BS: 'Hot Sauce' - how to make?

Subject: BS: 'Hot Sauce' - how to make?
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 24 Jan 10 - 02:52 PM

You know (or you might) that Indian restaurants cook a "hot sauce" which is what they use to add the sensation of heat to curries? They cook to taste and then add the hot sauce as appropriate.

Does anyone know how it's done?

I'm thinking of doing a meat squidge and a separate vegan squidge on the 31st Jan for invitees after my folk session in the local pub, and if I did a "hot sauce" people could add the hot sauce to preference.

I could use Paul's "Pain" ketchup but it is (a) very dangerous indeed (as in one drop makes a whole tin of baked beans teeter on the brink of "pokey") and (b) more sort of salsa flavour than curry; and (c) his not mine.

Subject: RE: BS: 'Hot Sauce' - how to make?
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 24 Jan 10 - 04:14 PM

I haven't got a recipe for you, but I use bottled chilli sauce to top off my veggie brews all the time.

A few dashes of Tabasco sauce does the trick used as a last minute seasoning same as salt & pepper.

I like Jamaican Encona sauce even better used in the same way, but it is *strong* and it's easy to blob way too much on!

I got something much less dangerous heat wise (and very tasty) from Sainsbury's recently off of one of their fancy pants foody isles made by 'trees can't dance', a bottle of smoked chipotle sauce: Smokey Chipotle Sauce

Well worth it for that added smokey warmth.

Subject: RE: BS: 'Hot Sauce' - how to make?
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 24 Jan 10 - 04:28 PM

Thank you CS - but I want a separate sauce that can just be added to either the meat squidge or the vegan squidge as serving.

Subject: RE: BS: 'Hot Sauce' - how to make?
From: mousethief
Date: 24 Jan 10 - 06:13 PM

There are any number of sauces sold here in the USA that are basically ground up chillis and water; you can get them to varying degrees of hotness. Nothing like that over there? Here the best selection is in the "Mexican" aisle of your grocery store. If you speak Spanish and and/or feel really adventurous you can go to your nearby tienda and really play Russian -- well, Mexican -- roulette.

Tabasco is good but is 1/2 vinegar so it will add a sour taste. There's another brand, Louisiana Hot Sauce, I think it's called, that is just hot.

But I have no idea if you have these there (I'm assuming you're in the UK?) Are there Asian food stores you might go into and ask what they have?

My guess is that the stuff the restaurants is probably similar to the pepper sauces we get here -- chillis and water. I imagine though that to make your own might be difficult (and painful).

O..O
=o=

Subject: RE: BS: 'Hot Sauce' - how to make?
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 24 Jan 10 - 06:28 PM

I make a mean harissa paste - well, several variants. I am in the uk. Maybe I should try the place I get my poppadums.

Subject: RE: BS: 'Hot Sauce' - how to make?
From: mousethief
Date: 24 Jan 10 - 07:12 PM

We have so little Indian food here - I envy you! Although Mrs. Mouse isn't very excited about Indian food, so even what little we have, I don't get to savour as often as I'd like.

(Entre nous, tikka masala is a little dull, isn't it?)

O..O
=o=

Subject: RE: BS: 'Hot Sauce' - how to make?
From: GUEST,999
Date: 24 Jan 10 - 07:15 PM

Richard,

There is a suce commercially available that would work for you.

"Tuong Ot Toi Vietnam"

It's a chili garlic sauce. It would work for curries.


Another thing you could do is get oil you stir fry vegetables in and add cayenne pepper to it. Strain the oil and use that to fry the food in. It will add the heat you seek. (Peanut oil works best because it doesn't burn until about 425 degrees F and most other oils start to burn at about 360 degrees F.

Also, ask at a local Indian/Pakistani restaurant what the cook would recommend.

Subject: RE: BS: 'Hot Sauce' - how to make?
From: GUEST,999
Date: 24 Jan 10 - 07:18 PM

Picture of the TOTV sauce here.

