It’s been a sticky summer with just about everyday being extremely hot and humid, but I’m not complaining except for the havoc all this heat is doing to my habanero plants. If you’re connected to the Facebook Fan Group, you’d know that a few weeks back I was seeking advice on what to do with my plants. They were dropping their leaves and not holding on to the flowers or baby peppers. Good news is that I finally got some peppers, but the yield is about 70% lower than in previous years. I’m hoping that the cool weather we get in mid to late August will see the second crop be better.
As we’ve discussed in previous hot sauce (pepper sauce) recipes, in the Caribbean just about everyone makes their own sauce and have some sort of secret family recipe or the other. But if we were to define our hot sauces, one word comes to mind – HOT! This sauce is not a traditional Caribbean pepper sauce, since we’ll be using canned peaches and the texture is a but more liquid than the ones we make down the islands. Traditional stuff is a bit more thick or chunky, with the use of carrots, papaya, chunks of ripe limes and other native ingredients.
* NOTE: If you’re using scotch bonnet or habanero peppers and you want the flavour without all the heat, discard the seeds and inner white membrane. This is where all the real heat is in peppers. Additionally, when cutting up the peppers be sure to use a disposable gloves or rub cooking oil over your hands to form a a protective shield from the oils from the peppers. And don’t forget to wash your hands thoroughly with soap after you’re done with this recipe.
You’ll Need…
16 hot peppers (Habanero, Scotch Bonnet or whatever you consider to be hot)
1 can peaches in syrup (trust me on this one my Caribbean people) 14oz
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 cup distilled vinegar
2 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon black pepper
3 tablespoon chopped cilantro (use shado beni if you have instead)
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
3 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon mustard
Remove the stems from the peppers and give them a rough chop so it’s easier to puree in your blender or food processor. Basically all you’re doing is adding all the ingredients to the blender as in my case and puree until you have a smooth consistency.
Don’t ask me why as I can’t explain, but if you allow the finished sauce to rest for about 1 day or so in the fridge, the flavour changes for the best, compared to if you started using it the very same time you’re done making it. However, I’m a hotsauce addict so I started using mine seconds after it came out of the blender. In true Caribbean style I saved my old bottles (pasta sauce etc) just for these occasions. After a good wash in boiling hot water and soap, I allowed them to dry and then I topped one with the hot sauce. Hey, I’m just doing my part to keep this earth we call home greener by reusing!
This sauce is very savory with a bold kick of heat as it makes it’s way around your tongue. As I mentioned above, it’s not a traditional Caribbean style hotsuace and it’s a bit runny. It makes a great topping for grilled meats, hamburgers, hot dogs and on sandwiches. I would bet my last dollar that it would also make a great dipping sauce for wings. Directly below you’ll find links to other hot sauce (pepper sauce as it’s know on the islands) recipes that I’ve done in the past.
I’d love to get your feedback or just say “hi” in the comments box below – it’s appreciated. And before I go I’d like to remind you to check out the latest cooking videos, pictures and if you’ve not already done so, join our select group on Facebook. Where we discuss all things related to the Caribbean Cooking Culture.
Recipe sounds great to me as I love spicy. However your recipe would be way to much for me to eat in a week! How long will it keep in a jar in the fridge?
Not from the islands but love your recipes. I make hot sauce an will definitely be trying this pepper sauce
Hi
I have been making this sauce for 7 years.
A personal and crowd favourite.
Thanks
This sounds perfect. Going out to get the Habaneros, peaches and cilantro now!
Man, this recipe is the best, all of my hot sauce friends love it. They didn’t know it could be done. We only had bottled supermarket types before!
Sounds good….everything on this site looks and tastes great! I must have been a Carib person in my past life! Lol!
Can you advise on what type of mustard to use?
Here in the UK our ‘English’ or ‘French’ mustards are very different to this found across the Atlantic. Should I source a more mellow yellow US style?
use any mustard you like.. at the end of the day, you’re the one eating this right. Sometimes I use the French type with success.
You need to make some nice lime pepper sauce, this goes down good with fish.
Can peaches be substituted with pineapple? I have allergy concerns.
basically any fruit you like or not allergic to. Mango, pineapple.. even papaya.
I love this pepper sauce
Thank you!
As a trini, I’m skeptical seeing your recipe with peaches but I’m willing to try without the brown sugar and molasses. The consistency looks great.
Looks tasty
This a good one, made it last year2012 Its great with meat. Going to make more today
I am skeptical about the peaches and paprika, but will try it.
Love it.
looks tasty
Great recipe Chris
Am a Trini in the UK and new to the site but immediately thought of trying this with ripe mango also – Yum!
Great recipe. I made several changes to suit my family's taste. I only used five peppers, seeded. This brought the spiciness to a comfortable level. I did not add the canned peach juice. I did use cilantro and dry mustard. Everything else was just like the remainder of the recipe. It was slightly sweet with enough kick to make you smile but not put you down. I could not find a canning table for this so I took a gamble. I placed it in half-pint jars and processed in a pressure cooker at 10 lbs pressure for 15 minutes. With a yield of a little over three cups, one cup being vinegar, I am hoping this is acidic enough to be safe. Use this processing at your own risk. Great to use as a marinade, easy enough to use as a dip and good enough to eat by the spoonful, this quickly became one of my favorites!
What is the shelf life of this product? Can it be frozen?
I made this recipe a week ago( without the peaches) and it was spectacular! I used it as a jerk marinade for some chicken, let it sit overnight and then cooked it on the barbecue. It was awesome! Sweet, savory and then the heat hits you, yummy!
Are you referring to dry mustard powder, or prepared mustard?
I used the dry powder and it worked great!
My mouth is burning! In a good way 🙂
hi Dude
i’m from Brazil, and all my friends love this sauce!
i made this sauce, and is delicious with pork! very diferent!
thks
I made this sauce last week. We had an abundance of Habanero's in our garden. Very interesting taste….It's starts off kind of sweet and then all of a sudden BAM..here comes the heat. Will definitely make another batch soon. My question is…..how long is the shelf life????
how do you store this sauce in the fridge or leave out?
Question… is the mustard dry or is it prepared?
Chris what happen you not boiling this one?
Yummy nice recipe! I use fresh thyme. Next I will try with cilantro.
The peaches are an interesting addition…I'm intrigued
this is hot and sweeeeeet
will try it with shrimp, uummm peppered shrimp
Nice, my husband will love it 🙂