Ferment Your Peppers For A Unique Pepper Sauce

Gerard Low Foon is excellent at pristine, seasonal dishes with unconventional local twists. With his recipes, you will not only easily impress with upscale meals but you’ll also feel like a fancy chef.

FERMENTED HOT SAUCE

As a Trinidadian, pepper or hot sauce is dear to my heart. This is a charmingly acidic and pungent pepper sauce that is filled with earthy aromatics and unconventional juicy, sweet peppers.

This recipe is flexible. Any peppers can be used and as much salt, garlic and spices. You can also ferment the hot sauce for as little or as long as you would prefer.

Yields: 16 Servings

Total Time: 20 mins

INGREDIENTS

• 2 large red bell peppers, quartered 
• 1 to 3 hot peppers, deseeded*  
• 1 tablespoon salt 
• 400 millilitres water 
• 1 teaspoon coriander 
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns 
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

*Optional, if you like more heat and spiciness then, keep the pepper seeds.

DIRECTIONS

1. In a mason jar or airtight container, combine salt, water and spices. Cover and shake the jar or container to ensure that salt is dissolved.
2. Add remaining ingredients, ensuring all peppers are submerged completely. Seal tightly and shake.
3. Leave the pepper sauce outside on the kitchen counter and allow to ferment for 1 to 2 days.
4. Remove the lid of jar or container once a day to release gases that may have built up.
5. After 1 to 2 days, or when peppers have become tender and the solution is slightly acidic, remove peppers from the jar or container.
6. Strain remaining liquid into another container and reserve for use.
7. Blend peppers and garlic until smooth and strain or, leave chunky.
8. Pour pepper sauce into a squeeze bottle or your regular pepper sauce bottle. Serve with anything that you’d like to add heat to or refrigerate for later use.