Chile Sauce
2 min readYes! Make your own! I love working with Fresno chiles (which look like red jalapeños) because they’re readily available and their heat level is a happy medium. When chopping hot peppers for this or any other recipe, I strongly encourage you to take a few precautions: your knife, cutting board, and hands will become covered in capsaicin-laden oil from the peppers, so be sure to wear gloves (or a small sandwich bag over each hand) or scrub your hands thoroughly before touching your eyes, nose, children, or chihuahua. This sauce works great with the Radish in Chile Oil and it’s a fine condiment for absolutely anything that needs a little fire.
Makes 3 cups
TIME: ABOUT 45 MINUTES
2 pounds fresh Fresno chiles
1 cup water
3 large cloves garlic
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons sugar
½ cup distilled white vinegar
Wash and stem the peppers. If you’d like your sauce less spicy, cut the peppers in half lengthwise and remove and discard the ribs and seeds. In a large, heavy Dutch oven with a tight lid, bring the peppers and the water to a boil. Note that the water will only cover thebottom of the pot, and that the peppers should not be piled more than two high. Boil for about 15 minutes, covered, stirring twice to promote even cooking. The peppers should become soft enough to break up with a wooden spoon.
Drain and discard the cooking liquid. In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, mince the garlic until it stops flying around the work bowl. Add the drained peppers, salt, sugar, and vinegar and process until the sauce is quite smooth, about 1 minute. Feel free to taste, but note that its heat and other flavors will tame after refrigeration. If you want to adjust the seasoning, wait until the sauce is thoroughly chilled.
Your chile sauce is ready to eat. Kept refrigerated, it will last at least 6 weeks.
