Lacto-Fermented Hot Sauce

I love the straightforward, bracing smack of a vinegar pickle, but I find that lacto-fermentation yields more layers of flavor. All it requires is salt and time. In this recipe, you dissolve salt in water to make a brine, then submerge a pound of chiles and leave them alone for a while. The beneficial lactic acid bacteria that occur naturally in fruit and vegetables—and that live in your gut, keeping everything on keel and fending off disease—start to break down the sugars in the chiles and