It also works well in soups, rice, stir-fried vegetables, meat, etc. I love the stuff. Oh, yeah, I add it to grilled cheese sandwiches.

Subject: RE: BS: 'Hot Sauce' - how to make?
From: open mike
Date: 24 Jan 10 - 08:11 PM

what's 'SQUIDGE'
are you talking curry hot or hot pepper salsa hot?

Subject: RE: BS: 'Hot Sauce' - how to make?
From: bobad
Date: 24 Jan 10 - 09:08 PM

You can make up a solution by dissolving some ground red chili in either alcohol or vegetable oil and adding varying amounts to the dish according to the concentration and desired heat level.

"Capsaicin is insoluble in cold water, but freely soluble in alcohol and vegetable oils."

From http://antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/features/capsaicin.shtml

Subject: RE: BS: 'Hot Sauce' - how to make?
From: Crow Sister (off with the fairies)
Date: 25 Jan 10 - 08:12 AM

"I want a separate sauce that can just be added to either the meat squidge or the vegan squidge as serving."

Not understanding you very well here, sorry RB. Are you seeking something to actually mix in, or to add as a last minute seasoning (I was assuming the latter)?

I was meaning a bottled sauce that you leave on the table as a condiment, so folks can add it if they want it to their bowl of stew - or not - as they wish. Same as ketchup or HP, except that Ketchup & HP don't make your bum sting the next day.. :-)

Anyhoo, I think I'm barking up the wrong tree, so I'll be quiet now :-)

Subject: RE: BS: 'Hot Sauce' - how to make?
From: peregrina
Date: 25 Jan 10 - 08:22 AM

You can make chili oil by adding dried chilis (birdseye--or any other) to the oil of your choice (olive, canola, whatever); let it sit for a while--days or weeks--and you'll get something strong, or very strong.
Add wasabi powder if you want it to be incendiary. Taste carefully, warn guests! Best served in a bottle that can't accidentally dispense tablespoons when you only want drops.

Subject: RE: BS: 'Hot Sauce' - how to make?
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 25 Jan 10 - 08:38 AM

Squidge is a thickened stew. Best done in slow cooker.

A tiny bit of water in the bottom of the slow cooker. Add a flavouring (oxo or similar for meat ones, marmite for vegan) and a thickener (bisto or similar for meat ones, cornflour sauce or flour roux for vegan).

Fry onions and add.

If making "hot" version, black peppercorns.

If meat, fry little lumps of meat and add.

In saucepan, heat chopped toms.

Add sliced or chunked root veg - carrots or turnips or swede, or little potatoes.

If making hot version, add chopped chillis.

Add garlic (lots).

Add paprika (lots) and basil (lots) and oregano (lots) and maybe some jeera or kala jeera.

Simmer for a few minutes.

Dump it in the slow cooker.


About an hour later, put sliced leek across the top and if necessary add water to make sure the leek is in water. You can also add sliced aubergine or chunked courgette if so minded.

About an hour later add thickener - could be pearl Barley, could be pulses if you remembered to soak them overnight the night before.

About an hour later you might want to add a couple of sliced mushrooms, not too many they can be overpowering.

About an hour later add chopped celery and/or sliced big peppers.

You can concatenate those hour intervals if so wishing but then the courgette, celery and peppers tend to go mushy.

Go to pub for several hours and sing folk song.

Return - last minute thickening if needed (eg if you have people who hate runny stew) with instant mash.

Eat, burp, go home.






Now, the likely assemblage will include maybe two vegans and a couple of vegetarians as well as some who turn thier noses up at anything without meat in - so I HAVE to do meat and non-meat.

Some however (like me) like flamethrower fuel, but some like fairly or very mild.


So the only option is to do one meat, and a non-meat (one in slow cooker one in crock in oven) and have an instant octane booster ("hot sauce") on hand that the dragons can stir into their bowl of squidge at serving time.   Not a side serving of relish.


