Then, can't remember where, I found out about Gochujang[0] and now it's my go-to fermented chili for everything
Hot sauce is pretty easy to make if you're inclined to go that route. You only need a scale and a blender, and some basic kitchen skills. You get to explore a lot and control for flavour / heat with adding stuff to the mix. Plenty of good content on yt you can get inspiration from.
It's also something you can make into a hobby. You can go as low effort as buying fresh peppers from a market when in season, or start growing yourself. Growing can be anywhere from extremely low maintenance (i.e. just water them from time to time and leave them on a window sill) or get into advanced stuff like pruning, soil ph, cross pollination and all that stuff. Some peppers are prolific growers, and you get fresh peppers, pepper paste, chili flakes and sauce from a potentially low effort hobby. And they make some nice gifts as well.
Ooooh anybody have a rec for the most idiot-proof hot thing to try to grow?
These things: https://seedsbeeblooming.com/shop/ols/products/rainbow-tabas...
Can't vouch for that merchant though
https://scottsmiraclegro.com/en-us/aerogarden.html
They cost a bit but they are idiot proof. The company also sells materials at an Okay price to grow whatever seeds you want, and you can use standard hydroponic supplements rather than their name brand ones.
I got a kit with Basil and it grew more Basil by accident than I could use. I was ripping off leaves and throwing them into store brand pasta sauce. I had a single plant in one of the $100 growers.
Their "salsa" kit is cherry tomatoes and Jalapenos so maybe it won't work so well on other peppers, but they have a Banana pepper kit. Pepper growers might have nutrient and growing recommendations to better manage flavor and spice profiles.
My preferences in cooking are like software: high level is fun (cooking dishes), low level is annoying (growing or producing ingredients).
I also like making cocktails. A brief try with homemade coffee licqueurs was disappointing - knowing a couple of good brands, I can buy and enjoy them, no hassle. Closest to preparing ingredients I do is occasionally doing batches of "super juice", where you squeeze a bunch of limes and add some conservatives and enhancers (and water), that increase the yield, flavor and shelf life by a lot. Then it's really practical to just use the juice like a normal ingredient, versus having the cytrus available having to squeeze them and having more stuff to clean.
Definitely wear gloves when chopping chillis!
Meanwhile Huy Fong rooster sauce went from a nice red hue to a weird red green puke hue. If it was that color at the start, I’m not sure I would have tried it. The taste seems to be the same though. Regardless, it’s hard to support a company that’s lost so much good will. They should have just increased prices just like everyone else
Best hot sauce ever
1. https://www.amazon.com/Pepper-Plant-Seasoning-11-oz/dp/B01LY...
“Red jalapeno, sugar, water, salt acetic acid, garlic, natural flavor, xanthan gum, sodium metabisulfite, and/or sodium bisulfite (sulfiting agent / preservative), potassium sorbate (preservative).”
I’ve had sriracha in the past and it’s disgustingly sweet. Apparently it’s 17% sugar!
Sure, you can skip sugar entirely if you want to. But then you're getting a different flavor entirely. Southeast Asian stuff is often sweet and spicy and gets that flavor through sugar. No way around it, unless you're using artificial sweeteners.
And I agree. I like many varieties of hot sauce, but sriracha is just too sweet for me.
It's the same reason I am picky about Thai restaurants. So many of them lean hard on the sugar. Not to my taste! I like a more balanced flavor.
I like the taste of peppers but most hot sauces taste more like vinegar or capsaicin than actual peppers. I think I'm sensitive to vinegar, and my spice tolerance is not always high.
I find Chili crisp to get me what I want.