When you have a bumper crop of hot peppers, make this fermented chili paste recipe. A naturally lacto fermented hot chili paste that will knock your socks off!
Cut the peppers in half crosswise leaving the stems and seeds intact.
Stuff them into a jar (I used a quart size) along with a handful of peeled garlic. You can really pack them in hard, don’t worry if they get crushed or cracked.
Just barely cover the peppers and garlic in the jar with a brine that has a ratio of 1 Tbsp pickling or Kosher salt (not iodized) to 2 cups water.
Weigh the peppers down so that they stay completely under the brine.
Cover it with a clean towel and put in an out of the way spot in your kitchen for about 2 weeks.
Check it every day or two as the water level of the brine will rise. I took the jar of water off the top after a few days of fermenting.
Strain the brine from the peppers, but save it in a separate bowl.
Put the peppers and garlic into a blender, along with just a few spoon fulls of brine.
Blend it all together until it is relatively smooth, adding a small amount of brine if necessary. Just remember, this is a chili paste, so you don’t want it to be too watery.
Ladle into jars and refrigerate.
Notes
Fermented Chili Paste will last almost forever in the refrigerator. You could even add a splash of vinegar to make it last a bit longer, and it wouldn’t hurt the flavor, either.