Fermented Sriracha

This maybe the best fermented hot sauce recipe yet! It's spicy, with just the right heat, and alive with live-cultures. Why buy commercial brands, which are filled with preservatives and often in plastic bottles, when you can make you very own and know that there are healthy probiotics with every mouthful? The secret, other then lacto-fermentation, is to use a combination of peppers, and temper it with a dash of palm sugar.

Ingredients:

2-1/2 cups (600 ml) filtered water
1-1/2 Tablespoons (22.5 ml) sea salt
14 oz (396 g) red Fresno or red jalapenos peppers
3 - 4 red Thai chilis
3 - 4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 small shallot, peeled
1 bay leaf
1/2 Tablespoon (7.5 ml) palm sugar
Sea salt, to taste
Raw apple cider vinegar, to taste (optional)

Directions:

1. Bring the filtered water to boil. Pour into a glass, stainless steel, or ceramic bowl and dissolve sea salt to make the brine. Allow to cool completely before using.
2. Cut off the stems and remove the seeds of the peppers. If you're sensitive to heat, also remove the ribs (pith) of the peppers, as they contain the active ingredient, capsaicin, which gives the burn!
3. Pack the trimmed chili peppers, garlic, shallot, and bay leaf into a quart-size, wide-mouth mason jar.
4. Pour the brine over the ingredients until it reaches the shoulder of the jar.
5. Place Kraut Source onto the jar. Allow to ferment for 10 - 12 days or more in a cool spot, away from direct sunlight.
6. When ready, remove the bay leaf. Pour out and reserve the brine.
7. Place the rest of the fermented ingredients in a blender, add in the palm sugar, plus about1/3 cup (80 ml) of the brine.
8. Puree until smooth. Add in more brine if the mixture is too thick, then taste for flavor. Add more palm sugar and salt as needed.
9. If you like your sriracha more sour, add in 1 - 2 Tablespoons (15 - 30 ml) of raw apple cider vinegar.