The Hot Sauce Topic

[Ashen]

Kaitaia Fire Chili Pepper Sauce is pretty much my favourite hot sauce now. It certainly isn't the hottest, but I just love the flavour of it. Apparently made in a similar process to tabasco , but it doesn't have that rotted chili pepper aftertaste I associate with Tabasco.

On the homemade front, I usually make a batch of smoked habanero/scotch bonnet sauce in the fall. 1/4 bushel of the best ones I can find at the farmers market. Slow smoked with maple wood, then I blend them up with with some smoked garlic. Adding enough apple cider vinegar to break them down with the blender, I then run the whole works through the fine plate on my food mill.

add salt to taste . I like the sauce to be very thick,more like ketchup thick instead of tabasco. I pack in small mason jars and freeze to use throughout the year. This sauce has serious heat, but the hab flavour along with the smoke means the heat doesn't overwhelm the taste.

oh and I don't waste the leftover solids that don't go through the food mill. I spread them out on foil and back into the smoker til dried. I then grind up in my spice grinder to have wicked hot smoked hab powder.

Edited May 22, 2011 by Ashen (log)

[OliverB]

all I really have to add, I've been considering getting one of those dorm room size refrigerators for my hot sauces and condiments, as they're slowly taking over my little fridge!

Frank's, Sriracha, Cholula (all flavors), tabasco (3 flavors), tiger, pickapeppa, several mexican ones, and more, all the way up to a maybe decade old Dave's Insanity sauce that I just keep for fun's sake, as it's really useless, it's way to hot to do anything with.

Never made my own, but it's one of my "have to do this year" projects. With habaneros.

[annachan]

I'm bumping this topic up.

Today's Gear Patrol email bulletin included this item:

TABASCO® Family Reserve - 5 oz.

Anybody willing to shell out $25.00 for a 5-ounce bottle of this stuff?

I wonder how that taste. It's not the $25 for the bottle of sauce I worry about, it's the shipping cost to Australia.

Currently, I have Tabasco (original), Sriracha, sambal and chili oil. Will need to explore some local hot sauce.

BTW, a little sriracha makes cheese toast better!

[merstar]

I love TryMe Cajun Sunshine Hot Sauce:

http://www.amazon.com/TryMe-Cajun-Sunshine-Pepper-Sauce/dp/B0005ZYSHQ

Also, Tobasco Chipotle and Texas Pete.

[rarerollingobject]

This is my new favourite hot sauce; yuzu-tabasco.

For those unfamiliar, yuzu is a type of Japanese citrus that's sort of a lemon/grapefruit/mandarin cross flavour, very unique. Mixed with green chilli, it's heaven in sauce form.

[Dakki]

That's awesome. I sampled yuzu on a trip once and despaired of ever tasting it again. I think it's just ridiculously good and should go really well with a "hot" component.

[rarerollingobject]

That's awesome. I sampled yuzu on a trip once and despaired of ever tasting it again. I think it's just ridiculously good and should go really well with a "hot" component.

I love yuzu anything too..the hot sauce tastes like a liquid version of yuzu kosho, a delicious paste of yuzu zest, salt and green chilli. I dab it onto everything, and this hot sauce just kicks it up a further notch. I've never seen the sauce outside Japan, but the yuzu kosho I can get in Japanese stores here in Australia..if you like yuzu, I highly recommend you look out for it.

[Kouign Aman]

Pureed chipotles in adobo. A little does wonders for mac'n cheese - even the stuff in the blue box.

Will look for "The Yuzu Sco" .

[heidih]

This is my new favourite hot sauce; yuzu-tabasco.

For those unfamiliar, yuzu is a type of Japanese citrus that's sort of a lemon/grapefruit/mandarin cross flavour, very unique. Mixed with green chilli, it's heaven in sauce form.

I have been thinking about this stuff since you first posted. When I wandered into the local Japanese market for something today I scanned the shelves and located this similar item. It is pretty thick, but when you flip the lid it easily is tapped through the small hole. I sampled some on a fingertip and on a small bit of cold chicken. Very bright. This little bottle was $6.29 which is pricey for a hot sauce versus something like Marie Sharps for maybe $3. I will be trying it with some bland background like potato or rice to get the full flavor. This brand is manufactured in California per the label. I am encouraged to try the yuzu kosho paste which the gentleman behind the counter assured me was simply wonderful with grilled chicken. Thank you for the introduction!

