Culinary yoU: LCHF Sriracha Sauce

Pronounced 'C-Rha-Cha', Huy Fong's Sriracha hot sauce (aka Rooster Sauce) is one of the most popular hot sauces produced in the United States. While Huy Fong's sriracha sauce is not really that high in carbohydrates (1 carb per teaspoon, 3 carbs per tablespoon), you can reduce the carbohydrates significantly and create a superior flavor by making this simple sauce yourself.

So will the recipe(s) in this article taste exactly like Huy Fong's sriracha? Well no, but it is pretty darn close and I assure you, you will be pleased with the results. Now there are a lot of sriracha recipes out there on the internet, but the goal of this article is to make a low carbohydrate high fat (LCHF) or Ketogenic (Keto) version to help you stay keto strong. Let's face it, if you eat a lot of sriracha then making your own sriracha sauce will definitely make a difference in the number of carbohydrates that you consume. This article contains several variations on a theme when it comes to making your own sriracha, but my favorite is the 'original' style. So I encourage you to play around with the various recipes in this article to see which best meet you and your families needs. In addition, I have included a recipe to make your own sriracha mayonnaise if you are so inclined.

Sriracha Original Style Chile Sauce (Yield: 24 tablespoons)

25 – 30 fresh red jalapeño peppers (about 1 pound)
3 tablespoons minced garlic
½ cup apple cider vinegar or white vinegar

¼ cup of water

1 tablespoon kosher salt

2 – 3 drops liquid sucralose or 3 tablespoons of zero calorie sweetener

Nutritional Value (28 jalapeños)

Total Recipe – Calories 169, protein 5.11 grams, fat 3.07 grams, carbohydrates 30.3 grams

Per Tablespoon – Calories 7, protein 0.21, far 0.12, carbohydrates 1.2 grams

Huy Fong Original Sriracha Chile Sauce (Yield: 32 tablespoons)

Total Recipe – Calories 480, protein 0 grams , fat 0 grams, carbohydrates 96 grams

Per Tablespoon – Calories 15, protein 0 grams, fat 0 grams, carbohydrates 3 grams

Cut the stem end off of the peppers and roughly chop (if you have sensitive skin you may want to wear gloves). Combine the peppers, garlic, salt and water in your food processor or blender and process until smooth. Then transfer the pepper puree (mash) to a glass container and cover with plastic wrap and place in a dark place and to allow the pulp to ferment for 3 to 5 days. Make sure you remove the plastic and stir the sauce at least once a day while it is fermenting making sure to scrap down the side of the container. You should see small air bubbles in the sauce as the fermentation process gets underway.

Chef's Note: You can omit the fermentation process, and still have a great tasting sauce, but the fermentation process adds an additional depth of flavor that cannot be beat. Make sure you do not add the vinegar until after the sauce has fermented as the acid in the vinegar can prevent fermentation.

Once the sauce has fermented for 3 to 5 days, place it back into your blender and add the vinegar and puree again until smooth. Then place a fine mesh strainer over your sauce pan and strain the pulp through the strainer using a wood or plastic spoon to push as much of the mash (pulp) as possible through the strainer. When done, discard the pulp.

Heat the sauce over medium high heat just until it begins to boil (make sure you have on the vent hood as you are making pepper sauce). Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 10 to 15 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary adding additional sweetener, or vinegar. Once you have the flavor the way you like it, remove the saucepan from the heat and allow to cool then place into jars or a plastic squeeze bottle. The sauce should slightly thicken as it cools.

Chef's Note: While the original 'Huy Fong' sriracha sauce is smooth, if you like your sauce to have more body, then do not strain it. Unstrained the consistency is more like 'Huy Fong's' chili garlic sauce. Just remember if you do not strain it, it will have more heat from the seeds and you will not be able to place it in a squeeze bottle.

Sriracha Style 'Hot' Chile Sauce

25 fresh red jalapeño peppers (about ¾ pound)

6 red Serrano peppers (about ¼ pound)
3 tablespoons minced garlic
½ cup apple cider vinegar or white vinegar

¼ cup of water

1 tablespoon kosher salt

2 – 3 drops liquid sucralose or 3 tablespoons of zero calorie sweetener

Mature red Serrano peppers are about eight times hotter than red jalapeño peppers, so substituting about ¼ pound of Serrano for the jalapeños makes for a hotter chile sauce. Follow the same directions as if you are making the original recipe.

Nutritional Value

Total Recipe – Calories 157, protein 4.81 grams, fat 2.77 grams, carbohydrates 27.6 grams

Per Tablespoon – Calories 6.54, protein 0.2, far 0.11, carbohydrates 1.15 grams

Sriracha Style 'Mild' Chile Sauce (Yield: 26 Tablespoons)

20 fresh red jalapeño peppers (about ¾ pound)

2 red bell peppers (about ½ pound)
3 tablespoons minced garlic
½ cup apple cider vinegar or white vinegar

¼ cup of water

1 tablespoon kosher salt

2 – 3 drops liquid sucralose or 3 tablespoons of zero calorie sweetener

Substituting red bell peppers for ¼ pound of the jalapeños makes for a milder sauce. Follow the same directions as if you are making the original recipe.

