His and Hers Ethiopian Hot Sauce

Stingray brought me home about a pound of berbere spice from his recent trip to Ethiopia. Berbere is a generic term for Ethiopian spice mixtures made from red chilies, garlic powder, onion power and other spices all ground up and used in delicious Ethiopian cuisine.  I appreciated the gesture, and I do like chilies, but um…what are you supposed to do with an entire POUND of them?! The only thing I could think of was to make hot sauce. So we did, and it was awesome.

It was fun and relatively easy to make in terms of process, but definitely took major trial and error in getting the flavors right. We made two different types: “Eva’s Wrath” – tangy, smokey with medium heat reflecting my desire for complex flavors, and “Sting RayRay Sauce” – garlicky with intense heat reflecting Stingray’s purist preferences. It was a perfect Sunday afternoon activity; we are so damn pleased with ourselves. Thanks for the strange and cumbersome souvenir, babe!

 

Eva’s Wrath

smokey, tangy, medium hot

• 3/4 cup vinegar
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed
• 6 tsp berbere chili spice
• 3 tsp honey or sugar
• 3 tsp salt (the berbere had salt in it already)
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 adobo-soaked chipotle chilies

In a blender or Magic Bullet, blend all ingredients together until super smooth. Transfer to small pan and let simmer on low for 10-15 minutes, stirring gently. This helps cook off some of the tang of the vinegar and brings the flavors together. Bottle. Label. Put on everything.

Sting RayRay’s Hot Sauce

less tangy, more garlicky, hot

• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 7 cloves garlic, crushed
• 6 tsp berbere chili spice
• 3 tsp honey or sugar
• 3 tsp salt (the berbere had salt in it already)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

In a blender or Magic Bullet, blend all ingredients together until super smooth. Bottle. Label. Put on everything.