[rarerollingobject]

I have been thinking about this stuff since you first posted. When I wandered into the local Japanese market for something today I scanned the shelves and located this similar item. It is pretty thick, but when you flip the lid it easily is tapped through the small hole. I sampled some on a fingertip and on a small bit of cold chicken. Very bright. This little bottle was $6.29 which is pricey for a hot sauce versus something like Marie Sharps for maybe $3. I will be trying it with some bland background like potato or rice to get the full flavor. This brand is manufactured in California per the label. I am encouraged to try the yuzu kosho paste which the gentleman behind the counter assured me was simply wonderful with grilled chicken. Thank you for the introduction!

Ohhhh I am so jealous..I have never seen the sauce here in Australia, just the paste, and have to beg friends in Nagoya to send bottles to me. Yours looks a little thicker in consistency than mine; the Japanese at the bottom of your bottle does say "yuzu kosho", which usually refers to the paste, even though that pretty much just means "yuzu and pepper".

Anyway, yuzu kosho is great with grilled chicken, but also white fish, as a kind of salsa verde for steak, mixed with oil for salad dressings, or with mayo for a spicy spread. I also really love it mixed with mayo and poached chicken as the centre of an onigiri rice ball, or used in place of wasabi with sashimi. I also like it (or the sauce) on grilled cheese, on avocado and toast, or drizzled over a fried egg on rice! OK, stopping now..

[Butterbean]

Found this thread very interesting. Its nice to know others are intrigued by the hot side. I must confess however that I was a little depressed when I saw Sashae's photo of the bottle of Scorned Woman as I recently created a sauce I dubbed A Woman's Scorn. So much for the idea of wealth and riches.

While I won't give the recipe, here is a photo of some of the ingredients.

The end product.

A short description of the flavor profile.

As many a poor man has learned the initial fragrance of a woman is quite alluring, the initial contact is sweet as honey but then .... the unlucky soul learns of a hidden wrath. A wrath that is wielded with such utter vengenence one wonders where all this fury came from. One questions, what happened to the sweetness as all parts of the mouth burn as if you've swallowed a hot coal. Just as the unfortunate one had grown attached to her sweetnes, its snatched away without warning leaving one with uncontrollable sniffles and tears running down the face. Finally, the burning in the roof of the mouth subsides as the nasal drainage and tears increase. Finally, the scalding fire in the sides of your cheeks subside leaving just a small flame on the tip of your tongue which you uncontrollably press against your teeth making you look like a dog whose eaten a stink bug. Then there is a slight burning sensation in the pit of your gut and the drainage and tears cease as you realize - its over - she has gone and the endorphins in your body subside leaving those with short memories wanting more as if the next time is going to be any different. Brilliant stuff this is!!!!

Edited August 20, 2012 by Butterbean (log)

[Peter the eater]

While I won't give the recipe, here is a photo of some of the ingredients.

I respect your recipe secrecy. I see habs, bonnets, jalapenos, fingers, 3 big bowls, garlic, green herbs of some kind and 2 mysterious piles of tiny peppers.

My garden has exploded with peppers and I'm in hot sauce production mode. We got a bunch of Bhut Jolokias this year which are off the charts heatwise.

[Mjx]

. . . . I must confess however that I was a little depressed when I saw Sashae's photo of the bottle of Scorned Woman as I recently created a sauce I dubbed A Woman's Scorn. So much for the idea of wealth and riches.

. . . .

No need to be even a little depressed, since a woman's scorn is an entirely different thing than a woman scorned... I'm guessing that yours must contain some element that leaves behind it at least a trace of shame or humiliation, at least as an after-effect (from screaming in pain..?)

[Butterbean]

I think you are right on both statements. Nothing like a woman's input for clarity. Maybe there is still hope for my wealth and riches pipe dream.

I do enjoy messing with peppers and making sauces is really quite interesting. Peter, there is nothing like making your own sauce is there?

[toolprincess]

How do you store your hot sauces? I keep my sriracha in the fridge but everything else (El yucateo, Tabasco, Texas Pete, Cholula) - I just keep in the cabinet.

[Butterbean]

I haven't really worried about storing them for any length of time as I'm more interested in experimenting with different combinations so I just keep them in the cooler unless its a heavy vinegar based sauce that I know will keep on the shelf.. If I hit on a good one I'll look further into how well they will keep. The Woman's Scorn is getting close.

