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Q: Dave,
I live in rural South Texas, where I have access to many wild chiltepin plants for harvesting. This summer I began tinkering with making a Tabasco-style sauce, but with chiltepins. The recipe is from your website, and is basically 2 cups vinegar, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 lb of peppers. My first batch of this stuff was wickedly hot. I could take it but only in small amounts, but nobody else could! Is there a way to cut down on the heat and still maintain the chiltepin flavor?
Sincerely,
Todd
A: Hello Todd:
I had exactly the same problem. Those chiltepins are so incredibly hot. My sauce was literally too hot to eat, so I used it to heat up red chile enchilada sauces. The only way to tone down the heat is to use another ingredient to dilute the heat. This will change the flavor somewhat, but it might be worth it. Since you have access to a lot of pods, why don’t you try experimenting with red jalapeños, or even red bell peppers. All of these fruits are Capsicum anuum, so the flavor profiles will be somewhat similar. Roast and peel the other chiles before using them. Or, you could try roasted, peeled, and strained tomatoes.
–Dave
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