Mango-Carambola* Tooth Polish

Another hot sauce recipe and the reason for that is that I’ve devoted a couple of posts making noise about ginger and how to deal with it – might as well cough up a recipe or three that include ginger. That and I like hot stuff.  And summer is waning so I might as well cling to thoughts of bright, happy foods before winter. December isn’t too far off now and by the advent of that bitter, gray month I’ll be telling everyone that the best, all-around condiment for food is oatmeal.

 *A note on the carambola: These are beautiful fruit that have a pretty star shape when cut in cross section.  More often than not they’re served unripe, usually just a garnish, because that’s when the stars are at their pointiest.  This may lead you to believe that the carambola is more about style than substance.  But if you let it get ripe it becomes a seriously delicious thing with an alluring perfume that’s almost dirty.

     .It may seem like a bitch to peel – and you’ll want to for recipes like this, the skin being damn tannic and all – but if you cut one lengthwise to separate the ribs the skin will come off easy with a sharp knife.

1 large, slightly under-ripe mango – peeled & chunked

1 large, ripe Carambola (starfruit) peeled

1 ½” fresh ginger, peeled and sliced thinly

1 clove garlic

Juice of 2 limes

6 habanero chiles **

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground turmeric (optional, but it keeps it all yellow)

1. Put everything but the fruit in a food processor or blender and process to a mash of fine pieces.  Add fruit and continue to process until you have a smoothish consistency.  Push mix through a fine mesh strainer to remove fibrous particles (You can use this extra stuff as a spice rub or add to a marinade/dressing for some kick).

2. It will be good fresh for about a week if you keep it refrigerated.

For longer fridge life you’ll have to cook it a little.  After mixing put the stuff in a small (non-reactive) saucepan and heat over a medium burner. Stir & heat until the sauce is hot all the way through – a little bubbling is okay but try not to boil it.

OR – and this way doesn’t suck in the least – put it all in non-metal container and  microwave it.

Remove to cool completely before refrigerating.

**You can increase the heat – as if 6 habaneros isn’t enough?- by adding more chiles (1 at a time w/ the habs,ok?), or extra seeds from other chiles, although the straight seed route is a little psychotic  To decrease the burn remove some or all of the seeds before mixing.