Chili Vinegar
Ingredients
Directions
Infuse
Fill a bottle with chilis or capsicums.
Cover them with vinegar and cork the bottle tightly.
Let it stand for 3 weeks to 1 month.
Pour off the vinegar and refill the bottle with fresh vinegar.
Alternative method
If chilis are unavailable, mix 1 ounce of cayenne pepper with 1 quart of vinegar and let it stand, shaking occasionally.
Strain off the mixture and refill the bottle.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Chilis or capsicums
- Provide the heat and pepper flavor that the vinegar extracts over time.
- Vinegar
- Acts as the solvent that draws out capsaicin and flavor from the peppers, and preserves the infusion.
The step that matters
Leaving the bottle corked while it stands. Capsaicin and other flavor compounds dissolve slowly into the acid over weeks, so the bottle must stay tightly sealed to keep the vinegar from evaporating or spoiling while it steeps.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
You might also like
Vegetable Soup350 recipes
Raspberry Vinegar214 recipes
Brown Coffee with Egg175 recipes
Blackberry Cordial129 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.