How to Make Sweet & Spicy Seasoning
Sweet and spicy flavor is common in many different cooking styles. Thai cooking frequently features a combination of sweet flavors mingled with chili peppers, and sweet and spicy chicken wings are an American staple. Its popularity has also resulted in more mainstream sauces and barbecue marinades being offered in a sweet and spicy flavor. A sauce is the easiest way to achieve sweet and spicy seasoning, and making your own sauce at home is simple. When you make the sauce at home, you can adjust the recipe so it has just the right amount of heat to suit your palate. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Make a liquid base for your sauce from water and white vinegar. The amount of liquid that you use depends on personal preference and how much sauce you want to make. Include more water than you do vinegar, unless you like a very acidic sauce. A typical ratio is one part vinegar to three parts water, although some recipes call for a one-to-one ratio.
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Pour the liquid into a pan, and heat it up while you mix in your base flavors. Add finely chopped garlic, garlic powder or garlic puree from a food processor to the mixture, along with some salt. Add about one-and-a-half cloves of garlic and 1 tsp. salt per cup of liquid. If you're using garlic powder, a little less than 1/4 tsp. per cup of liquid is about right.
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Add between 1/2 and 1 cup sugar per cup of liquid, depending on how sweet you want the sauce to be. Heat until the sauce starts to thicken.
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Mix in chili peppers. This is where experimentation and personal preference really come into play. Everyone's heat tolerance varies when it comes to spicy foods, so play around with the amount of heat that you add into the sauce. You can also experiment with different types of hot peppers to give the sauce a different spin. When chopping peppers, chop them finely and leave the seeds in for more intense heat. You can also grind peppers in a food processor or include dried chili powders in your recipe.
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Cook the sauce until it reaches the desired consistency. Add a spoonful of cornstarch if you want to thicken the mixture more.
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Tips & Warnings
Make a dry sweet and spicy rub or seasoning by combining similar ingredients in a food processor without using a liquid base.
Be careful when cooking with chili peppers. Wash your hands thoroughly before you touch your face or your eyes.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit wings closer image by jimcox40 from Fotolia.com
