The hot sauce popular in the American South, Tabasco sauce, is now mostly made and bottled in Viet Nam. The original sauce was created decades ago in Louisiana by the McIlhenny family. Since then, an increasing number of people have taken up the hobby of making their own Tabasco sauce at home. This article will show you how to make your own Tabasco sauce from scratch, using fresh tabasco peppers and basic kitchen spices.

The recipe requires a minimum of two years to mature; this time is needed for the peppers and spices to properly blend together. The following list contains all you’ll need: 14 tabasco pepper pods (red), 7 cloves of garlic, 2 tsp salt, 1/4 cup vinegar, and one small onion. (You can make the Tabasco sauce without garlic)

To begin, wash and dry the tabasco peppers and cut the stems off. Cut the tabascos in half lengthwise and make one small slit down each pepper; this prevents them from popping during cooking.

Place all 14 peppers into a pot containing two cups (500ml) of water. Make sure there is enough room for the peppers to move around freely in the pot; if not, use a larger pot. Finally, place the pot onto your stove and turn on the heat. Once it begins to simmer, reduce the heat to medium-low and let it cook for approximately 20 minutes (to prevent overheating, do not allow it to reach maximum heat).

While the pepper mixture is cooking, wash the garlic cloves, one small onion, and two teaspoonfuls of salt. To prepare the garlic, cut off the stem and then break each clove apart by hand. Do not peel or remove the paper-like skin from either half of the clove; this is where most of the flavor comes from.

Next, roughly chop the onion and two teaspoonfuls of salt. The chopped pieces should be roughly equal in size to the other ingredients. Add them to a blender with one cup (250ml) of water; blend at high speed for about 20 seconds or until it turns into a smooth liquid.

Pour this blended mixture into the pot containing the peppers. Also, add one-fourth cup (60ml) of vinegar to the mixture and stir well.

Now place a clean cloth over the pot, securing it tightly around its rim using a rubber band or string. This will prevent the liquid from spilling onto your countertops when it starts to boil over. Heat the pepper mixture on high until it begins to boil, then reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, turn off the stove and remove the pot from its burner; wait five minutes before removing the cloth covering. Next, pour about one cup (250ml) worth of liquid into a measuring cup or bowl.

Place a sieve over a clean glass jar and pour the pepper mixture through it. Do Use a spoon to push as much of the pulp as possible through the sieve; this will make your sauce thicker.

Finally, add one tablespoonful of salt, two tablespoons of lemon juice, and one teaspoonful of onion powder to your finished sauce. Mix them well and then seal the jar tightly before storing it in a cool dry place.

Once the jar is sealed properly, leave it alone for at least two years before opening or using it. The longer you allow your sauce to mature, the better and hotter its flavor will be; when you finally do use it, make sure you shake well before each use.

This recipe makes approximately one cup (250ml) of homemade Tabasco sauce. You can substitute the habanero peppers for jalapeno peppers if you want to make them spicier; just remember that you’ll need different amounts of them depending on their heat index. Enjoy!