Red Jalapeno Sweet Chili Sauce

The most important ingredient when making anything involving chili peppers is a glass of milk. It doesn't matter how many times I wash my hands after cutting the peppers, I will somehow get pepper burn somewhere: eyes, mouth, nose. The milk doesn't cure it, but man does it cut down on that pepper pain.

Seriously, it defies the laws of physics. This even happens if I'm throwing some white pepper into a stir fry. Either I'm careless or just ridiculously oversensitive to capsacin.

It's totally worth it, though.

Sweet chili sauce is perfect. It's the best condiment in all of existence. It's hard to think of meals it doesn't complement. Have a whole day of sweet chili sauce: mix it in with some scrambled eggs for breakfast. Spread it on a grilled Brie sandwich for lunch. Dip your egg rolls in it for an afternoon snack. Or do what I did, and top your pulled pork tacos for dinner with a sweet chili slaw.

Or eat it with a spoon. Seriously. Just watch out for that bite.

Also, this recipe is super easy to make. The hardest part is when your house starts to smell like gingery peppers and you just want to eat it. Right. Now.

Resist. It will be better after it simmers.

Red Jalapeno Sweet Chili Sauce

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Water
1/2 cup Vinegar blend (mine was half white, half rice)
2 Tbsp Sugar
1 Red jalapeno, seeded and diced into small pieces
1/2 of the seeds from the pepper (more or less to your taste)
1 clove garlic, diced
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp paprika
2 tsp grated ginger
Cornstarch slurry: 1 Tbsp cornstarch mixed into 1 Tbsp cold water

Instructions:

1. Mix all the ingredients, except the cornstarch slurry, together in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved
2. Bring the mix to a boil, then lower the heat and let simmer for 20-30 minutes
3. Mix up the cornstarch slurry and add to sauce, mixing until fully incorporated
4. Remove from heat and cool on the counter, then place in the fridge until chilled throughout.