Nutritional Value

Total Recipe – Calories 173, protein 6.25 grams, fat 2.67 grams, carbohydrates 29.9 grams

Per Tablespoon – Calories 6.65, protein 0.24, far 0.10, carbohydrates 1.15 grams

Red Versus Green Jalapeños

So what happens if you can only find green jalapeños in your local supermarket? Can you really make your own 'rooster' sauce with green jalapeños? The simple answer is yes. Green jalapeños tend to have a milder flavor whereas red jalapeños have a slightly sweeter, hotter bite. Although they are the same pepper, red jalapeños are left on the plant longer so that they can mature. This maturing process allows the pepper to develop more capsaicin which makes the pepper hotter. All peppers are rated on the Scoville scale for heat; jalapeños have a Scoville scale rating of 2,500 - 8,000 Scoville heat units. So green jalapeños tend to be lower on the scale somewhere around the 2,500 – 5,000 range, while maturing red jalapeños are closer to the 8,000 Scoville heat range. So while the color of the pepper definitely makes a difference in the heat of the pepper, my experience is that they essentially taste the same.

Because the green jalapeño is the most popular pepper consumed by Americans, and the red jalapeños take longer to ripen, your local supermarket may not stock red jalapeños in their produce section. So can you make sriracha sauce out of green jalapeños? Well yes, there are a number of manufacturers who make green sriracha sauce, however Huy Fong foods does not currently make one. The recipe to make green sriracha sauce is the same, only you use the milder, more popular green jalapeños in place of the red in the original recipe.

Sriracha Green Style Chile Sauce (Yield: 24 tablespoons)

25 – 30 fresh green jalapeño peppers (about 1 pound)
3 tablespoons minced garlic
½ cup apple cider vinegar or white vinegar

¼ cup of water

1 tablespoon kosher salt

2 – 3 drops liquid sucralose or 3 tablespoons of zero calorie sweetener

Nutritional Value (28 jalapeños)

Total Recipe – Calories 169, protein 5.11 grams, fat 3.07 grams, carbohydrates 30.3 grams

Per Tablespoon – Calories 7, protein 0.21, far 0.12, carbohydrates 1.2 grams

Chef's Note: For an even milder green sauce, substitute two green bell peppers for eight of the jalapeños.

The Fresno Chile Pepper

Often confused with the red jalapeño, red Fresno peppers are a close cousin to the jalapeño. They have a slightly thinner wall which makes it more conducive to drying. Similar in heat to the jalapeño, it has a Scoville heat rating of 2,500 – 10,000 heat units. When matured, it is said that the Fresno has a slightly smokier, fruiter taste than the jalapeño, but the taste is very similar in my opinion. When I wrote this article, my local Walmart did not have any red jalapeños, however they did have red Fresno peppers.

The problem was that the Fresno peppers were $3.48 per pound, and I was able to get green jalapeños on sale for $0.88 for two pounds using my 'Flipp' app on my smart phone. As they were on sale at one of the Hispanic markets in the Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) area. Having said that, the red Fresno pepper is a good substitution for the red jalapeño when making your own sriracha sauce, it's just kind of pricey.

Conclusion

So why make your own sriracha chile sauce? Well, it's easy to do, and making your own sriracha style chile sauce can reduce the number of carbs of Huy Fong's original sriracha sauce by 58%. This reduction in calories is primary done by using liquid sucralose or another zero calorie sweetener in place of the granulated white sugar used by Huy Fong's original recipe. My version of sriracha used in this article was inspired by a recipe posted by Chef John on allrecipes.com (see his original recipe and video by following the link in the references section).

As I have stated many times in my previous articles on making your own condiments, that commercially made condiments and sauces contain a number of hidden carbohydrates that many of us do not think about, and often times forget to count. Failure to count for these hidden carbs can blow you right out of ketosis leaving you wondering what you are doing wrong when you suffer a stall in your weight loss and or fitness goals. In addition, making your own sriracha sauce allows you to control exactly what goes into the sauce so that you know it is safe for you and your family. As always, I hope that you have found this article informative and beneficial for you and your family, if so please take the time to share it with your friends so that they can benefit as well. Don't forget to follow our blog, or check us out on our Facebook page 'CulinaryYouLCHF' or add us to your circle on 'Google+' to continue to receive our latest LCHF and Keto recipes.

Sriracha Mayonnaise (Bonus Recipe)

1 cup LCHF Mayonnaise or Regular Mayonnaise

3 to 4 tablespoons LCHF sriracha sauce

1 teaspoon lime or lemon juice

½ teaspoon minced garlic

½ teaspoon kosher salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix throughly.

Monday, January 30, 2017

LCHF Sriracha Sauce

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