Habanero hot sauce
“This was the beginning of our home-made hot sauce journey. One day Sarah said, ‘You know what? I could probably make a hot sauce that would go perfectly with our flavours . . .’ Habanero was our favourite sauce, and we wanted to start HOT so that one came first. But how hot? How thick? We made a batch, tweaked it, made another, tweaked it . . . And people loved it!”
MAKES APPROX 300ml
60g orange capsicum, stalks removed and de-seeded
100g habaneros (red or orange), stalks removed (leave seeds in)
4 tsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp fresh orange juice
1 tsp crushed fresh ginger
2 tbsp tomato pulp (we use Mutti)
¼ tsp salt
pinch ground white pepper
2 tsp white sugar
2 tbsp white vinegar
1 tsp liquid honey
Preheat oven to 180°C. Place capsicum and habaneros in an oven tray in a single layer and roast for 30–45 minutes, until skin has started to turn dark. Remove from oven, transfer to a sealable plastic bag and leave in the sealed bag for about
10 minutes. The heat trapped in the bag will soften the capsicums/chillies so you can remove the skin more easily.
Remove the blackened skin. Place capsicum/chilli flesh in a large pot, add all remaining ingredients and bring to the boil. Let it bubble for about 5 minutes, until all ingredients have softened enough that you can blitz it with a stick wand. Cool, then transfer to an airtight container. Will keep for at least a month in the fridge.
Note - Make sure you cook any hot sauce in a well-ventilated space. It’s actually water vapour that makes the chilli airborne. Pro tip: when cooking or washing up, breathe through your nose and take shallow breaths. Otherwise you’ll find yourself with more than a tickle in the back of the throat!
Recipe and image from the The Lucky Taco Cookbook by Otis and Sarah Frizzel (Published by Penguin Random House NZ, RRP $50).
