We delve into making my own Habanero sauce, from my birthday gift from S&K, for the first time. Please note, I shared this with friends, and family, as a different chili. Oops, it’s Habanero!
Warning: This is meant for folks, like me, who never have it hot enough.
You should note, for people that want to start building their tolerance of spicy food the guides share you should begin at 0-500 on the Scoville Scale, then move upwards. Like, you can take jalapeños? 2,500 Scoville minimum heat there, the next step would likely to start moving towards Hungarian wax peppers, 5,000 Scoville minimum. Rather stay careful and don’t raise the scale Too High for yourself.
The orange habanero which I used is rated at 150,000 – 350,000 Scoville Units. I would guess this might be a touch too hot for the average joe… This takes the lesser hottest jalapeno, the Rome Jalapeno, at 9,000 units on the Scale, and multiplies it by 16.6~. Some class it as too hot, I just love the burn.
The Imagined Recipe
Some recipes are available to make your own hot sauce, I looked at several and didn’t feel comfortable. First, I didn’t want to use garlic, I saw on tons of recipes they always use garlic. I was convinced to try it with the general flavor I decided on towards the end, it didn’t fit.
At a crafters market I got a little chocolate chili sauce for myself. It’s so fabulous for me to put on ice cream. It’s too sweet for the average meal, it fits in with any desert I ever want to have. I find I want to add my chili sauce to other dishes as well. The garlic would mean if I want to put chili sauce on my salad as a dressing: the garlic will taste wrong for my taste buds.
I decided to stick to a super light sweetness, instead. Through discussions I boiled down finally to blackberries. They have a slightly tart, sweet, flavor. Tart would mean it has a sharp or sour taste, this takes a little bit away from the sweetness.
For those that don’t know, the habaneros I used start green, then grow to orange. They need to stay in a small amount of sunlight, so I chose where it gets the last few hours of sun in every day. Finally, that it needs your care, I water it every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
The Recipe & Steps
Please note, all measurements you can adjust at your own whim, as I did while I made it. Below assumes you will manage all the cleaning yourself, for instance the glass container at the end, that will be in your hands.
- Half – medium sized onion, chopped fine
- 13g – Orange Habanero
- 35g – blackberries
- 15g – Pickled Ginger slices, cut to small pieces if you want
- 30g – brown spirit vinegar
- Large enough – splash of oil to start
- note: just enough, not too much, keep oil minimal
2. Cut the Habanero into smaller pieces, like in the picture above
- note: take seeds, and greens, out
- warning: avoid touching sensitive areas anywhere on your body
3. Turn on the stove, start to brown the onion
4. When onions begin browning, say at heat 7 out of 10, turn the heat down, add the cut Habaneros, say to heat 4 out of 10.
5. Once it has been on the low heat for 2 to 3 minutes, add the pickled ginger, vinegar, and blackberries.
6. Keep on the same low heat for 10 minutes, with the lid on.
7. When step 6 is finished, mash all the ingredients in the pot, put the lid on
8. When the pot gets cool enough, transfer your mash into your container
Personal Thoughts Afterwards
After I made the sauce I decided on a random meal to test it on. I chose fish and salad. I made it all as if I didn’t need to add anything to it at all, then on one of the pieces of fish I did half a spoonful of the sauce.
The flavor was a light sweet Habanero burn and didn’t overpower the fish flavors at all. I love it, and as it ages over the next few days I will use it again with several meals!
On the amusement side, did you know, Habaneros are good for you! I mean, for those worried about their calories, a single one contains an average of 18 calories. There are tons of vitamins and minerals, it also helps you live longer, so to speak.
As another thought, though, please remember to stick to caution with handling Habaneros. I regularly got it into my nose, mouth, and eyes, just from my accidental facial touches. While I love the little burn I get, and flavor, it made my eyes cry. Just because my mouth loves it, no matter what, my eyes and nose did their peaceful protests when it happened, so to speak.
