homemade sriracha

those who know me,

know that i will never get

over the thrill - a thrill that

is probably only mine - of making

something in my kitchen that

a saner person would settle for

coming out of a bottle, box or bakery.

so, i appreciate my small doses of joy,

making marshmallows and quince paste

and preserved lemons, and other things

like beer mustard, grape nuts,

graham crackers and sesame-topped

hamburger buns, which

i don't think i've ever told you about.

(scratch that - i did talk briefly about

the buns.) i always keep my eyes

open for the next homemade adventure.

i discovered the newest project to

make my family ask why,

(why, brooke, why?

you know you can just buy that, right?)

several months ago,

tucked into the finalist page of

food52. the contest was

your best condiment and

the candidate i was instantly

drawn to was

fresh sriracha (aka, homemade "rooster").

to be honest, this one was chosen as the

runner up and i cannot remember what won.

(ok, to be fair (or maybe meaner?),

i just looked up the winner.

it is called

dead guy sauce.

maybe i never knew?

i think i would have remembered

something with a name like that.)

but, i've digressed.

back to the rooster.

we are a family who

always has sriracha in the fridge door

(along with too many other hot sauces,

mustards and other condiments to count),

so how could i pass up the opportunity to

make a from-scratch batch?

there was only one roadblock:

red fresno chilies. i could not find

them anywhere and when a recipe

only has 5 ingredients, i think it's

a pretty good idea to stick closely

to the original.

i looked in my local grocery stores.

i looked in my asian markets.

i asked people, from my friends to

my boss, to keep an eye out for red fresnos,

promising that i'd pay them back and

give them sriracha for their troubles.

my (now former) boss said ok,

but i think he was surprised and tried,

as was his right to do, to promptly

forget the request.

and then, because everything has

just been slightly easier over the past

couple weeks, i turned around in

a new-to-me market and realized

i was staring at a basket of them.

i grabbed three handfuls and headed

to the scale, shocked that i had

pulled exactly 1/2 pound and thinking

maybe this was a sign that the recipe

was meant to be.

when i got home,

i set to work seeding and chopping

the peppers using my wing and a prayer

method: don't use gloves and then

cross your fingers that you don't

accidentally touch your eyes.

i tossed them into a container with

a few giant cloves of garlic,

distilled white vinegar and kosher salt.

i shook it a couple times, because

i can't leave well enough alone, and

faced the consequences the next morning

when i accidentally tipped a good tablespoon

or two onto the counter.

later that next day,

i tossed the whole lot into a

small saucepot with a few tablespoons

of tropical, gooey palm sugar, let the whole

thing simmer for five minutes and then,

waited really impatiently for the

mixture to cool. after 10 minutes,

steam was still rising from the top.

so, i transferred it to the blender,

hoping it would cool faster outside

of the hot pot. after 10 more minutes,

i couldn't take it. i wanted out of the

kitchen. sometimes i get like that.

so, i took my chances, tossed a dish towel

over the blender, hit puree and pressed on the lid

with all my might, praying that larry wouldn't

come home to me and our schoolhouse slate-colored

walls, covered in chili sauce. he didn't have to.

and two minutes into the blending, i gathered

up the nerve to let go and take a picture.

i almost didn't strain the mixture.

it seemed like the right consistency, and frankly,

i have a certain hatred for straining, especially

when recipes instruct you to press hard to

extract all the liquids. but i did and it was

barely any work.

and, then, i tasted the sriracha,

worried that i would be forced to admit

that i should have, for once,

just left well enough

alone and continued to buy our

standard squeeze bottle.

but, happily, that is not the case.

this recipe does everything it promises -

delivering the same flavor we expect

from our asian chili sauce, but significantly

fresher, less salty and, as i already knew

from the ingredients, without the

crazy preservatives.

and, i'm sure you'll be shocked to know:

i think it was totally worth it.

homemade sriracha

adapted from edamame2003 via food52

i wasn't sure if i was meant to seed the peppers or not - it didn't say in the recipe (which i think most people would take to mean, don't seed). i opted to take the seeds out, worried about the potential spice level if they were kept in. but, i did make the decision not to sweat it if some seeds made their way into the vinegar. i was very happy with the spice level, but for a spicier sauce, i'm guessing you could keep them all in.

also - as i think you can see from the picture, the chili sauce was slightly foamy when first made. that went away after it spent a night in the fridge.

1/2 pound red fresno chili peppers

4 large cloves garlic, peeled and trimmed

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup distilled white vinegar

2 tablespoons palm sugar

halve peppers; seed (or don't - see note). chop peppers. place in jar or container with lid; add garlic, salt and vinegar. stir; cover tightly. let sit overnight.

the next day, transfer mixture to small saucepot; add palm sugar and stir to combine. over high heat, bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low. let simmer 5 minutes. remove from heat; let cool.

transfer cooled mixture to blender; puree 5 minutes, or until smooth and mixture is an orange-reddish color. pour into strainer set in bowl; pressing to release as much liquid as possible. (it may seem a little thin, but it will thicken up in the fridge.)

transfer chili sauce to a jar, bottle or squeeze container. the mixture should keep for about 1 month.