Sweet & Spicy Mustard

When I was growing up I loved honey mustard. I’d use it all the time. Buying it was kinda pricy for my family, so I’d often have to make it myself. That was fine for me. When you make a condiment or something similar, you can adjust the flavors to exactly what you want. You also learn to appreciate it more. Or at least appreciate it in a different way.

After I went vegan I missed honey mustard. I’ve spoken before about honey not being vegan. So I use Piloncillo syrup as my honey alternative. Agave wasn’t readily available when I first went vegan, and I had a weird aversion to maple syrup for a few years.

You can see my recipe for Piloncillo syrup here.

The great thing about it is that you can adjust the flavors of it fairly easily. My standard one just has a couple cinnamon sticks used, but the possibilities are endless. I recently posted an Instagram Reel of me making Prosperity syrup. It was Piloncillo syrup cooked down with spices that my family has used for generations in our prosperity spells. You can check it out on my Instagram.

I used that prosperity syrup in the Instagram Reel for this Sweet & Spicy Mustard. But you can use my regular Piloncillo syrup, or add your own variation. How about vanilla bean? What about dried cranberries, ginger, and lemongrass. All of those are good! Then use those syrups in this recipe. Infuse your Piloncillo syrup with love and good intentions, and they will then be included in your Sweet & Spicy Mustard.

The other addition to my Sweet & Spicy Mustard is Aji Amarillo. If you are not familiar with it, let me introduce you! Aji is Spanish for chili pepper, and Amarillo is Spanish for yellow. It is literally a spicy yellow pepper that is made into a paste, and sold in a jar. It is one of the top ingredients in Peruvian cuisine. I love it because it has a fruity flavor unlike many peppers on the market. It adds a beautifully complex flavor to this sauce. It also adds heat (spice)!

I am 1/4 Peruvian. But I wasn’t raised with any real contact to that part of my family. I didn’t even try Peruvian dishes until I was in high school. I was raised with my Puerto Rican family in New York, and traveling to the island. All that to say that like most Puerto Rican’s, I did not grow up eating spicy foods. Spicy food isn’t a staple for Puerto Ricans, Cubans, or Dominicans, like it is for many of our South American cousins. The only spicy food I can remember eating regularly, were Puerto Rican tacos sold at the Cuchifritos in NYC. They are 0% like Mexican tacos, so don’t imagine those. They look more like a long fried egg roll, filled with a spicy beef picadillo. On the island you could get them stuffed with crab. I’ve prepared those vegan on my Instagram years ago. I’ll have to do them again soon.

All that to say, I grew into liking spicy foods as I got older and tried foods from other cultures. I went from eating no spicy food, to now eating jalapeño sandwiches. So I completely understand if you want to reduce or omit the Aji Amarillo from the recipe. But I recommend you try it as written first. I wrote this one to keep the spice more on the mild side.

The texture of this sauce is a bit runny. I prefer it that way so I can drizzle it on things, or use it as a glaze when grilling. You can thicken it up by mixing it with vegan mayo or silken tofu.

I also wrote the recipe in tablespoons so it would be easy for you to adjust the amounts of the ingredients.

As always try to infuse all your good intentions into this sauce. Then every time you use it, you’ll be taking in those good intentions.

Now let’s get to the recipe!