Fermented Hot Chili Sauce

In our magazine, we’ve discussed the many benefits of fermented foods and why they should be incorporated into your diet. In this recipe for fermented hot chili sauce, the benefits of fermentation are combined with the nutritious chili pepper to create not only a healthy combination but also a pleasingly spicy taste. With pure ingredients like the peppers, garlic, cane sugar, and sea salt, this fermented hot chili sauce is simple to whip up and even easier to consume 😉

“Fermented hot chili sauce – explosive with heat and teeming with food enzymes, beneficial bacteria, vitamin C and carotene. Traditionally, all hot chili sauces were prepared through fermentation – and many of the world’s most renowned and well-loved sauces are still prepared through this time-honored technique of combining hot chilies with salt and allowing it to sit and brew away. Both Tabasco sauce and sri ra cha are traditionally prepared through lactic acid fermentation – chilies, salt and time are the only absolutely necessary ingredients.

choosing chilies to ferment

When I saw the lovely habañero chilies at the farmers market – orange and red, yellow and green, I knew that while a fresh salsa might be lovely, a fermented hot chili sauce would be divine. So I packed several brown bags, filling them with some of the worlds most fiery peppers. They’re not the hottest, though; rather, the Ghost chili takes that prize averaging between 850,000 and 1 million Scoville units. My vibrant and lovely Scotch bonnets? Why, they rake in a mere 100,000 to 350,000 Scoville units. Of course any chili will do – cayenne peppers, jalapeños, Holland chilies all do beautifully, and I’m particularly partial to the combination of green jalapeños coupled with tomatillos for its fresh and slightly herbaceous undertones.”