How Hot is TOO Hot? This chilli sauce will test you…

The notorious scotch bonnet chilli is the centrepiece in this fiendish chilli sauce. Can you handle the heat?

I won’t lie, spiciness is something I’ve struggled with over the years.

As a child my sister and I once used my mother’s kitchen scissors to cut up lengths of cheap plastic for beaded bracelets. We spent a happy afternoon holding the tips of coloured strands in our mouths as we worked our creative magic.

An hour later, we were made horribly, painfully aware of the power of chilli. Unbeknownst to us, our mother’s kitchen scissors were loaded with the stuff, and thus our primary school aged lips. After much gnashing and grinding of teeth, and copious amounts of milk, we finally started to feel our mouths again. No permanent damage done, at least physically. But the painful memory had marked me like a kid nipped by a dog – just seeing a chilli across the street was enough to throw me into a panic. I learned to manage; avoiding Dad’s laksas was the only real challenge in a pretty mild suburban culinary upbringing.

In my teens, when cool, later-than-at-home dinners out with friends at the local Mexican or Thai restaurant became the coveted social events, I skirted uneasily around tell tale red flecks of chilli. Spicy food, it turns out, was delicious. But it was so painful to enjoy! The only solution was to meet the situation head on.

So began the uphill battle to train myself to like chilli. Years on, I’m happy to say I no longer concoct fake plans when someone suggests the local curry house. I’ve discovered the joy of fresh chilli in a rich Italian tomato sauce or pasta. I’ll even add chilli flakes to a chicken spice rub that only I am planning to eat. Am I ready to enter into chilli eating competitions, knocking back vast quantities of scotch bonnets? I am not.

But this sauce, softened with vinegar, garlic and coriander, and helped by the removal of some deathly hot chilli seeds, is definitely a winner.

Ingredients

• 5 cups Scotch bonnet chillies
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1/2 cup chopped coriander
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup white vinegar

Instructions:

1. Wash the chillies, cut off the stems and remove the seeds from half the chillies, leaving half of the chillies with their seeds still in. Roughly chop, then roughly chop the coriander & garlic.
2. Add this to a food processor until it’s pulped (but not too smooth).
3. Now add the vinegar, salt & lime juice & process quickly again. Pour into an airtight jar.
4. Enjoy with caution!

Whether you’re living for the pride of consuming the most heat, or just looking for something warming to stir through a stew, this HF chilli sauce recipe welcomes all levels of chilli masterdom. Go forth and be spicy!