Pepper & Lemon Sauce

This is molho de pimenta, the essential hot sauce that sits on every table next to a pot of Brazilian feijoada. Fresh lemon juice, chopped jalapeño peppers, onion, and crushed garlic. Four ingredients, no cooking, and it bites hard.

The sauce relies entirely on time rather than heat to develop its flavor. An hour at room temperature (or four hours in the fridge) lets the lemon juice pull the volatile oils out of the peppers and garlic, creating a sharp, integrated condiment where every ingredient hits at once.

Half a cup of fresh lemon juice is an aggressive amount, and that’s intentional. Feijoada is a rich, heavy stew of black beans, smoked meats, and sausage. This sauce is there to cut through that richness with acid and heat, resetting your palate between bites.

The jalapeños bring a medium, front-of-the-mouth heat that’s accessible to most palates. If you want more burn, leave the seeds in. For less, remove them.

Kitchen Tips

• Use fresh lemon juice, never bottled. The sauce has so few ingredients that the quality of each one is obvious.
• Chop the onion and peppers fine so they release their juices into the lemon during the resting time.
• Make this at least an hour before serving. Fresh off the cutting board, the flavors are sharp and separate. Resting mellows and blends them.
• Spoon small amounts over each bite of feijoada rather than dumping it on. A little goes a long way.

Variations

• Use lime juice instead of lemon for a slightly sweeter, more tropical acidity.
• Swap the jalapeños for malagueta peppers if you can find them for a more authentic Brazilian heat.
• Add a tablespoon of chopped fresh cilantro for an herby dimension.