Here is our recipe for Trini pepper Sauce, as approved by Ryan! We started with a base recipe we found online that looked like his family’s pepper sauce. Then he taste-tasted and we adjusted the seasonings to make it taste just right.
Due to the large amount of vinegar in this recipe, the pepper sauce will last ages in the fridge. Ryan says that Trini dishes themselves are not too spicy, but pepper sauce is always served alongside to add extra heat. That way, you can add as much or as little as you want! This pepper sauce is great in that it is not only spicy, but it also has great flavour. It’ll add great taste to stew chicken, curry goat, or oxtail.
Our recipe recommends using 10-15 Scotch Bonnet Peppers. Most Scotch bonnets have a heat rating of 100,000–350,000 Scoville units, meaning that they are extremely hot! If you have a more sensitive palate, use fewer peppers. The pepper sauce recipe uses the whole pepper, seeds included, so it really packs a punch.
Chadon beni, or shadow beni, is a green herb that is quintessential to Trini cuisine. It is also known as ‘sawtooth herb’ and used in Thai cooking. I can only find it sold in the small Caribbean grocery store in Kensington Market here in Toronto. If you can’t find it, you can use cilantro instead, as they have similar flavours.
You’ll also find that the colour and the flavour of the sauce changes after a few days. All the flavours of the individual ingredients meld together, and the colour changes to a more yellow colour, despite using red, orange, and green Scotch Bonnet Peppers. This is normal! The heat of the Scotch bonnet peppers also mellows a bit, but only a bit. We recommend letting the pepper sauce age for a week in the fridge before using.
Over the holidays, Ryan and I cooked a Trini feast with oxtail, callaloo, pastelles, saltfish buljol, and sorrel. Of course, we had to make this Trini pepper sauce to accompany our feast!
Spread the love by dividing the finished sauce into small jars. Give the jars away to friends who also love Caribbean food and hot sauces!
Trini Pepper Sauce
Ingredients
- 10-15 Scotch bonnet peppers various colours
- 1 seasoning pepper
- 1 head garlic
- 20 leaves chadon beni
- 1 tsp ginger grated
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme leaves removed
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 2 Tbsp mustard
- 3 Tbsp lime juice
Instructions
- Remove stems from peppers. Peel garlic cloves.
- Place garlic, chadon beni, ginger, thyme, and 1/2 cup vinegar in a blender or food processor. Blend til mostly smooth.
- Pour out into a bowl and set aside.
- Place the peppers and remaining 1/2 cup vinegar in the blender. Blend til mostly smooth (you might want to wear goggles to protect your eyes!).
- Pour the blended peppers into the bowl with the garlic paste. Add salt, mustard, and lime juice. Stir well.
- Pour the pepper sauce into small jars and store in the fridge.
Try some of our other Trini recipes:
- Ponche de Creme
- Sorrel
- Saltfish buljol
Due to the pandemic, we haven’t done much travelling recently. However, you can check out photos from our previous trips here.
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