Looking for a chili paste recipe!

[Susanwusan]

Hi, I'm looking for a recipe for a chilli paste that I can freeze and that uses fresh chillies.  It would have to be vegan aswell. 

[KennethT]

What style chilli paste? Meaning what type of chilli paste? Thick, thin, chunky, smooth, spiciness, various spicing used other than chillies... from what country?  I can think of Chinese chilli pastes that fit your criteria that are wildly different from many Indonesian sambal which would also.  Most Mexican ones also....  so can you be more specific?

[Alex]

Farokh Talati, in Parsi, says:

 

Quote

500 g super-fresh small green chillies

2 teaspoons fine salt

220 ml vegetable oil

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

 

Blitz [all ingredients] in a food processor. Transfer the paste to a clean, airtight jar and store in the fridge for up to six months. 

 

A word of warning: a cough-inducing, eye-stinging mist will envelop your kitchen for a while—it's worthwhile having a few windows open while making this paste.

 

Leave the seeds in your chillies. If your intention is to make your food less hot, do not take all the seeds out of your chillies; just use fewer.

 

[Susanwusan]

I'd rather it be smooth, what I would call "normal" hot (not scotch bonnet level), some other ingredients, even possibly aromatic ones but nothing that would associate it especially with a particular country, so that I could use it in a couple of types of dishes and use other ingredients specific to the cuisines.  I would probably put the limit of ingredients to fewer than six.

 

[Susanwusan]

Thanks Alex, a nice base but I'd like a degree of flavour aswell, not just chilli for heat's sake. 

[blue_dolphin]

Sounds like @Alex absolutely nailed your request!  You can make it as smooth as you like and determine the heat level by your choice of chile peppers. 

 

My go to green chile stuff is the green chile adobo from More Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayless.  I find it neutral enough that I easily scoop some out and tweak it into a zhoug or green chile chutney. 

I wouldn't call it chilli paste though because it contains so much cilantro and parsley. More chili herb paste. 

[Susanwusan]

What would you make with the green chile adobo?

[blue_dolphin]

1 hour ago, Susanwusan said:

What would you make with the green chile adobo?

 

Aside from using it as a shortcut to related green sauces from multiple cuisines, I might:

Toss with pasta and cooked veg and top with crumbled queso, feta or Parmesan 

Mix into eggs before scrambling or use in an omelet filling

Smear on bread for a grilled cheese sandwich

Mix into mayo for a sandwich spread

Whisk into a vinaigrette or creamy salad dressing

Drizzle over roasted sweet potatoes or any roasted vegetables

Spoon into a baked potato

Mix into potato salad or egg salad or deviled eggs

Add a swirl on top of a bowl of soup, polenta, cooked rice or bean dips

Mix with sashimi-grade fish and lime juice for a ceviche or pickled shrimp

Blend into meatloaf or meat balls before cooking

Dollop on any grilled meats or seafood

Spread on pizza dough instead of a pizza sauce

 

Edited to add that I should have mentioned the recipes where Bayless uses it in the book.  He uses it as a sauce for shrimp, beef or pork in his recipe for skillet tacos, tosses it with roasted chayote, and uses it in a risotto-like green rice and beans dish.  

 

What uses do you have in mind for the green chilli paste that you are requesting a recipe for?

 

 

Edited April 9, 2023 by blue_dolphin (log)

[liuzhou]

1 hour ago, Alex said:

500 g super-fresh small green chillies

 

I'm sorry, but that is kind of meaningless. There are many different small green chillies, some mild , some fiery. And what is 'small'? Can you be more specific?

[blue_dolphin]

6 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

I'm sorry, but that is kind of meaningless. There are many different small green chillies, some mild , some fiery. And what is 'small'? Can you be more specific?

 

It may be meaningless but I have found this usage very common amongst cookbook authors in the UK, where Talati resides.  Ottolenghi, Sami Tammy, Diana Henry, Meera Sodah, Nisha Katona and others all use similar wording, sometimes not even mentioning the size.  In another cooking group, we have often speculated whether there is really only one green chilli and red chilli sold over there. 

In this context, though, it seems perfectly adequate as the OP can choose the from the chillies available to get the desired heat level. 

