Posted By Michelle on September 8, 2009

There are two types of people in the world, those who adore hot sauce and those who run from it screaming like a banshee. We would be the former.

Our love affair began on one excruciatingly hot (like 116 degrees hot) Austin summer day at the city’s annual Hot Sauce Festival. Over 350 hot sauce cooks submitted their prize sauces to be judged by over 15,000 onlookers - all for the glory of the gold. Green sauce, orange sauce, red sauce, black sauce, fruity sauce, herby sauce, meaty sauce, Vegan sauce…it was all there. Some burned through your sinus cavity with fierce vengeance while others just sizzled your lips a bit.

Today there are numerous hot sauce festivals that dot the countryside, all taking place right about this time of year. Even our own Tampa Bay based hot sauce company; Intensity Academy, took first and second place in the world famous Fiery Foods Competition earning more than five Scovie awards (the fiery food equivalent to an Oscar).

Once you’ve been bitten by the phoenix of the food world, it’s hard not to attempt your own blistering concoction. Especially when you can order just about every known chili online. Marx Foods has an amazing selection of bulk-dried chiles. They even carry the lethal Ghost Chile - the hottest chile in the world.

Maybe you’re not ready for the Ghost Chile (we sure aren’t) but not to worry, Chiles De Arbol and Morita (a.k.a chipotle) chiles will treat you just fine. In looking for a starting point for our hot sauce journey, we altered a recipe from our good buddy Rene Valenzuela, (our go-to source for all things related to Mexican cooking) to fit our own needs. We invite you to use our recipe below as a launching pad for your own Scovie award winner. Just make sure you send us a taste when you win first prize.

Btw, Chef Rene has begged and pleaded his good friend Chef Roberto Santibanez to visit Tampa and instruct a few cooking classes! You can visit The Taco Bus for more details on how to sign up. If you don’t know who Chef Roberto is…you need too. He’s only like, one of the most amazing Mexican chefs in the world!

Salsa Morita
Adapted from Chef Rene Valenzuela – The Taco Bus, Tampa

6 morita chiles (or any variation of dried chiles)
½ red onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
½ teaspoon dried oregano
sea or kosher salt to taste

Heat ½ of the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium low heat. Add the chiles and sauté for about 2 minutes, just until the outside browns a bit. Turn them over and repeat for the other side. Remove the chiles from the pan and place them in a bowl, then cover them with boiling water and set aside to soften for ½ an hour.
While the chiles are soaking, add the remaining olive oil to the sauté pan, return to medium-low heat, and add the red onion, letting them caramelize while the chiles soak. Remove the chiles from the water and add them, along with the red onion and oregano to a blender. Add about ¼ cup of the soaking water to the other ingredients, and puree – adding more of the soaking water as needed for consistency. Season with salt to taste.

Categories: Budget Recipes, Mexican Cuisine, On The Cheap, Our Comfort Food, Side Dish, Super Fast Recipes, Vegetables, Vegeterian and Vegan
Tags: chiles, dried chiles, hot, hot sauce, mexican, moritas, salsa