For the "hot sauce" the aim is more an indian-influenced flavour than a Mexican one. I have elsewhere been given:

"Hot Pepper Sauce

Habanero peppers and/or
Jalapeno peppers and/or
Cayenne peppers and/or
Hot chili peppers
Approximately 2 cups, total (of the peppers)

1 head unpeeled garlic
1 cup red wine vinegar
1 T. sugar


Directions:
The exact proportions of the various types of peppers above can be varied depending on your personal tastes and what you have available. For a milder sauce, milder varieties such as Hot Wax, Banana, Pimento, or Bell peppers can be substituted for a portion of the hot varieties listed above.

Using rubber gloves, clean and de-seed approximately 2 cups of peppers. In a saucepan, combine the peppers, garlic, and vinegar and cook, covered, over low heat for approximately one hour. Keep an eye on the liquid and reduce heat and add more vinegar if it seems to be boiling away quickly. Press through a sieve or a food mill, add the sugar, and return to low heat for approximately 30 minutes or until slightly thickened. Pour into a jar or bottle which can be sealed and refrigerate. Will keep in refrigerator for several months"



I will not seed the chillis (maybe scotch bonnets), probably use wine not vinegar (no Moslems coming, and even if there were it would surely be true that the alcohol boils off so they should be OK) and I will smash everything to wossname in a blender before cooking.

So long as there are no observant Jews coming (my kitchen is very non-kosher anyway) I might use a little milk in the sauce as well as a vehicle for the chilli. I might add some cumin, coriander, and honey too.

Subject: RE: BS: 'Hot Sauce' - how to make?
From: theleveller
Date: 25 Jan 10 - 09:03 AM

I use ground dried chilies (Hungarian Carrot because that's what I mainly grow), ground cumin and coriander in equal quantities and tomato paste, blended to a paste with hot chicken (or vegetable) stock. Just spoon it on top or stir it in.

Subject: RE: BS: 'Hot Sauce' - how to make?
From: Rowan
Date: 25 Jan 10 - 05:47 PM

Your directions above are similar to a sauce I made as a way of using up some tomatoes and chilies that had lasted until the frosts knocked off the plants I was looking after for some absent friends. The only differences were that, where you use vinegar (I did add a dash) I used lemons in (proportionally) substantial quantity.

It turned out quite well.

Good luck.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: 'Hot Sauce' - how to make?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 25 Jan 10 - 07:25 PM

If you really want to create your own secret hot sauce, you should be able to find ground cayenne pepper in the spice section. A small "can full" soaked in a half bottle of Vodka for a few days, with occasional stirring/shaking, should result in a fluid sufficient to add some "bite" to almost anything without being so strong that "overdosing" is too much of a hazard.

There are other pepper varieties that are "hotter" than cayenne, but it's sort of the "standard for humans" as hot enough, but seldom fatal. Whether you can find a more potent chili pepper would depend on your local market, but as suggested the Mex section of the food/spice market is probably most likely to offer something dangerous enough.

The other half of the vodka can be used to dilute as required, and/or some mild tomato sauce or other "thickener" can be used to cut it back.

While tasting/testing to develop the degree of heat you want, remember that milk - or better a spoonfull of ice cream - is a frequently suggested treatment for restoring the taste buds for the next strength increment.

An alternative would be a jar of prepared jalapeños, pureed to a mush and mixed with whatever diluents seem appropriate. In my area, they're available in Mild, Regular, and Hot, but brand differences mean you'd want to do some testing before deciding you have the right hot for your purposes. Most prepared jalapeños do have some vinegar, so you'd have to decide whether well-drained mush suits your use.

Be bold - but don't go to dangerous.

John

Subject: RE: BS: 'Hot Sauce' - how to make?
From: GUEST,999
Date: 25 Jan 10 - 07:30 PM

Further to what JiK said: Drink the vodka THEN add about 10 tbsps of cayenne to the mix. Be the envy of your friends . . . .

Subject: RE: BS: 'Hot Sauce' - how to make?
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 25 Jan 10 - 09:17 PM

According to the link in my last post, someone got some really hot stuff somewhere near Augsburg. The news clip doesn't name it though.

John