot sauce, and again you can tweak the recipe to your own taste.
Finished the hot sauce can be bottled into woozy bottles, bottles similar to those hot sauce is normally sold in, which are readily available online or in any container that can be used in a hot water bath canning method. Finished the mango habanero sauce looks similar to this:
In the red hot sauce the recipe was broken down into what was added per quarter pound of hot peppers, this recipe is based on how many mangoes are used in the sauce.
- 1 mango
- 1 medium onion
- 1 carrot
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 5 habanero peppers
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- juice of half a lime
Depending on how hot you want your sauce, several recipes online call for the number of habaneros used to vary from three to seven habaneros per mango. First chop the fruits and vegetables and add them to a pot with the salt and water until everything is not quiet covered. Water will cook out of these ingredients so they don't need to be completely covered. Simmer the ingredients until everything is tender. It will look something like this:
Once everything is cooked, the solids can be processed through a food mill or pureed in a food processor. Save the liquid portion in case you want to thin the sauce down after it is processed. If a food processor is used the mixture can be forced through a strainer to remove the habanero seeds and any pieces that didn't get pureed adequately. An alternative for a chunkier, and hotter, sauce is to skip the straining process. After processing add the lime juice and apple cider vinegar, you will have a smooth sauce that goes especially well with seafood or chicken.
The sauce is ready to use or to hot water bath can for later use. If you're going to use the sauce fresh, make it up a day or two in advance to let it age some. It should last a couple of weeks in the refrigerator as it is but I wouldn't risk it longer than that.
Speaking of chicken, I highly recommend taking the sauce and making a wing sauce from it. Grill the chicken wings and toss them in the sauce for a real treat.