[Peter the eater]

I make fairly small batches of hot sauce for fun and sharing. Extra sauce gets frozen in plastic, which I believe can make it hotter. I don't know if there's any science to explain this observation.

[Chef Joel]

The two greatest bottle hot sauces in the world are Yucateco Green (glows in the dark, and has a half-life), and Infinity Chile Sauce (right below Police-Grade Pepper Spray on the Schofield Heat Index). The #3 spot goes to McIllhenny's, hands-down. IMHO.....

[daydayxvi]

For me the best hot sauce so far has been Marie Sharp's Habanero Sauce. We discovered it during our honeymoon in Peten and have loved it ever since.

[patrickamory]

Love Marie Sharp's! There's a hot and a mild version, based on carrots, both excellent. It's from Belize.

[radtek]

OK guys...

Love Sriacha. Discovered it eating at Vietnamese restaurants and didn't figure out that it was made in California until years later- guess I should have read the bottle. Was definitely used to paint the plates at many a fine dining establishment. Heard it referred to as "Sir Hatchy" or "Chinese Ketchup"! lol

I think Tabasco is the benchmark for all around depth of flavor despite it ain't being that hot to me any more. Brings a lot to the party though.

So instead of buying these other folks' expensive hot sauce only a few are trying to make their own (based on the thread's replies)? Let me help you...

I take a pound of peppers- your choice. You want to use Carolina Reaper go for it. My last was a mix of serranos and habaneros. De-stem and toss into a blender with about 3% kosher salt by weight. Add at 2 cups of tap water and start to blend it up until you get a fine slurry. Run that blender. Get it as fine as you can!

Then pour it into a sanitized jar- a mason jar preferably. Let the mixture sit covered in a cool dark place for at least 30 days stirring periodically. You don't have to stir it but may then have to scrape/ lift some mold off later- don't worry, this has no impact in the final product.

Once in the jar fermentation will rapidly begin. Let it ferment and stir the slurry to incorporate. Let the sauce do it's thing. Fermentation happens.

After at least 30 days decant into a blender with 2 cups of vinegar and blend for a minimum of 5 minutes. Strain into another jar through cheesecloth. I like to fill old Tabasco bottles from this.

Congratulations. This is the real thing.

[Czequershuus]

Like everyone else in this thread I am a huge Sriracha fan. Goes great on so many dishes, plus it is great for spicing up any non-spicy condiment. Sriracha and ketchup... bam, spicy ketchup. Work great with mustard, barbecue sauces, and of course the classic combo with mayo.

My favorite dasher sauce is Yucatan Sunshine - enough heat to give it a kick, but not to overwhelm whatever the food is. Pizza, pasta, soup, chili, ect.

I've had many others, including a few bottles of stuff only suitable for adding in drops to a pot of chili, or in a single dot on a Taco, Including Dave's Insanity, Black Widow, and one whose name is the marvelously juvenile Super Colon Blow. Mainly I accumulate these as gifts from people who know I like hot sauce.

I also like to have Kick Ass Jalapeno sauce, not very spicy, but makes a great midnight snake with soda crackers.

And Finally, there is my favorite and seemingly discontinued sauce, Baboon Ass hot sauce. Silly name, but one of the richest flavors I have ever encountered.

[patrickamory]

I miss Inner Beauty...

[Ashen]

You can make your own if you want.. A video of chris schlesinger showing you how

http://youtu.be/C6emw16nkok

My current favourite is Green Scotch Bonnet Hot Pepper Sauce closely followed by Grace scotch bonnet sauce which has a yellow/orange colour to the sauce. Clean flavour with a great kick of heat and the best part is they are some of the most widely available and inexpensive ones at local grocery stores.

[Syzygies]

For many years, Ortego hot sauce, made in small batches in Ville Platte, was the best Louisiana-style hot sauce. We used to order it by the case, straight from the maker.

When he retired, I started fermenting small batches aspiring to a similar style. Buy the best local chiles in the tabasco style at a farmers market, ferment them in a beer carboy or a fermentation crock as one would make sauerkraut, and grind in a Vita-Prep with a good mild vinegar such as champagne or rice wine vinegar. Adjust the salt, sieve and bottle. We still miss Ortego but this gets my friends by.