Sweet Chili Sauce

One thing I really miss living in a small town is the lack of variety in the available cuisine, its a bummer to have to drive almost an hour to get something a little different. Even the grocery stores have limited selections when it comes to multicultural options. Well, I don’t have to stand for that! Making my own is where its at and since I have good luck growing peppers this Asian style sauce is a great fit for us. I love to use it as a dipping sauce for chicken.

However, one problem is that the sauce needs a thickening agent that gives a consistency you can pour but that still suspends the garlic and chilies in the sauce. If this sauce was going to be made and consumed immediately this would not be an issue because regular corn starch would do the trick. However, corn starch is not recommended for canning. In addition to the fact that it doesn’t act right and gives a lumpy ugly product, some food extension programs have concerns that using cornstarch may over-thicken the sauce which could prevent heat from penetrating the center of the jar and killing any little unwanted organisms that could lead to spoilage.

What is the solution? A product called Clear Jel which is a modified corn starch designed especially for canning. There are similar products with similar names but they are not made for canning. Clear Jel Instant won’t work for canning either, it is used more for instant sauces or gravies. You want the original Clear Jel. You may be able to find this product on the shelves of an Amish store but it is fairly reasonably priced and available here at Amazon. One bag will probably last you a long time but this is also the perfect product to use for canning pie fillings as well. Besides, we got lots of peppers…..

Remove stems from peppers and mince. Peel and mince the garlic.

In a saucepan combine 2 cups of water, peppers, garlic, vinegar, sugar and salt. Bring to boiling, stirring frequently to dissolve the salt and sugar. Continue boiling for 5 minutes. In a separate bowl, whisk the Clear Jel into 1/3 cup water. Add the water and Clear Jel mixture into the saucepan, stirring vigorously. Continue stirring until the sauce returns to boiling, reduce to simmer for a minute or two.

CANNING:

Ladle sauce into sterilized 1/2 pint jars. Leave 1/4 inch head space. Remove air bubbles and double check that the head space is still 1/4 inch. Add sauce if need, any leftover that doesn’t fit into your jars will just have to be eaten now! Clean the rims, add lids and finger tighten. See this article for general information about canning.

Use canning tongs to carefully place the jars into a water-bath canner with already boiling water (do not add your hot jars to cold water!). Make sure the jars are fully submerged and covered by a couple inches of water. Bring water back to a boil, put the lid on and process for 10* minutes. Once the time is up, remove the lid from the canner but allow the jars to rest for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack. Let the jars cool undisturbed overnight. The next morning, remove the rings, check the seals, wipe down and label jars for storage.

*You may need to adjust your processing time based on your elevation. Go here to find adjustments for your location