AI-generated image
Wiri wiri pepper sauce
Wiri wiri pepper sauce: tiny cherry-round Guyanese peppers ground with garlic, onion, mustard and vinegar into a fierce table sauce
Every Guyanese household, from Georgetown to the villages of Berbice, has its own bottle of pepper sauce, and the most prized is made with wiri wiri: tiny, round peppers no bigger than a currant, red, orange or yellow, with a fruity, almost tomato-like heat that hits fast and fades clean. They are ground with plenty of garlic, a little onion, prepared mustard, salt and vinegar, and often a few slices of green mango or five-finger (carambola) for sourness. A dab goes on cook-up rice, dhal and rice, roti and curry, fried fish and bake, and on the pepperpot at Christmas. The sauce is coarse, bright orange-red and loose, sour first, then fiercely hot and garlicky. A common mistake is thinning it with water, which makes it spoil quickly; use vinegar alone for any loosening. It is ready after a day in the fridge, when the garlic has softened into the heat and the colour has deepened. Outside Guyana, wiri wiri is hard to find; Scotch bonnets or red bird's-eye chillies work, though the flavour is a little different. Chef's tip: grate in a few slices of green mango for the true sour, fruity Guyanese edge.
- Total time
- 25 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 24
Ingredients
- 3 ½ oz wiri wiri peppersor Scotch bonnet or red bird's-eye chillies
- 1 small onionabout 80 g
- ¾ cup white vinegarat least 5% acidity
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp prepared yellow mustard
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 ¾ oz green mango, grated (optional)or carambola (five-finger)
Shop this recipe on Amazon
What you'll need
Fresh ingredients (3)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Sterilise a 400 ml bottle or jar and its cap: wash in hot soapy water, rinse, and heat the glass in a 250°F oven for 10 minutes; boil the cap for 5 minutes. Let them cool.
15 minStep 2: Put on gloves. Pull the stems off the 3 ½ oz wiri wiri peppers and rinse them. Peel the 6 garlic cloves and roughly chop the 1 small onion.
8 minStep 3: Put the peppers, garlic, onion and 1 ¾ oz green mango, grated if using into a blender with ½ cup white vinegar, the 1 ½ tsp salt and the 2 tbsp prepared yellow mustard. Pulse to a coarse, bright paste; do not make it perfectly smooth.
3 minStep 4: Scrape into a stainless steel pan, open a window and bring to a boil over a medium heat. Simmer for 3 minutes, stirring, until the raw onion smell has gone; many Guyanese cooks skip this, but it helps the sauce keep.
4 minStep 5: Off the heat, stir in the remaining ½ cup white vinegar and the 1 tbsp lime juice juice. Let it cool completely.
Step 6: Pour into the bottle, cap and refrigerate. Leave for a day before using, until the garlic has mellowed and the colour has deepened.
Step 7: Keep in the fridge for up to 3 months and use a clean, dry spoon. Throw it away if you see mould, it fizzes or the cap bulges, or it smells yeasty or rotten.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 8 kcal
- Protein
- 0 g
- Carbs
- 2 g
- Fat
- 0 g
- Fibre
- 0 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does wiri wiri pepper sauce take?
- About 25 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 5 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 24 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- Is it very spicy?
- It has some heat. Use less chilli for a milder version, or more if you like it hot.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of garlic cloves?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
- What can I use instead of small onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Vegan nuoc cham
Nước chấm is the dipping sauce that goes with almost everything in Vietnam: spring rolls, bánh xèo, noodle salads and broken rice. Buddhist vegetarian cooks, all over the country, make it without fish sauce, using light soy sauce and a little coconut water for the deep, rounded taste. It should be thin, clear and pale amber, with flecks of garlic and chilli floating on top. Chef's tip: dissolve the sugar in the warm water first, then add the lime and soy, and stir in the garlic and chilli last, pounded with a pinch of sugar, so they float on the surface instead of sinking.
Vietnamese
Mint and onion chutney
Onions fried gently until soft and sweet, then blended with fresh mint, green chilli and lemon juice. It's a mellow, fresh-tasting chutney that is great with bhajias, samosas, kebabs and tikka, or spread in sandwiches.
Indian
Sour cream dip
A simple, tangy dip made with thick home-made cottage cheese (hung yogurt) or ready-made sour cream, seasoned with garlic, chilli, black pepper and vinegar. Serve it cold with crisps, nachos and jacket potatoes. The book's other dips use this as their 'sour cream'.