A perfect match
In a previous post, I mentioned that I would be experimenting to make a hot sauce with mangoes and Aji Amarillo paste. To me, they promise to be a perfect match in a hot sauce . On the one hand, their colours are similar – a bright orange yellow – and the other, the flavours are bound to complement each other. Aji Amarillo has a fruity taste. I can imagine it will combine exceptionally well with the tropical taste of mango. It is certainly worth a bash
Making hot sauces is great fun, but it requires a lot of trial and error to get it right. Sometimes you can get it spot on, but other times it takes a bit of tweaking here and there before it finally becomes just right. I was hoping this sauce would fall into the latter category. I have made sauces like this along a similar theme in the past, but never with Aji Amarillo paste.
Previously, I would have used Scotch bonnets to make this type of sauce, because it leans towards Caribbean type hot sauces. Indeed, the sauce I am about to make can be successfully made with fresh Scotch bonnets. To substitute, simply blitz two to three Scotch Bonnets with the other ingredients. From there, if you follow the other steps I took to make the sauce below, you will have a delicious Caribbean sauce
That being said, now is the time to try something new. A totally new hot sauce needs to be be created . So, let’s roll up the sleeves, don the apron, and get into the kitchen.
Into the Kitchen
Let’s make hot sauce
I decided I needed one mango, a medium onion, ten tablespoons of Aji Amarillo paste, a tablespoon of ginger puree, two teaspoons of garlic paste, a half a cup of apple cider vinegar, a tablespoon of mustard powder, half a cup of water, half a teaspoon of turmeric, two tablespoons of fibre syrup and salt for seasoning. I could have used honey instead of the fibre syrup, but I wanted to make the sauce as carb friendly as possible. Fibre syrup contains zero carbs
Once I had all these ingredients together, I peeled the mango and chopped it into small pieces. I then peeled and finely chopped the onion. I put everything into a blender and pureed the ingredients until they were smooth. I then placed the mixture in the refrigerator while I sanitised the bottles I was going to use for the hot sauce.
I sterilised the bottles by first washing them in warm soapy water. I then thoroughly rinsed the bottles in fresh cold water and allowed them to air dry. Once they were dry, I placed the bottles and their caps in an oven that I had preheated to 100 degrees Celsius. I kept the bottles in the oven at this temperature for fifteen minutes, and then switched off the oven so the bottles could cool. I didn’t want the bottles to be too hot to handle when I poured the sauce into them.
Once the bottles were in the oven, I started the next part of making the mango and Aji Amarillo hot sauce. I poured the sauce mixture into a saucepan and slowly brought it to boil on the hob. Once the sauce had come to a steady boil, I turned down the temperature and let the sauce simmer for twenty minutes. After that, I turned off the heat and allowed the sauce to cool. I then tasted the sauce and decided to add more bite to it. It found it slightly too mild for my palette. I did this by giving it a few good shakes of “Slap Ya Mama “ Cajun seasoning. I could also have had added Chilli flakes to increase the pungency
All that I needed to do once the sauce had cooled was pour it into the bottles with a funnel, screw on the caps, and then finally put labels on the bottles.
So how did the hot sauce turn out?
Let me tell you this hot sauce is amazing. I will be eating it at every opportunity. It is right up there with the best, and certainly something I will be making again. Just as well, it only has a shelf life of about seven to ten days in the refrigerator. It will be well gone before then
While I upped the heat of the mango and Aji Amarillo hot sauce I made with Slap Ya Mama seasoning, this may not have been necessary if the Aji Amarillo paste had been hotter. Some pastes are hotter than others. I would suggest tasting the paste before making this hot sauce. If it has a good bite, you may even want to consider reducing the quantity. It is however a matter of personal taste and worth experimenting to determine the perfect strength for your palette.