Habanero Hot Sauce
courtesy of Rick Bayless
Ingredients
5 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 medium carrot, peeled, roughly chopped
1/2 small white onion, roughly chopped
12 medium orange habanero chiles, stemmed
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
Method
Roast the garlic in a skillet over medium heat, turning regularly until soft and blackened in spots, 10 to 15 minutes. Cool and peel.
In a small saucepan, combine the carrot, onion and habanero chiles with the vinegar and 1 cup water. Partially cover and simmer over medium-low heat until the carrots are thoroughly tender, about 10 minutes. Pour into a blender jar, add the roasted garlic, salt and sugar. Blend until smooth.
If the hot sauce is too thick, add additional water. If it is too thin, blanch and peel a medium tomato and blend into the sauce.
Taste and season with additional salt if you think necessary. Pour into jars or bottles and store in the refrigerator.
makes about 2 cups
NOTES
This isn't just "burn your face off" sauce. It has depth. The roasted garlic, in particular, really shines through. The first time I put the sauce on something was that taco above and I was so pleasantly surprised with how rich the flavor was and how little my mouth burned when I was done. I've always been a chile head, but only when I learned to value complexity, as opposed to just heat heat heat, did I truly start to appreciate how awesome chile love could be.
The first time I made this recipe I tripled it based on the fact that I bought a basket of about three dozen habaneros at the farmer's market. But then triple the liquid meant the end result was too thin. That's why I put that note in the recipe above about adding some tomato, if necessary. Honestly? I encourage you to do it anyway. It thickens it only slightly, but the extra sweetness and tang it adds really, really works. If you make a batch x8, as I did recently, add two or three tomatoes. Mix of red and yellow ones, if you can get 'em.
21 comments:
Lovely! I make the Blue Ribbon hot sauce and love the carrot as vehicle. I've printed this out and just have to wait for my habaneros to ripen. Thanks again!
Who teased you? Who? ;-) 12 habaneros...you must have a huge supply of rubber gloves. That jar sure is pretty - it would look nice on my fireplace mantel.
Oh man, this looks soooooo good! We love some good sauce in our home and I would never have thought to add carrots!! DELISH!
Jenifer
Jaime and Jen Dish
My spice loving husband would be really happy if I made this for him! The taco looks fantastic.
Sure thing, Natashya!
Amy, it was 36. ;) And I DID wear gloves.
J&J - it definitely helped balance the heat with sweet.
Pam - Figures you'd home in on the taco. Hehe. You should make some for the hub!
Looks wonderful but I am pretty sure my lips would never stop burning.
Ah yes...you did say you tripled the recipe. And you call me crazy!
You ARE. You know I love you though. Crazy.
TWS - I swear it's not that bad (*chuckle*). Thanks for visiting - love your page.
Very tempting. My colleague brought in a bunch of large peppers that he grew in his garden. I took three and don't really know what to do with them. Apparently the peppers are medium hot. They look like a green cayene pepper. Do you think this recipe would work for them?
PG, I almost said yes, but... wait, no, not really. Habaneros have a distinct sweetness and need the carrot and apple cider vinegar to complement/enhance that, but for green chiles, I would suggest white onion, garlic, possibly cilantro, and for acid, lemon and white wine vinegar. Different kind of flavor profile.
If you want to whip up a quick sauce with the chiles you have, try looking for a hot sauce or salsa that uses serranos and you're probably good!
Tucking this away for the next time my market inexplicably carries 1 million packs of habaneros.
Love a hot sauce.
Wow, this looks so so good! I love the carrot and other veggies in there - such a beautiful color!
that was some kick-ass habanero sauce!!!
Thanks Anita. :D
I'm with you on the "I love spicy food". I need to make this. I am actually picturing a few happy people who would love to be the recipient of a bottle as well. Looks beautiful.
Aggie - I've given away a few bottles of it, to much thanks. Apparently I wasn't the only one who liked it. ;)
So let me ask...do you have to refrigerate this? If I wanted to include it in a Christmas food gift basket can I just bottle it and gift it as is?
AND...if I wanted to tone it down a bit do you recommend another pepper that would work? Help me girl! :)
You do need to refrigerate it because of acidity level. You'd have to professionally can it to make it sterile enough to be on the shelf. When I gave it to people, I took it out of my refrigerator and gave it to them the same day, within hours.
As for other peppers, you could certainly make a good hot sauce with others like jalapenos or serranos, but then you might want to omit the carrot and use bell pepper or tomatoes. The carrot is a great match for the habanero but not necessarily for the others.
That reminds me, I tried to throw together a Frankensauce recently with all the leftover peppers I had and it didn't quite work. Wasn't terrible, per se, but I think I need to learn more about sauce ratios. ;)
This is a great hot sauce! I'm serving tacos and burritos this coming weekend for our party. Making this sauce will definitely spice and liven up the party!
Great thing is, this hot sauce has depth and so much flavor. We just don't want to burn our faces with a not-so-flavorful hot sauce. And this can also be a perfect gift idea for your friends who love eating spicy dishes! =))
Alex, for sure! I've given this sauce to probably 10 people, to much delight. :)
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