Remember how I told you about my favorite way to make hot pepper sauce? There is only one sad thing about it, and that’s the hot pepper “dregs” that are left in the strainer/food mill after you work all the sauce through. It’s tragic really. There are seeds, and pulp, and just enormous amounts of flavor. I can’t bear to waste them, so I don’t. I conserve them and use them in all sorts of things. You can put the paste in the fridge, tightly packed into a small container to minimize air contact and use it as harissa wannabe. Add it to soups, stews, bread dough, scrambled eggs and all sorts of other things. Mixed with a bit of mayo, pesto, mustard or hummus, this makes a KILLER sandwich spread. The heat is in concentrated form, though, so use with caution and only serve to heat lovers.
If you prefer to season with dry, rather than wet, ingredients, there is always the dehydration option. If you have a dehydrator with temperature controls, keep your heat to 110 (check with a thermometer that the reading is correct before you start) and you’ll end up with probiotic pepper powder. If you don’t mind if your microbes die, you can dry them in the oven (this is also WAY quicker). With the dehydrator, you need the special fruit roll sheets, and it can take about 24 hours. In the oven, just spread the mixture as thinly as possible onto parchment paper or a silpat. It’s okay if there are bare spots, but the more consistent you can be, the more evenly dried your future pepper flakes will be. Heat the oven to 170 (that’s the lowest temp on my oven) and bake for about 3 hours, or until completely dry. Let them cool, and then put them under a cloth and pound them a bit until you have small pieces. Use as you would red pepper flakes, but be aware that these are more flavorful, more acidic and likely hotter than your average, so adjust your usage accordingly!
I sub these for some of the pepper powder in my kimchi and it does add a little kick!
TL;DR Here are some ways I use the “dregs” leftover from straining hot sauce:
Dehydrated and broken up into pepper flakes–
- Add to salad dressing for some spicy greens
- Sprinkle over crudités or into ranch dressing dip for some hot veg
- Sprinkled over grain or pasta dishes
- Blended into the gochujang for an extra awesome kimchi
Left as a paste-
- Mixed into bread dough
- Added to soups or stews for an extraordinary broth
- Mixed with mayo to make a dip or sandwich spread
- Whisked into scrambled eggs (especially good for chilaquiles or breakfast tacos)
- Blended into hummus
One of the many reasons I ferment is to prevent food waste in my own kitchen. I do feel a sense of responsibility to do this, but when the results of preventing food waste taste so delicious, it’s really not a chore at all! What’s your favorite way to use something that might otherwise end up on the compost pile?
Kristin says
I love this! I hate straining and throwing away what is presumably perfectly good food. I can’t wait to try this out as my hot sauce is almost ready to go!
Amanda says
Yay! That’s great. Seriously, this stuff is the best. I made way too much (soon to be too little) hot sauce this summer, and I’ve started adding this stuff to basically everything. Let me know how you use it!
Denise says
I love doing this too!! I have some in the oven right now, just finished fermenting red cayenne and green cayenne sauces, so I have two trays, and will have red and green pepper flakes as well.
Rebecca says
I blended up my first batch of hot sauce yesterday and decided not to strain it at all. Had to add a touch of ACV to get it fluid enough for a squeeze bottle, but I found I really like the texture.
Next batch, however, will be strained… Just for the variety.
andrew says
I have done exactly this with Thai Chiles… the sauce that i strained out is so hot its barely edible. ha! but the fermented dried flakes are delicious! i also make a lot of unstrained hot sauces, which i kind of prefer.
another thing I recently started doing is saving all vegetable waste (pre-compost), like carrot tops, onion ends and skins, etc. in a bag in the freeezer and making vegetable stock with them… then straining and composting. my first batch was 2.5 quarts of delicious veggie stock – which i then froze.
Septer says
Just finished my first ever batch of hot sauce from fermented peppers from this post:
http://phickle.com/we-can-phickle-that-hot-pepper-sauce/
The result is awesome! All from scotch bonnets and thai chilis I grew myself. With the crazy warm weather in the northeast it’s been a phenomenal year for hot peppers. Neighbors are trying to pawn them off on neighbors who are trying to pawn them off on other neighbors. 🙂
I put the paste in a jar in the fridge (as you describe above) and am mixing it with peanut butter for a quick and easy thai peanut sauce. Loving your stuff. Thanks so much for putting it all out there.
Janet says
Can you do this with pepper pulp that was not formented
Amanda says
Absolutely!
Buddy Ellis says
Just made a batch of Tabasco hot sauce and have lots of pulp with the seeds. Was wondering after I dry the pulp out what is the best way to grind the pulp to where it can be sprinkled on food. Thanks
Amanda says
Hi Buddy,
I think a whir in the food processor or a quick grind under the mortar and pestle would probably do it. I actually like to break the dehydrated bits up by hand (with a little bit of a pinch). It gives it the feel of the pizza parlor red pepper flake, in my view.
Enjoy!