Home-made Hot Sauce

Home-made hot sauce is not red like the commercial ones.

Habaneros and chili padi ('rice chili', because of their tiny size) are the hottest chilies I've ever eaten. Chili size and their level of hotness are inversely related. Big bell peppers taste sweet instead of hot. The smaller the chili, the hotter it is. Shorter people are like that too. The shorter the more fiery. According to a National Geographic program recently, small animals are more colorful to attract mates and ensure survival and propagation of species. It may be the same with shorter people, who are usually more animated, extroverted, wily and capable so it's no wonder the nickname "chili padi" refers to a small person with big fighting spirit.


Birds' eyes chilies, also known as chili padi


Kasturi limes, also known as calamansi

I have a couple of chili padi plants in my back yard. Recently, there are so many chillies even the birds can't finish them so I decided to make chili sauce, Sabah-style, something I've not bothered to do before.

I washed, dried and blended the chillies with plenty of kasturi (calamansi) limes (remove the seeds but keep the skin) and seasoned the sauce with some salt. I didn't want any extra flavor like ginger or garlic in it, so I left it plain. The sauce was more of a paste, so I added some rice vinegar to thin it a bit, but not too much since I like to add some Maggi soy sauce when I use it as a dip. I don't have much experience in pickling anything. I scalded the bottles with boiling water so I hope the chili sauce will keep for some time. That's all my understanding about pickling and preserving; just make sure the bottles are clean and dry.

All that chilies and limes made two small bottles of thick hot sauce. I also suffered from some chili burns on my hands and face but it was worth it. The kasturi limes give a refreshing citrus flavor and the sauce is so hot, it burns my stomach. I find myself hesitating before I eat it. It is almost like a dare. I imagine that's how it feels for guys to get close to Megan Fox. Hot yet scary.

I'll be eating a lot of fried meehoon with my hot sauce, especially the plain white meehoon from the breakfast stall next to Diamond Restaurant.