Chili Garlic Black Bean Hot Sauce Reprinted

Chili Garlic Black Bean Hot Sauce 

The recipe came from Chinese Garden Restaurant in Santa Clara California. I had been dining there for lunch for near 18 years. I would order the pot sticker just to have a good excuse to eat the hot sauce. Unsuccessful at gaining access to the recipe no matter what I tried, I finally succeeded only when the Mandarin chef and his wife retired and sold the restaurant. The recipe sounds very simple (because it is) but the sauce gets increasingly more complex and more delicious as it ages. My Chinese friends are as crazy about this sauce as I am. 

1 cup peanut or grapeseed oil

1 cup crushed red pepper¹

6 ounces of minced fresh crushed ginger

8 cloves minced crushed garlic

1/3 cup fermented black beans (douche), chopped a bit

Heat oil until hot (300 F, a wooden chopstick begins to bubble) Drop in all the crushed red pepper. (Avoid putting your face too close to the sauce pan as a breath of this could knock you flat out and require paramedics.) Heat to very hot again. Add all other ingredient. Stir once and cook for two minutes on high. (At this high temperature the moisture is driven off and is sterile.) After the mixture completely cools,  ladel into a sterile jar and seal lid tight. Refrigerate and allow to age for a minimum of three months (is best six or more months). Once opened, keep refrigerated. Keeps at least a year. Especially great on pot stickers.

Notes:

1. How hot do you like your hot sauce? crushed red pepper could be a comination or New Mexico Pods (mild or hot), California pods (very mild) and arbor peppers (very hot), or a mix of these.
2. grapeseed oil's high smoke point means you can also use it in shallow frying without destroying its essential fatty acids, natural antioxidants, and phytochemicals.