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Green Monkey
Posts:6
Posted:12/29/2005 10:50 AM
I make a variety of simple pepper sauces in the food processor using dried chilies that I pick up here and there. You can make very good approximations of traditional preparations like sriracha and sambal oelek in this way, for example.

My technique is as follows:

1. Take a bunch of dried chilies of any variety
2. Rehydrate in hot water until plump -- time required here varies. Dried jalapenos and chipotles seem to rehydrate in a matter of minutes. Anchos take a bit longer. De arbol chilies never seem to fully rehydrate, but it's a good idea to steep them anyway before proceeding.
3. Put the rehydrated peppers in the food processor along with a quantity of white vinegar and salt. The amount of vinegar required will depend on the water content of the peppers. Start with just a little and keep adding until you get to the desired consistency. Start the processor and mill the ingredients until fine.
4. You can add various things to the mixture like garlic (for sriracha) or cumin (for Mexican hot sauce).

And that is it.
Green Monkey
Posts:6
Posted:12/29/2005 11:12 AM
I would also note that I de-seed larger peppers like chipotles and anchos, but with the smaller varieties, it's just not worth the bother.
Bill Price
Posts:4
Posted:12/29/2005 11:14 AM
Green Monkey, I make sauces in the same manner. The only additional thing I do is add cornstarch, to give it a thicker consistency. This makes it cling better, if that is needed.

After soaking and mixing as you've suggested, I simmer the sauce, and on the side I mix corn starch and water in a bowl. This is a necessary step, because otherwise, adding the cornstarch to the heated mixture would create lumps of white cornstarch in your sauce.

I slowly stir in the cornstarch solution until the sauce is nearly the consistency I like, allowing for it to thicken a little more over the next couple of minutes.

The cornstarch technique is one I learned in Chinese cooking class. It's how you make Egg Drop Soup thicker. I suspect a lot of people knew it as a gravy-thickening method, but no one told me.
Green Monkey
Posts:6
Posted:12/29/2005 11:18 AM
My experience has been that the volume was okay with dried red peppers, but when I tried a similar sauce with fresh green jalapenos, I ended up with a mess of solids and liquid that separated quite quickly. I would like to try another sauce either with tomatillos or cornstarch to give the sauce a thicker consistency.
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