Lemon Drop Chiles Are The Ingredient Addition For Better Hot Sauce

Lemon drop chiles are a Peruvian pepper with a crisp, fruity taste reminiscent of citrus or lemongrass. Sitting between 15,000 and 30,000 Scoville heat units (SHU), these beautiful little wonders pack enough punch and tang to synergize with other ingredients in everything from red or green hot sauce to spicy fried fish with lemon pistachio couscous.

For hot sauce, lemon drop chiles provide a spicy vibrancy that sets any homemade concoction apart from its store-bought counterparts. But, remember that the strength of lemon drops' flavor may overpower your other ingredients. Instead of using them as the sole source of heat and pepper flavor for your hot sauce, try substituting a few of them in to balance your flavors. For example, if you're making a hot sauce with scotch bonnets, which measure between 100,000 and 350,000 SHU, try substituting one scotch bonnet for three or four lemon drops to get the same kick with a new taste. 

When you work with lemon drop chiles, try making a hot sauce that focuses on acid as the recipe will already include compatible ingredients. How you substitute lemon drops — and in what — depends on your preferences, but you generally need a base that has strong flavors that can hold up to these potent beauties. 

Since lemon drops taste so strongly of citrus, they're best used with ingredients that are already compatible with sharp, acidic flavors. Hot sauces using heavier amounts of garlic, onion, vinegar, and oregano are ideal. Look up the SHUs of peppers in an existing recipe using these ingredients and calculate how many lemon drops you need to substitute in for comparable heat. It also helps to understand the flavor of the peppers you're substituting to prevent lemon drops from taking over your hot sauce's flavor profile.

From Takis to chicken wings, the world has fallen in love with chili-lime combinations. The sharpness of lime lends an exciting counterpoint to the bite of the chili, creating a piquant balance of flavor. For those who appreciate and crave this combination, this chili-lime hot sauce from Mashed lets you bottle that flavor. 

When you substitute a scotch bonnet for some lemon drops, the resulting profile will be significantly more complex. The brightness of the chiles' lemony notes creates a synergy with the heavy heat from the scotch bonnets, as well as the sharpness of the apple cider vinegar and lime. The end product is so addictive you won't even have to worry about the shelf life since you'll have eaten it all. Remember to ditch the water and keep some milk on standby because, while delicious, your new creation might scorch off some taste buds.

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