Maize & Mandarin Hot Sauce

This is a sweet, smoky, citrusy hot sauce, with lovely flavors inspired by a maize scientist and a corn & yuzu hot sauce from Noma. This recipe makes 6 standard 5-oz bottles of hot sauce. The easiest place to order hot sauce bottles is on the internet, but if you snoop around, there might be a bottle distributor in your neighborhood where you can get a case for cheap.

Ingredients

8-oz (1 cup) red or orange scotch bonnet peppers (you can substitute habaneros)
4-oz (1/2 cup) onion, roughly chopped
5-oz (1 cup) sweet corn, roughly chopped
1-oz (about 4 cloves). garlic
2 tablespoons mandarin or tangerine juice & zest
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup water
2 teaspoons salt

Directions

  1. Turn the oven on to 450 degrees F, and on a sheet tray, lay out the first 4 ingredients: onion, hot peppers, corn, garlic.

  2. Roast for about 20 minutes, then crank the oven to broil, and broil on high for 5 minutes or until they’re all slightly blistered and soft, and peppers are bursting, turning halfway through.

  3. Transfer contents to a blender and add the rest of the ingredients: citrus juice & zest, vinegar, water, salt, and pulse until desired texture is reached.

TO MAKE YOUR SAUCE SHELF-STABLE (CAN BE LEFT OUT ON A SHELF, AKA GOOD FOR A BIG BATCH OR GIFTS), FOLLOW THE NEXT 6 STEPS!

  1. Pour the hot sauce into a sauce pot and bring to a simmer, checking with a thermometer that it reaches 190 degrees F.

  2. Fill bottles or jars with a funnel and cap.

  3. Invert them upside down for 5-minutes to seal and sanitize the lids.

  4. It will last unopened for about 1-year.

  5. Once open, refrigerate.

  6. Hot sauce should last at least 6-months in the fridge after opening. How do you know if it has gone bad? It will get moldy.

Laena McCarthy