Homemade Pepper Sauce
A staple in any Caribbean household, each will have its own method of making it. And it can be added to any dish to give it a fuller flavour that packs a punch!
The recipe I'm sharing with you today is my grandad’s, passed down to my mum. This is a Guyanese recipe so uses wiri wiri peppers. These tiny cherry like peppers are small and mighty, bursting with a unique flavour that makes the smell of this pepper sauce mouthwateringly delicious, and a fantastically moreish addition to any dish! I even pop some on a slice of cheese and eat it just like that!
Wiri Wiri can be hard to get hold of, my uncle and my dad both grow their own so between them, we usually get a good crop to make a fair few batches of pepper sauce. This recipe is made from a mix of wiri wiri, scotch bonnet and scorpion peppers, all home grown and is definitely not for the faint hearted. It is FIRE!
Substitute ingredients If you’re unable to get hold of wiri wiri peppers, you can use habaneros, the sauce won’t quite taste the same as a traditional Guyanese pepper sauce, but they will work.
Ingredients
Wiri Wiri, scotch bonnet and Scorpion peppers (if you don't want it too hot leave the scorpions out) I've used about 1 ½ pounds of pepper.
1 bulb of garlic (about 10 to 12 cloves)
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
1 ½ tsp salt
Method
I recommend using gloves for this and open up some windows.
1.Wash and remove stems from your peppers.
2. Pop your peppers into a blender or food processor, add the vinegar, garlic, and salt and blend until smooth. I don't like my pepper sauce to be too runny, it needs to still have a thick consistency so be careful not to over blend it here.
3. Transfer your pepper sauce to a glass container, I usually reuse a condiment or jam jar. Store in the fridge and use sparingly.
TIP - Make sure you use a clean plastic spoon when taking out your pepper sauce. I'm not sure if there's any truth in it but I've always been told by my grandparents and parents that if you use a metal spoon it will spoil the pepper sauce, after all that hard work I'm not risking it!
TIP - If you prefer a milder pepper sauce you can add some cucumber, green mango and yellow mustard to the blender. Or really any other type of citrus fruit, some people add gooseberries, carrots or lime but I like mine with just PEPPA!
