- 1 pound (450 grams) of thai birdseye peppers
- 2 cups (475 mL) of rice vinegar (the non-seasoned kind)
- 3 tablespoons (45 mL) of salt
- pinch of xanthan gum powder (optional; for texture/stability)
- Cut the stems off the peppers
- Place the peppers and vinegar in a big container with high walls
- Use an immersion blender to blend up the peppers and vinegar
- Add the salt and xanthan gum and blend for a bit longer just to mix
- Leave mixture to sit in the fridge overnight, or longer
- Strain mixture through a mesh "spider" strainer or similar strainer
- Pour mixture into a plastic squeezy bottle and enjoy
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i've tried a variety of kinds of peppers and they're all good. even better: mix multiple types of pepper for an even fuller taste! currently i have one with a combination of birdseye, long red "finger", fresno, and habanero and it's really really good
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i've tried other kinds of vinegar and they don't make any real taste difference as long as they themselves don't have much flavor. rice and distilled white are both fine, and i'm guess white wine vinegar would be fine too
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the xantham gum may or may not help prevent separation. it seems to be luck of the draw. if you add too much the whole thing will become weirdly thick and more like a chili sauce for eggrolls than a pourable/squirtable hot sauce. you'd probably be fine putting none if you're okay with shaking up the container regularly
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the flavor is enhanced somewhat by leaving the whole mixture to ferment for three or so days before straining. for safety you might wanna make sure your vinegar is 5% acidity, although with the salt and capsaicin it probably isn't the end of the world to have a 4.5%