Yep… hot sauce making has taken over my life and so has fermentation. If you haven’t tried either and are hesitant well… put that hesitation aside and dive in. In my opinion, fermented hot sauces are superior in taste to their vinegar-acidified counterparts. There’s that extra complexity in the flavor that just can’t be described. And I’m not even gonna get into the whole health aspect of eating fermented foods. I’ll leave it at… probiotic, etc, etc. This is gonna be a really quick post guys… there’s seriously nothing to it. Let’s make some awesome hot sauce.
Wait, tomatillos aren’t hot…
True, but habaneros are and they’re in my ingredient’s list. They’re pretty damn hot so be careful when you handle them. Don’t dice them with your bare hands… in fact, let the food processor do the chopping… or wear gloves. I don’t need gloves to handle them (some people do) but if I were to rub my eyes with my habanero fingers… well… that might be short of a 911 call. Other than that… habaneros are DELICIOUS!
Return on investment…
The coolest aspect of making hot sauces at home… ok, there are two really cool aspects. If you are a control freak, this is definitely for you. Second, the return on investment here it’s incredible. There’s virtually no effort involved and I can guarantee you no store-bought sauce will ever even come close to being as good as your homemade one that took 10 minutes including dishes.
Ingredients (makes about 1 liter… that’s about 4 cups I guess):
6-7 large tomatillos
2 habanero chiles (be careful, these are really hot, you might need to use gloves)
6 garlic cloves
1 yellow onion
1 lime, pulp and all… remove the seeds, discard rinds and pith.
1/2 tsp ground coriander seeds
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp xanthan gum (if you don’t have this… your sauce might be a bit runny but that’s perfectly fine)
Ten minutes? Seriously?
Ok, so it’s more like ten thousand minutes but your contribution is only about 10. Put everything in a food processor for about 5 minutes. Pour the fresh sauce into a glass jar with a lid. Leave some head space for the sauce will bubble up and might increase in volume during the first stages of fermentation. Don’t tighten the lid too hard. Fermentation releases CO2 and if you sealed the jar the pressure can build up and shatter it (a tomatillo explosion literally). Allow sitting at room temperature for at least 7 days. You will notice a lot of activity in that jar, bubbles specially and the wonderful aromas of fermentation. You don’t have to transfer the sauce to the fridge but you can. Once in the fridge, the fermentation process will slow down dramatically but won’t stop and your sauce will continue to age and get better over time. Good night!
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37 comments
Looks great, Paul. I might make me a batch today. I do prefer to blend in the xanthan after fermentation is complete but other than that I’m following your ratio!
thanks Enassar! I’ve tried adding the gum before and after and couldn’t tell the difference other than needing extra room in the bottle for the added bubble volume. The last batch I made I used only fermented components… the garlic, the onion, it tasted delicious fresh. Cant wait to taste it in 2 weeks!
Mine is about a week old and doesn’t appear runny enough..Seems like it drying out? Should I / can I…. add something to it for the desired consistency?
Hey Jac, what do you mean drying out? Do you have it in a bottle with the lid on?
Yes, it’s in a ball jar with the lid on loosely so fermented gas can escape
I should have dried. You can always add some spring or distilled water until you reach the right consistency. Dont do tap water since it has chlorine and will slow down fermentation
is it fermenting nicely tho? tomatillo is very sour and fermentation is a little slower.
I don’t notice much fermentation ( bubbling yet) its been 9 days. I tasted some and the taste seems to be there but its thick and kind of pasty
be patient then. It’s gonna start bubbling up soon 🙂
I made the fermented tomatillo hot sauce as you described. It’s very tasty on steamed curly kale. Thanks.
awesome! so glad you tried it. How long you let it ferment for before tasting?
Probably about 12 days of sitting on the counter at around 77° F. I’ll definitely make it again.
that’s good stuff right there! and it only gets better as it ages!
Made a batch yesterday, and it has separated (puree floating on top of a thin layer of liquid below). Is it necessary to reconstitute or somehow submerge the puree below the liquid? Thanks!
Hey Seth, If you’re only getting started with the fermentation part that’s ok. It can definitely separate. Shake the bottle and keep going (give it a shake every day if necessary and remember to let the bottle breath). If you’re at the stage where you add the xanthan gum, the sauce should remain pretty stable after that… did you use xanthan gum? That’s a really good way to stabilize it. I’ve seen some of my fermented salsas separate but that’s because I don’t use any xanthan gum in those. Separation is perfectly fine in case you were concerned about food safety. Nothing wrong with that. Trust your sense of smell. Let me know if you have any questions.
Didn’t have xanthan… tried a batch yesterday with a dab of cornstarch. I read that was a good substitute. Think that is ok? Don’t see any orange from the Habanero. Did I blend it too much? Only one day in.
Hope I didn’t mess it up with the CS. My wife talked me into it:) Thanks!
you should be good but I’ve never tried. Only one way to find out 🙂 If you made the tomatillo sauce, it should look green, not orange.
wait… did cornstarch work? i didn’t think of it then but you need to cook it if you want it to thicken.. if you add it straight it’s not gonna do anything 🙂 you could could some in a little water and then let that cool down before adding it to your sauce.
The pictures are a little confusing bc your recipe only lists 1 lemon but the handwritten label also includes 1 lime. Which recipe did you use?
thanks for catching that! it should be 1 lime. I’ll fix that
Can I leave it fermenting for a couple months? I make fermented pepper hot sauces but have never tried tomatillos. I usually do a canned Verde sauce with them. But I love the idea of fermenting them, especially when it’s 110 out!
You can fermented for as long as you want. Mine sits on the counter until I run out. It only gets better with time 🙂
Sweet! Thank you! I was worried they’d get weird I’ve done cherry tomatoes and they got weird if I didn’t put enough the fridge after a week or two.
what happened? white slimy film? maybe some fuzzy mold?
The tomatoes themselves got really mushy and slimy… the ph was low, like 3.9 I think. It just made me wonder about fermenting softer fruit/veggies for a long time.
yeah… sauces and juices is the way to go for soft veggies
So nothing to be submerged here? I’m not used to that. Just blend, pour and place in jar? Thx
Submerged as in whole tomatillos submerged in water? nah… no need. Just let the sauce ferment away.
This is far and above the best tomatillo salsa I’ve ever tasted. And so easy! Thanks!
I’m so glad you liked it! I just made about 2 liters of it 3 weeks ago. I simplified it to tomatillo, garlic and onion. I’ve also stored in the fridge to keep yeast formation on the top at bay… yeast is good and it imparts a cheesy flavor to the sauce but I want to keep it as refreshing as possible
Hello, I want to try the recipe and wonder how long the sauce will keep and whether or not it needs to be refrigerated after the 7 days or how I can preserve it.
Keeping it at room temperature is fine but you will see a film of kham yeast form over time which smells very much like cheese and it’s totally harmless and in my opinion adds complexity to the sauce. These days I simply keep it the fridge to retain the freshness of the flavors otherwise it ages rather quickly. You should experiment and keep some in the fridge and some at room temperature. Either way, it will keep fermenting.
Making a 4x batch with garden grown tomatillos, peppers and garlic. Coming in at just around a gallon. Branching out from making and canning a ridiculous amount of verde salsa.
We didn’t grow habanero but subbed with a mix of Martins Carrot and Tibetan Lhasa.
Pretty stoked and thanks for the recipe. I grow Ring of Fires and make a lacto fermented sauce with them. It’ll be nice to have a variety of home brewed sauces at my disposal.
oh wow! You should find a bottling service and get your hot sauce business going!!! thanks for dropping a comment 🙂