Sazón Dominicano

Ingredients

• 250 g ají cubanela (Cubanelle frying peppers), seeded and roughly chopped
• 20 g ají gustoso or ají dulce, stems pulled out
• 150 g red onion, quartered
• 50 g garlic cloves, peeled
• 30 g cilantro ancho (culantro) leaves, or 40 g coriander with stems ⇄
• 15 g dried oregano
• 60 ml white vinegar
• 30 ml sour orange juice, or 20 ml lime juice and 10 ml orange juice
• 20 g fine salt
• 60 ml neutral oil, to seal the jar

Equipment

Blender

Allergen screen

None found among the 14 screened.

Screened for: gluten, dairy, egg, nuts, peanuts, fish, shellfish, molluscs, soy, sesame, celery, mustard, lupin, alcohol. Not screened: sulphites.

Screened by keyword from the ingredient list, not reviewed by a person; check every label for what the list cannot show.

Method

1. Rub the dried oregano hard between your palms over the blender jar until it powders and the smell turns resinous rather than dusty.
2. Add the peppers, onion, garlic and culantro with the vinegar and sour orange, and pulse to a coarse paste with the flecks still visible; taken to a smooth puree it aerates and browns within days.
3. Fold through the salt, pack into a clean jar, press out the air pockets and float the oil over the surface. It holds three weeks in the fridge.
4. To use, fry two tablespoons per pot in hot oil over medium heat until the water has gone, the hissing quietens and the raw green smell turns sweet, about 3 minutes. 3 min