Almost Bunyan's Hot Slaw copycat

Spicy Cole Slaw is a flavorful spicy-mustardy-vinegar-twang to accompany BBQ. I love it most as a topping for pulled pork sandwiches, but also enjoy it as a condiment with all kinds of BBQ, slaw dog / hot dogs, and whatever else you might put BBQ sauce on. Most people would not consider it a standalone side-dish like regular cole slaws.

This is the best copycat of Bunyan's BBQ hot slaw, but not quite the same. If I lived anywhere near Florence, Alabama, I'd still make the drive! Around 1979-80 I bagged groceries next door to Bunyan's BBQ at Wilson's Food Store, and became obsessed with their hot slaw. My first (awful) copycat attempts were in the mid-1990's, uploaded to my mindspring.com home page over the years. Most of the current recipe was in place in the mid-2000's, with only minor tweaks since.

Ingredients:

Slaw mix
2-3 cups - Grated green cabbage
2-3 Tbs - Grated or shoestring carrot

Sauce

1-2 Jalapeno pepper - grated or minced (pureed ok, but color turns green) no seeds, partial membrane
1/4 tsp - Paprika 
1 tsp    - Red cayenne pepper 

1/2 tsp  - Salt (prefer sea salt or kosher, not iodized)

1 Tsp    - Hot sauce (optional) - Crystal/TexasPete preferred

1/4 cup - Sugar
1/4 cup - Ketchup 
1/2 cup - Prepared yellow mustard (like French's) 
1/4 cup - White vinegar (add last, stir-in) 
1/4 cup - Apple cider vinegar (add last, stir-in)

1/4 cup - Water (add last, stir-in)

Directions:

1. Add sauce ingredients to a medium sized pot and mix well, stir in vinegar last to avoid clumping. Feel free to adjust the amount of spicy ingredients to a level of heat that you prefer. The jalapeno can also be swapped out for green pepper if you'd like a mild version. Go wild with hotter peppers, or maybe just include the jalapeno's seeds and membrane.
2. Heat up to just short of boiling while stirring occasionally. This will blend and bring out the flavor of the spices and jalapeno. Remove from heat and let cool a little while you grate the slaw mix.

3. Grate the cabbage and carrot, and save in a pint-size container, with a lid that can seal.
4. Pour warm sauce over the veggies and stir well. It may seem like there's not enough sauce for all the veggies, but once stirred well it should cover everything. 

5. Cover and refrigerate a minimum of 24 hours, allowing time for the flavors to blend, soften and pickle the veggies, and generally thicken up. Even better to let it go for a few days.