A spice for life: A passion turns into side hustle!

Hello Hivers! How are you doing today? Let me show you my passion for cooking that accidentally turns into my side hustle! Yes! you heard it right. I'm a kind of person who loves to eat and loves cooking. I usually cook for my family. And then one time, as i scrolled on some social media platforms, I came across someone posted about making a Chili-garlic sauce. I personally doesn't like chilis I mean, I can eat but for small amount only. My spicy food tolerance is at its lowest. But, for the sake of my friend that is going to have a birthday, I planned to gift her something I made. And that is the beginning of my experiment on how to make the sauce. I followed the recipe of course, but, I don't like how it was tasted! So, I ended up making my own version of it.

The stars of this show! The chilis and the garlics! I'm using the 'siling labuyo' or the 'wild chili' because of its spiciness and it is commonly found in our area.

Taking the chili stalk is easy! But, peeling the garlic takes a lot of time. In fact, I used different methods in peeling the garlic cloves. I tried putting in an empty jar and shake it continuously, some peeled but most not so, I ended up peeling it with knife one by one!

Here are the ingredients:

Chilis about 1 1/2 cup of it
Garlic - 7 bulbs
Onions - 4 small
Oyster sauce - small (add more if you like)
Oil of your choice (could be vegetable oil, Olive oil) whatever is available in your kitchen - 1 1/2 bottle
salt and pepper
brown sugar

To make your life easier, used your blender to chop your garlic, chili and onions. When I started to make this before i chopped it manually, Thank goodness i was able to purchase this blender saves you time and effort.

The procedure is I added the chopped garlic and onions with the oil first, stir it for a couple of minutes or when you can smell the aroma of the garlic. Then I added the chilis. Keep stirring.

Heads up! If you want to try this, just be sure to protect your hand from the hotness of the chili! Wear gloves! Yes, it will leave a burning sensation on your skin after you cook. And I also wear a mask and eyeglasses in that too. The smoke will get into your eyes, and that would be a problem. Keep stirring under low heat, you don't want your garlic to burn, it will taste bitter. Then add your oyster sauce, salt, pepper and sugar to taste. Oh! and one more thing, add 2 tablespoon of white vinegar to prolong its shelf life.

When your chili-garlic sauce looks like this, then its time for you turn off your stove and let it cool and transfer it on a clean jar.

So, this is me, filling the jars with my chili-garlic sauce. The next morning, I give it to my friend as her birthday gift. And, Yayy!! She loves it, and wants to purchase. And she shares it with her neighbor and they too ordered from me. And that's the start of my new found side hustle. The combination of sweet and spicy will surely fits your taste. This is good to pair with your home-made siomai/dumplings, fried viands, soup and even eat it with rice.

As of now, to ensure I made fresh chili-garlic sauce, so, I only make if there is an order. Surely, you can eat a lot because of this! So, whose hungry?? I hope you enjoy reading. Thank you and see you next time!