Garlic Scape Fermented Hot Sauce
Garlicky, tangy, and bright, this vinegar-based fermented hot sauce brings all the flavor with a little kick of heat. Lacto-fermented garlic scapes are key to creating this delicious and flavorful sauce, perfect for drizzling over fries, chips, topping soups and more. This sauce takes about a week to make, but it’s very much worth the wait! If you’re looking for a great vegan garlic scape recipe, this is the perfect way to enjoy the summer seasonal produce.
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The Art of Lacto-Fermentation
I love fermented foods, from sourdough bread, to vegan cheeses, great beer, and more. It seems like the best foods out there just take a little time, and a little microbe assistance to reach their tastiest potential. Lacto-fermentation refers to products that are fermented by a strain of bacteria known as Lactobacillus, which gets it’s name because it was first studied in milk. But there’s no dairy needed here- lactic bacteria are all around us, on plants and animals. Lactic bacteria create lactic acid, which works to naturally preserve foods and inhibit other harmful bacteria from developing. Sauerkraut and kimchi are probably the most common examples of a lacto-fermented product- at one point pickles were made this way too, but now they are more often made with vinegar. The best part is, all you need to make a lacto-ferment are salt, water, and the vegetable you want to ferment.
Lacto-Fermentation Safety
A lot of people find the process of making their own fermented foods scary, but it’s really nothing to be afraid of. Remember, people have been making fermented foods in their homes for thousands of years, without much knowledge of microbes and sanitization. With that added wisdom, you’ll be just fine. I have never had a batch of fermented vegetables go bad on me, but when it does happen it’s because the recipe wasn’t followed correctly or the vegetables made contact with the air while fermenting. I have been told that when a batch does go bad, it will be obvious- either with visible mold, or with a truly horrible smell, or both. My top safety tips for lacto-fermentation are as follows:
- Make sure your jar and equipment are clean and sterilized.
- Follow a trusted recipe. Different vegetables require different amounts of salt to be safe (usually, although not always, between a 2-3% solution), so make sure you’re making a brine that is safe for the vegetables you have.
- Check your ferment daily, and use a weight to pack down the vegetables. Remember this handy saying- “if in brine, all is fine. If in air, beware”. Lactic bacteria thrive in the salty anaerobic conditions of the broth, and other harmful bacteria can not.
HELPFUL FERMENTATION TOOLS
- Mason jar: You need a mason jar, or some other type of air-tight jar to ferment in. You need to keep the area contained, to make sure you’re not leaving it open for all sorts of stuff to grow.
- Airlock lids: This is an optional one- I recently bought a set of silicon airlock lids, but I honestly didn’t bother using them for this fermented hot sauce. As the peppers ferment, they produce a small amount of carbon dioxide, which over time builds up in the container. An airlock lid will release the pressure by letting a little of that gas out, without letting anything else in. This hot sauce ferment doesn’t really create a whole lot of C02, so there won’t be much pressure build up either.
- Weights: I use a glass weight to hold down my ferments. It stops the peas from rising up above the brine, which would give an opportunity for undesirable bacteria to grow on them. If you don’t want to purchase weights specifically for fermentation, try this list of DIY options!
Looking for inspiration? Add a dash of hot sauce to one of these recipes!
- Cheesy Vegan Broccoli Soup with Poblano
- Vegan Baja Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa
- Hoover’s Breakfast Greens and Tofu
- Eggplant and Heirloom Tomato Cobbler (Vegan)
- Vegan Breaded Zucchini Recipe (Baked)
- Garlic Scape Sweet Potato Pakoras or Fritters (Vegan)
- Vegan French Onion Tart (Vegan Quiche)
- Backyard Wild Field Garlic Pancakes
How to Make Fermented Hot Sauce
The main ingredients in our hot sauce are going to be garlic scapes and jalapeno peppers- it makes a fairly mild sauce, although you could use a spicier pepper if you prefer. Chop them into pieces, so that they fit will in a clean and sterilized large quart-sized mason jar and pack them into the jar, along with some scallions and cilantro. It will be a tight fit, but there should still be plenty of room for the brine to surround the vegetables. To make the brine, heat some water in a saucepan. It doesn’t need to boil or simmer, just warm gently so the salt will dissolve. Once you’ve got your brine, pour it over your vegetables- you should end up with a little more brine than needed. Use a weight to stop the vegetables from floating to the surface, and gently screw on the lid (or you can use an airlock lid, if you have one). Your fermented hot sauce will take about a week, but make sure you taste it as it goes. You may find you prefer the flavor if it’s less fermented, or a little more, so make sure you do a little sampling. Once it is at a level you like, blend the vegetable together with some of the brine and vinegar. This hot sauce has a sour vinegar flavor, which you can decrease a little if you like. Once blended, strain the pulp from the liquid. If you want to keep the cultures alive, don’t reduce the sauce. If you’re okay with stopping the fermentation process, you can reduce the sauce a little to concentrate the flavor, which I found enjoyable. Finally, use a little xanthan gum to thicken your sauce- if you prefer not to use xanthan gum, the flavor will still be delicious but the sauce will be fairly thin. Store your hot sauce in the fridge, and enjoy!
Garlic Scape Fermented Hot Sauce
Ingredients
- 175g. fresh garlic scapes
- 175g. jalapeno peppers (or a spicier green pepper, if preferred)
- 10g. fresh cilantro
- 2-3 scallions
- 10 peppercorns
- Salt, as needed
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- ½ tsp. xanthan gum
Instructions
- Chop your garlic scapes so they fit neatly in a large mason jar. Half or quarter your jalapenos. Pack the peppers and scapes tightly in the jar, along with the cilantro and scallions (chopped, as needed to fit), and peppercorns.
- Prepare a brine for your ferment. To safely ferment your vegetables, you want to prepare a brine that is 2% salt by weight. Add two cups of water to a saucepan, and heat gently, and stir in 2 tsp. salt until fully dissolved. Pour the brine over your vegetables in the mason jar, so it covers the tops of your vegetables. There should be no air-pockets. Use a fermentation weight to ensure that the garlic scapes and peppers are fully submerged.
- Place the jar on a plate (it will likely leak a little), and cover loosely with a lid or airlock system. Let the jar sit at room temperature for about a week. Check every day to make sure all of the vegetables remain submerged under the brine, and start tasting after about 5 days. Once the garlic scapes have a flavor you enjoy, you’re done fermenting.
- Drain the vegetables, reserving the brine. Add all the vegetables, along with the apple cider vinegar, and about 2/3 cup of the brine to a blender and blend until smooth. You can use a little more brine as needed. Use a cheesecloth or nut milk bag to strain the sauce, squeezing as much liquid as possible and reserving the liquid and discarding the solids.
- Place your sauce on the stove, bring to a simmer and reduce until you have about two cups. This will stop the fermentation process. Let the mixture cool down, and then use a blender to mix the xanthan gum into the sauce. You can add slightly more xanthan gum if you want a thicker sauce. Transfer to a container, and store in the fridge.
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