Homemade Sriracha

This is Gwyneth's version of hot sriracha sauce which I think is pretty darn genius.  I never have sriracha in my own house even though I love it because I do not like to consumes things with preservatives in it.  I don't feed preservatives to my husband or dog for that matter so Mat finds it nearly impossible to go grocery shopping for our family.  Haha!  I usually leave the daunting task of reading the ingredient labels for everything I buy for myself. 

The homemade srirancha recipe turned out quite well even though it does not taste exactly like the real sriracha sauce because you could actually taste the freshness of the peppers and it has a sweetness in it from the agave nectar.  Also, I loved that GP used arrowroot powder instead of corn starch which usually has other chemical things in it besides corn flour in the list of ingredients.  Next time I make this, I will be experimenting with different peppers (especially red thai chili peppers). You can definitely play around with this recipe to customize it to your own preferences.

Recipe

From My Father's Daughter and I added minor notes

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups peeled cloves garlic

1 pound red jalapenos peppers, stemmed and sliced into thin rings (I used red fresnos because I could not find red jalapenos after going to 3 different grocery stores.  I found red fresnos at Whole Foods which are hotter than jalapenos.)

2 1/4 cups rice wine vinegar

1/4 cup plus 1 tbs light agave nectar

2 tbs coarse salt

1 tbs arrowroot powder

2 tbs fish sauce or you can substitute soy sauce if you are vegetarian (Make sure that the fish sauce does not have preservatives in the list of ingredients.  Fish sauce should basically have 2 ingredients which are anchovies and salt.)

Directions

Pus the garlic in a small saucepan and add cold water just to cover.  Bring to a boil, immediately drain, cool the garlic under running water, and return it to the saucepan.  Cover with cold water and repeat the blanching process.  Thinly slice the blanched garlic and combine with the peppers and vinegar in a larger pot.  Bring to a boil, cook for 3 minutes, and remove from the heat.  Add the agave and salt and stir to combine.  Let mixture sit undisturbed for 1 hour to steep and cool.

Whiz the mixture in a blender or with an immersion blender until smooth (it's okay if all the seeds don't blend in).  Return the pureed sauce to the pot, bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, skimming any foam as necessary, until the sauce is slightly reduced and has some body.

In a small bow, dissolve the arrowroot with 1 tbs of lukewarm water.  Whisk into the simmering sauce and cook for 2 minutes more, or until the sauce is nicely thickens (it should be slightly thinner than ketchup).  Remove the sauce from the heat, let cool slightly, and stir in the fish sauce.