Phillippine pepper vinegar

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Once upon a time I had a neighbor from the Phillippines and she would give me these jugs of homemade pepper vinegar.

The reicpe for this delicious stuff seemed to be:

Take a gallon milk jug
Stuff a bunch of peppers in it
Fill it with vinegar
Put a cap on it
Leave it be sitting in the garage for two or more years
Uncap and enjoy!

I have an abundance of peppers from my garden this year. I put out a basket of peppers on my lawn telling people to take them. About 3/4 of them went away yesterday but I still have a lot of peppers.

I have a teeny tiny kitchen. I have an ultra teeny tiny freezer. I don't do canning or preserving or saving of stuff that requires space or cooking.

I'm thinking of making some Phillippine pepper vinegar but I'm wondering if there are any essential steps I might be missing from my guessed recipe.

Warning: this was scary looking stuff, certainly not FDA approved. I know it did not require extensive (or simple) preperation (like... say.... cooking) Still, I don't want to kill anyone with my Phillippine pepper vinegar trials. (Note: I'm still alive and I've eaten gallons of this stuff.)

Does anyone know if I'm missing some essential safety feature?

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Two years seems like over-kill to me, especially with vinegar. You cold probably make it faster with pepper juice poured into vinegar.

My friend makes a Plum Smash and stores it for only 4 months.

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@boomerang,

I dunno, I always worry about botulism, however wrong I might be on that. I read some formative stories about people dying from badly canned tomatoes some time in my youth and spent some time in lab work calling for sterile conditions, so I'm spookable about canning. Non-canning, now that appeals to me. This worry business doesn't keep me from putting peeled raw carrots, brussel sprouts, whatever, in the leftover juice from Mezzetta jarred olives - but I'm the one that eats those.

So - for a twist, I might use mason canning jars (sterilize, I dunno - the sterilization directions don't seem all that trustworthy to me - where's my autoclave - and are a lot of trouble. Use your judgement, snicker. Then I'd roast the washed peppers in the oven, snatch them with sterile tongs (ha ha), and dump in the mason jars to which you already decanted some vinegar.

Limoncello takes a couple of months... I also question the two years bit, but maybe.

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From what I've read on the net, you should use sterilized jars, boil a salt and vinegar mixture and pour it over the peppers pre-stuffed in the jars.

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@Ceili,

usually high acid concoctions dont invite botulism do they? We often make a cayenne vinegar , except we only use malt vinegar (more of a complex taste than just acetic acid). I usually take one of those salad bottles with the ball stopper tops and fill about 2/3 with malt vineagar. I then slice sevaral clean cayenne peppers lengthwise and stuff em in the vinegar cruet (I guess thats what it is ) until the vinegar and pepper mix is topped off.
WE also made some tellicherry vinegar by dousing about 2T of whole Tellicherry's into malt vinegar.

Both variants have different tastes and we use em for stuff like corned beef, horseradish for ham sammiches and on top of salads where you dont want a lot of greasy dressing. I find that cayennes have more flavor than jalepenos. You can also, bake the cayennes with a little sugar on top. This caramelizes the peppers and gives a more smoky taste.

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@farmerman,

Yeh. I agree about the high acid. Tomatoes are acid though, aren't they, and they can get botulism taint - but I haven't heard of it with vinegar.
Your recipe sounds good, farmer.

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I put left over veggies into the jars too, Osso!

I really don't want to get into all this sterilization stuff. There aren't that many peppers. I was trying to think of something super easy to do with them when I remembered the pepper vinegar my neighbor used to give me. Safety is important but I'm trying to recreate the flavor of something that sat in a Dagupan garage for several years.

So, farmerman, you just put the peppers in a bottle and cover with vinegar? I like the idea of trying malt vinegar or some things other than just regular vinegar.

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@boomerang,

MAlt vinegar has a nice finish, so does a rice vinegar. WE recently got some balsamic vinegar with figs and that is really good(its almost a dessert treat). Ive found that one can "cheat" balsamic vinegar to make an aged sweeter tasting vinegar without buying the really expensive 20 or 40 year old. We tried simmering the balsamic vinegar and reduce its volume. AS the vinegar simmers the acetic acid oxidizes (probly makes an acetaldehyde) and the result is a thicker sweeter vinegar.

OSSO, most tomatoes are acidic. There are a few varieties that are low acid, but, when canning, I like to keep the pH below that threshold (4.5 and lower is an acid threshold )

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@farmerman,

I'm going to try that simmering trick!

I buy cheapish vinegar for most things but for salad basalmic I pay about $15 for a small bottle -- outrageous! It's not even considered the "good" stuff.

Farmerman, can you tell me how to select a good fig? I read in the paper where local figs are in season right now. Mr. B loves figs, especially when served with "stinky" cheese. Our 20 year anniversary is coming up and I thought I'd splurge on something tolerably expensive but intense for dinner.

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@boomerang,

Listening.

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@boomerang,

What kind of peppers are you using? This might be good.

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@roger,

I have mostly jalapenos (insane hot) and pepperocini (mild) but there is some squiggly little red pepper that I've forgotten the name of -- it looks wicked but is pretty mild.

If it turns out good I'll send you a bottle in a couple of years when it's ready to use!

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@boomerang,

Okay. If your garage freezes in the winter, keep my cut inside, alright?

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@boomerang,

I dont know how to select the best fig. Mrs F does most of the buying and Ill ask her. It may be a sex linked thing. eve always bought the f;lattened ones (as opposed to really fresh ones) I dont recall getting abad fig.

Youll be amazesd at how you can simmer the cheaper balsamic vinegars and turn em into almost an aged taste. I was wondering whether some of the bottlers dont do the same?? (There are "balsamic" vinegars of Modena that are "Aged" by AMerican bottlers and the vinegars taste sweeter and are cheaper than the truly aged "in Modena" stuff.

Ive always been interested in "Kitchen chemistry" and how flavorings are arrived at (ferom a natural point natch)

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I've only pickled carrots and jeez was that a lot of work. So I really appreciate all the tips and ideas.
Farmer, have you ever tried reduced balsamic over ice cream. Yummy..

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@boomerang,

boomerang wrote:

jalapenos (insane hot)

You're a long way from your roots. Didn't you originate in Texas?

Jalapenos are sweets.

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my grandmother as well as my mother always kept a glass jar in the fridge stuffed with peppers in vinegar, as it was used up they would just add more vinegar and occasionally add more peppers. (the little red peppers they grew in the garden)

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@boomerang,

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2009/04/pickled_peppers.html

1 pound (450g) fresh jalapeno peppers, washed (see Note)
2 1/2 cups (625ml) water
2 1/2 cups (625ml) vinegar (I used white distilled vinegar)
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons coarse salt, such as kosher
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds
3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tablespoons black peppercorns

1. Stab each pepper three times with a sharp paring knife and place them in a large glass preserving jar.

2. In a non-reactive saucepan, bring the other ingredients to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for five minutes.

3. Remove from heat and pour the brine over the peppers. Place the lid on the jar and let cool. Once cool, refrigerate for at least a week before using, if possible. (You can use them sooner, but Michael says they're worth the wait.)

Serve whole, with Mexican dishes, or remove the seeds then chop and use to season any recipe that is improved by a little bit of sweet heat.

Storage: I've kept pickles like this for up to a few weeks, under refrigeration, without any problems. But like anything preserved, you should take precautions. If you wish to preserve them longer, you can use these canning instructions and guidelines.

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@DrewDad,

Reviewing a couple of sites, they all recommend using a known good recipe, and do not alter the proportions. They all recommend processing/cooking the food.

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Phillippine pepper vinegar

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