Chili Sauce Reccomendations

[Shel_B]

I've never used a prepared chile sauce. Have always made my own. I'm getting lazy in my dotage. What brands do you recommend or use? I'd like something hot and flavorful, regular and chipotle. Other styles are fine as well - I just don't know what's out there.

Shel

[Milagai]

What would you like to do with it?

I love Sriracha: use it like ketchup as a dip;

or a few drops in anything

makes a great taste, etc. Great balance of hot, sour, sweet, salty.

ps: what is your recipe for homemade chile sauce?

Edited August 18, 2007 by Milagai (log)

[ruffwood]

I've never used a prepared chile sauce.

I would recommend any of the pre-prepared Thai Sweet chilli and also a brand called " Lingham"..singapore style chilli sauce. I have been using this for over 30 years and it is always good

[John S.]

I've never used a prepared chile sauce.  Have always made my own.  I'm getting lazy in my dotage.  What brands do you recommend or use?  I'd like something hot and flavorful, regular and chipotle.  Other styles are fine as well - I just don't know what's out there.

Shel

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I'm with Milagai, Sriracha is my favorite all-around sauce and replaces the bland condiment "ketchup" in everything I do. I also really LOVE Blair's Mango Habanero sauce. I regularly use Salsa Kutbil-ik de Chile Habanero, by Yucateca. It's only a couple bucks per bottle. The above are all hot, but there are other tasty ones which are not. There is a web site called the Hot Sauce Blog, a very active community of afficianados out there. You may be able to get some ides there. They have new product announcements and reviews.

John S.

[Shel_B]

What would you like to do with it?

ps:  what is your recipe for homemade chile sauce?

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I'd like to use it in many applications, so one particular sauce my not be best for my needs. I was hoping to get some recommendations and then look 'em up somewhere fore ingredients, etc.

I don't have a set recipe for chile sauce. I just put ingredients together depending on mood and application.

Shel

[Shel_B]

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I also really LOVE Blair's Mango Habanero sauce.  I regularly use Salsa Kutbil-ik de Chile Habanero, by Yucateca. It's only a couple bucks per bottle.  The above are all hot, but there are other tasty ones which are not.  There is a web site called the Hot Sauce Blog,

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Thanks John .... very helpful.

Shel

Edited August 18, 2007 by Shel_B (log)

[Gabriel Lewis]

I'm curious, do you have any more specific details in mind? They are hundreds of different kinds of chiles: fresh, dried, smoked, roasted, etc. A chile sauce could range anywhere from a hot sauce to give heat, to a fully bodied smoky garlic sauce to serve with roast pork. I've made a lot of chile sauces and would love to suggest some of the ones I like, but it would help if you gave a little more direction. Fresh and green, smoky, hot and sour, sweet at all, what do you want to use it for?

Oh and I also make a lovely version of my own Sriacha at home based off a david thompson recipe, I much prefer it to the commerical kind.

[Shel_B]

I'm curious, do you have any more specific details in mind? They are hundreds of different kinds of chiles: fresh, dried, smoked, roasted, etc. A chile sauce could range anywhere from a hot sauce to give heat, to a fully bodied smoky garlic sauce to serve with roast pork. I've made a lot of chile sauces and would love to suggest some of the ones I like, but it would help if you gave a little more direction. Fresh and green, smoky, hot and sour, sweet at all, what do you want to use it for?

Oh and I also make a lovely version of my own Sriacha at home based off a david thompson recipe, I much prefer it to the commerical kind.

←

I don't want to use it for anything specific. I make my own chile sauce, and what I make depends on what I'm using it for - barbeque, grilled meat (beef, por, chicken), fish, veggie or egg dishes, etc. What I am looking for are suggestions based on what you like, and the foods you like to use the sauce with. In other words, ideas that I can use to check out various sauces.

Today I tried the Sriacha sauce for the first time - nice, and I can see numerous uses for it, so that will be one that I'll ultimatel buy. I understand that there are several commercial versions of the sauce, so that may lead to more experimentation.

Have you the recipe or a URL for the sauce you make? I'll Google for the David Thompson recipe.

Thanks!

Shel

[Gabriel Lewis]

Sriacha sauce I make is pretty simple, lots of garlic, dried red chiles, a bit of sugar, water, and salt. I thinly slice 10 cloves of garlic and sweat them in a small amount of oil and then add about 5 large new mexico or california dried red chiles. I stir these around in the hot oil until they have darkened a bit and I can smell them, and then I add about a tbsp of sugar, salt to taste, and about a cup of water. I simmer this whole mixture for about 20 minutes, or until the chiles are soft, puree it, check salt and it's ready to go. Sometimes I like to add a bit of vinegar to taste too. I like this sauce with grilled or deep fried seafood, and with eggs.

I like all the chile sauces I make, so I don't really know where to start. Reading back, it seems I misread your first post, not realizing you were asking for suggestions for commerical sauces; I can't really be of much help here. I do have a nice chipotle adobo sauce I make if you're interested.

I'll include a little blurb I wrote about how I think about chile sauces anyway though. The possibilities are really endless though, I'd suggest you check out the eCGI course on mexican table salsas as a primer. You can roast fresh chiles, or toast dried ones. You can add white sugar, palm sugar, dark unrefined sugars like piloncillo; and then you can caramelize these sugars if you want. You can use stock, garlic, onions, shallots, different sorts of peppercorns. You can sour with tamarind, citrus juices, different kinds of vinegar, tomatoes, tomatillos.

I tend to make my sauces spur of the moment according to what I want. The other day I made a lovely sort of Indian/Mexican combo with lots of onions, garlic, bitter orange juice, a few spices, and chilhuacle amarillo dried chiles from mexico; I ended up braising chicken in that sauce.