Fermented Chili Paste
Fermented Chili Paste is a great condiment to have on hand for anytime you want to add a bit of spice to your meals or provide it free of choice for those daring eaters. Preserve your pile of green or red peppers at the end of the season and keep it in a jar in the fridge all year. Ready to use when you need it.
Equipment
- A large bowl
- canning jar or flip top jar
- Fermentation weight
- Fermentation Lid or 2-piece canning jar lid.
- Scale (optional).
- Canning funnel (optional, but helpful).
- Blender or Food processor
- Pickle packer (optional)
Ingredients
- Hot peppers
- Salt
- Optional: garlic
Instructions
- Prepare your blender.
- Take the stems off of the peppers, but you can leave the calyx on, which adds flavor to your chili paste.
- Roughly slice the hot peppers if they are large, but you can leave the small ones whole. Consider wearing gloves for this.
- Add the peppers to the blender bowl as you go.
- Add the garlic if you're using it.
- Process in batches if you have a lot. Blend or chop to your desired consistency.
- If you're using a scale, set your bowl on it and tare it on the gram setting.
- Pour the processed peppers and garlic if you use it, into the bowl.
- Add the salt. If you are using a scale, read the weight with all the ingredients in the bowl. Now you'll want to find out the ratio of the salt to add. We'll be using 2.5% of the combined weight in salt. Here is how you figure that: take the weight of your ingredients x .025. The result gives you the amount of salt to add. For example, if your weight shows 1200 grams of ingredients, compute 1200 x .025, which will tell you to use 30 grams of salt. Without a scale, measure your chopped ingredients in a measuring cup and just add 2 tsp of salt per cup.
- Mix everything and let it rest for a few minutes to draw out the juices.
- Using a canning funnel, pour your mixed ingredients into a canning jar or flip-top jar of an appropriate size.Then press down with your fist, a spoon, or a pickle packer, to get the juices to rise above the ingredients.
- Place a fermentation weight on top. The purpose of this is to keep your ingredients submerged below the surface of the brine. I find that a freezer baggie filled with brine works best for this. You'll reduce the oxygen occupied space in the jar if it's not full to the top and it keeps the little bits down better than a glass weight. However, I've also fermented this paste without a weight. But to do so, be sure the jar is filled to within an inch of the rim and that you use a fermentation top or a sealing lid, that will need to be burped every day. Otherwise your ferment might turn dark on top and it could turn funky. Keep an eye on it.
- If you have a flip-top jar, just close it up now. If you're using a mason jar, put your 2-piece lid on, or better a fermentation lid. Now let it sit for a few weeks to ferment at room temperature. The cooler it is, the longer it will take. Don't try to ferment below 65 degrees. Best is about 72-80 degrees. Warmer temperatures can cause fermentation to happen too rapidly and result in an inferior product. Cool temperatures can prevent proper fermentation.
- Keep a casual eye on it, but don't intervene, except when you use a sealed lid that needs to be burped daily. You'll want to quickly twist the lid open, then tighten it again right away. Don't take the lid of the jar unless you have an issue to deal with.
- After 2-3 weeks, it should smell pleasantly fermented. Taste it. If it's tangy and you like the taste, it's good to put it into cold storage.
- And now you've got amazing chili paste that will hopefully last all year till the next crop of peppers grows in your garden. I like to fill the chili paste into smaller jars at this point because I use only small amounts at a time and don't like to deal with a whole big jar each time I need just a spoonful. This paste will keep in the refrigerator for a year or more. I've had some fermented chili paste go for over 2 years and it was perfectly fine to eat. I like to claim that it gets better as it ages, like a good fermented wine. Enjoy!
Notes
And now you've got amazing chili paste that will last all year till the next crop of peppers grows in your garden. I like to fill the chili paste into smaller jars at this point because I use only small amounts at a time and don't like to deal with a whole big jar each time I need just a spoonful. This paste will keep in the refrigerator for a year or more. I've had some fermented chili paste go for over 2 years and it was perfectly fine to eat. I like to claim that it gets better as it ages, like a good fermented wine.