My fermented hot sauce was bubbling and brewing [1] away in the corner for several days. It developed a little bit of white mold, which I promptly scraped off. I did notice mentions of mold in various blog posts so I didn’t worry overly much, it seems to relate to the fermentation process.
[2]Once I felt that it was fermented enough (use your intuition) I slipped on a glove and picked through the mixture removing all of the green stems. I then dumped the mixture into a saucepan with about half a cup of white wine vinegar and let it boil for several minutes.
I put in a teaspoon of salt and then poured the whole saucepan into my blender and whizzed it up until I liked the consistency. The sauce then took another journey into the saucepan for another round of boiling while I sterilized a few little jars. I tasted it again as it boiled and decided to add a teaspoon of white sugar. This just seemed appropriate.
The verdict: Whooo! This sauce basically takes my head off! The Thai chilis are killer hot, KILLER hot, seriously. The burn is a quick burn, there is no slow build-up that surprises you after a few minutes. It kicks you in the mouth quickly, spreads and then sits. You will sweat and it might make your eyes roll back into your head slightly.
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Shonagh writes An Offal Experiment [2] exploring the guts of food