Caramelized Onion and Tomato Hot Sauce
Description
I was encouraged by the results of the crispy garlic fermentation, and was curious how caramelized onions might work in a hot sauce.
I’ve used a bunch of mild Jalapenos as the base pepper for the recipe here, which works with the caramelized onions to dull the color in the final sauce and create a light shade of brown…don’t let the visual aesthetics of the sauce discourage you here, this was one of my favorite unique hot sauce variations that I tried, with a ton of richness and deep umami flavors.
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Fermentation Time: 1 week, or longer if desired
Yield: 2 quarts
2 quarts
Instructions
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Clean your mason jar with hot soapy water, and set aside to completely dry.
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Add the olive oil to a sauté pan over medium heat, and add the 350 grams of sliced onions.
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Patiently cook the onions down for roughly 25 minutes until they are golden-brown. If the onions take on too much color, add a splash of water and continue cooking.
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When the onions are caramelized and weigh roughly 80 grams (down from the original 350 grams), remove them from the pan and set them on paper towels to drain.
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For the remaining hot sauce ingredients, start by peeling your whole garlic cloves.
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Remove the cores from the Roma tomatoes, and cut each tomato into quarters.
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Remove the stems from the jalapeno peppers, and cut them into bite-sized chunks.
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In a separate container, combine the 275 grams of water with the 25 grams of Kosher salt, and mix until the salt is completely dissolved.
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Pour the liquid salt water brine into your clean mason jar, in addition to the caramelized onions, garlic cloves, Roma tomatoes, and jalapenos.
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Push the ingredients down until they are fully submerged beneath the surface of the liquid.
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Cover the submerged contents with a glass or ceramic weight, and close the lid on the jar.
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Allow the contents to ferment at room temperature for roughly one week, or until you are satisfied with the degree of fermentation and acidity.
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Make sure to carefully open the jars at least once per day as they ferment, and make sure the contents remain submerged.
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When you are ready to finalize and bottle your hot sauce, stir together the vinegar with the sugar until dissolved, and add the sugar and vinegar mixture to your fermented hot sauce mixture.
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Blend the contents using an immersion blender or food processor, and taste the contents.
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Add more salt, sugar, or vinegar, if desired.
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Transfer the blended hot sauce to individual bottles, and store the bottles in the fridge.
Note
*This sauce does not need to be strained. It goes incredibly well with chicken wings—Or really anything—I even tried using it as the pizza sauce component for homemade gluten-free pizza!
User Reviews
Very unique hot sauce here–love it!