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lacto-fermented-hot-sauce

Lacto fermentation is a method that uses just salt to ferment food. It’s kind of like pickling in that it helps preserve ingredients, but it also unlocks new, complex flavors and nutritional benefits, especially for the gut. Plus it’s super easy, you just need enough water to cover, combine with 3% of the water’s weight in salt, and pour it over whatever you’re fermenting. It doesn't really matter how many chilies you use, it just matters that they're submerged in a salt solution. 1-2 weeks will get the job done, and if you see bubbles that’s a sign the magic is happening. Just make sure to open the container once a day to release the buildup of gases, we don't want any explosions! Congratulations, our chilies are now shelf stable and amazing for that gut microbiome. Just a heads up, I used bird's eye chilies here but just because that's what I had on hand. I fermented them as a way of preservation! But, in this recipe I'm instead including fresno chilies. They're fruiter and less spicy and bitter. They would definitely work better here. I turned these chilies into a hot sauce by blending them with some of their fermentation brine, vinegar, salt, oil, and optionally xanthin gum to keep it emulsified. So. Good.

Ingredients