[Susanwusan]

There's a lot you can do with it then - I'm not familiar with Mexican cooking.  Unless you count basic chilli con carne.  The chilli paste recipe I was asking for doesn't have to be green, but it's more of a base to make Thai or any other type of recipe I come across that needs a chilli paste-type substance.  Having seen the Bayless site,I think I'll try making the cowboy beans, but not sure which rice yet.  The most easily available chillies for me (from local greengrocer) are red and green Holland chillies and a long thin green chilli, but I could get others from supermarkets, etc.  The main requirement is the ratios and the like, I'll be able to determine the heat according to the chillies I can get.

Edited April 9, 2023 by Susanwusan (log)

[liuzhou]

 

12 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

In another cooking group, we have often speculated whether there is really only one green chilli and red chilli sold over there. 

 

Depending on where you are in the UK, many different red and green chillies are available. When I was in the UK in 2019, I was surprised by the selection in my mother's local small town supermarket. London has many more. I think that is bad writing rather than bad chilli availability.

[C. sapidus]

11 minutes ago, Susanwusan said:

There's a lot you can do with it then - I'm not familiar with Mexican cooking.  Unless you count basic chilli con carne.  The chilli paste recipe I was asking for doesn't have to be green, but it's more of a base to make Thai or any other type of recipe I come across that needs a chilli paste-type substance.  Having seen the Bayless site,I think I'll try making the cowboy beans, but not sure which rice yet.  The most easily available chillies for me (from local greengrocer) are red and green Holland chillies and a long thin green chilli, but I could get others from supermarkets, etc.  The main requirement is the ratios and the like, I'll be able to determine the heat according to the chillies I can get.

 

The potato, chicken, or beef rendang pastes from James Oseland's 'Cradle of Flavor' use red Holland chilies and would give you some very flavorful chilie pastes.

 

You might also consider purchasing a variety of Asian chilie pastes to see what you like. Should be pretty inexpensive to try out Thai red, green, or Panang chile paste (Mae Ploy brand is good if available), Korean gochujang, or Chinese chile-bean paste (toban jian, or similar spellings).

 

Mexican chilie pastes typically use dried chilies such as ancho, pasilla, and/or guajillo. Do you have access to those? As an alternative there are some simple chipotle chile pastes if you like smoky heat and can find canned chipotle chilies in adobo.

 

Good luck!

[Annie_H]

This is a simple basic recipe that will have a much longer fridge life than one that uses fresh produce. 5 minute chili paste

I use less sugar. 2 tSp coconut Palm sugar--less sweet and has a caramel scent/taste. I warm the water and steep a chunk of kombu and some bonito flakes at least an hour--strain, then add to the pot. Ginger powder, onion and garlic flake. Amchur is a nice addition, (dried green mango)

My chili flake is med-mild. (my market has a couple dozen brands. Usually small print somewhere on the bag gives the heat level).  I purchase 3pound bags a couple times a year. 

I have dried tiny Thai hots aka birds eye if I want more heat.  

I made a fresh Peruvian green sauce for the weekend. Similar to the Rick Bayless. Half pint went into the freezer this morning for another taco meal or similar. 

We go through lots of chili paste, miso, and chili crisp, kimchi...

 

Edited April 9, 2023 by Annie_H (log)

[blue_dolphin]

1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

 

 

Depending on where you are in the UK, many different red and green chillies are available. When I was in the UK in 2019, I was surprised by the selection in my mother's local small town supermarket. London has many more. I think that is bad writing rather than bad chilli availability.

Bad writing may be part of it but because of how widespread it is, even in relatively recent books, I tend to suspect poor editing, stuck with restricting ingredients to those available in every town, fifty years ago! 

 

[Susanwusan]

2 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

 In another cooking group, we have often speculated whether there is really only one green chilli and red chilli sold over there. 

lol

[Susanwusan]

1 hour ago, C. sapidus said:

Good luck!

Thanks, I'll look up Oseland's

[Alex]

3 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

I'm sorry, but that is kind of meaningless. There are many different small green chillies, some mild , some fiery. And what is 'small'? Can you be more specific?

 

All I did was quote the author. That's why the recipe was in a quote box. Perhaps you should send him a message instead of me.