Abidjan Fire Sauce Recipe à la Jeanette

From my previous post on Ginger Tea, you may have gathered that, when I’m sick, I head to the kitchen for a remedy.  Since this virus is beginning to feel really intractable, I decided to up the ante in order to kick it.  For me, that means one thing — chiles, and lots of them.

The best pepper sauce I have eaten in a really long time was at  Abidjan’s Maison des Combattants.  The waitress gave me a clue to its composition when she mentioned the fact that there were African eggplants in the sauce.

So, I decided to create my own recipe for a fiery hot version of it.  This Fire Sauce delivers heat in spades, and is also very tasty.  Hopefully, it will also be the medicine that finally chases this nasty virus out of our house!

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
3 yellow onions, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 lb. African eggplants, washed trimmed, and quartered (Thai eggplant may be substituted.)
1/4 lb. scotch bonnet peppers, mixed colors, washed and stemmed
2 Jumbo cubes, crumbled (Maggi cubes of your choice may be substituted.)
5 Tbsps tomato paste
Salt, to taste

Method

1.  Heat oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat.  Add onions and stir regularly, while allowing onions to reach a deep caramel brown color.

2.  When onions are almost finished, add garlic and saute for about a minute.

3.  Add eggplants, peppers, water, Jumbo cubes and tomato paste to the saucepan and bring to a boil.  Allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes, or until your vegetables are soft and the water is reduced by about half.  Turn off heat and allow the mixture to cool a bit.

4.  Puree the vegetable mixture with a handheld immersion blender.  Taste for salt and adjust as needed.

5.  This pepper can be stored in the fridge or the freezer.  It is great as a condiment or, mixed with mayonnaise, for a spicy dip or spread.  If you wish to give the sauce a longer shelf life in your fridge, coat the top of the sauce with a thin layer of oil.  The oil will preserve the sauce below for a significantly longer time.

Tip:  For a hotter sauce, use more red/orange peppers.  For a milder sauce, use more green peppers.

For more information on the medicinal value of chile peppers, click here.