The Hot Sauce Topic

[liuzhou]

黄灯笼辣椒酱 (huáng dēng lóng là jiāo jiàng) Yellow Lantern Chili Sauce from Hainan, China's southernmost, island province.

 

Yellow Lantern Peppers are perhaps China's hottest. The  sauce is fiery and vinegary.

 

 

The jar is relatively small (100g), but when it's this hot a little goes a long way!

 

 

 

 

Edited December 21, 2022 by liuzhou (log)

[IndyRob]

I was looking around for a Christmas present and happened across a packaged collection of hot sauces.  That seemed like a good idea, but upon closer inspection, it seemed like it was a generic mix of fiery labels with no indication of whether the contents of the bottles differed in any way.

 

So I thought perhaps I could curate my own collection.  But I'm not a hot sauce aficionado.  So I guess I could use some help here.

 

I'm looking for 5-6 selections, with high availability (too late for mail order).

 

I think the selection begins with the classic Cholula, perhaps a direct competitor, and a few others to offer some diversity.  Can anyone suggest a collection?   Thanks, in advance.

[Chimayo Joe]

3 hours ago, IndyRob said:

 

 

I'm looking for 5-6 selections, with high availability (too late for mail order).

 

Here are a few that I see in supermarkets (Walmart, local Kroger affiliate, Safeway.) I've had them and like them.

 

El Yucateco Chipotle

Gringo Bandito (Red)

Pico Pica Hot Sauce

Valentina Black Label

Tapatio (Original)

Cholula (Original)

Cholula Chili Garlic

Private Selection Mango Scotch Bonnet

Cholula Chipotle

El Yucateco XXXtra Hot Kutbil-ik de

Nando's Peri-Peri Hot

El Yucateco Habanero (Red)

Marie Sharp's Habanero

[palo]

Location?

 

p

[Amy D.]

Some of the current rotation. OH loves his chilli sauces so we always have a selection in the cupboard. Most farmers/ artisan markets here tend to have someone selling chill sauces, as well as the supermarkets stocking ever increasing ranges so he keeps picking up various blow off your head numbers as well more day to day sauces that are still spicier than I would usually choose. The national mango chilli sauce is very sweet but full of Alphonso mango flavour.

 

Chilli crisp is probably the first sauce that I have found I want to eat with everything, probably more for it's savoury flavour than heat. The encona habernero scotch bonnet hot sauce has become my staple hot sauce for making salsas etc as it's got a good flavour and is sold every where here. I loved el yucateco green as it has a fresher taste but need to order that one, so will probably try some of their other profiles when I do.

 

[kayb]

I’d urge you to start with Tabasco, Cholula and Louisiana, and add Pickapeppa, if it’s available in your world. Don’t pass up the Asian hot sauces.

[blue_dolphin]

I'd go with:

red

green

smoky, aka chipotle or similar

tropical, fruity with habanero or Scotch bonnet

yellow peppers packed in vinegar in a shaker bottle

 

hot honey would be a bonus item to include

[liuzhou]

Another Hunan favourite, this time from Hengyang in south-central Hunan. Known as 三色辣椒酱 (sān sè là jiāo jiàng), or three-coloured chilli sauce, it contains red, green and yellow peppers. This is an industrial product, but very similar to the rustic version the peasants make. Like all Hunan sauces, it take no prisoners.

 

 

 

[Steve Irby]

If you run across this one give it a try.  It was my favorite at Firehouse Subs but I never saw it stocked locally.  Loads of flavor from black, red and cayenne pepper.  Nice texture and pretty spicy without being mop-your-brow hot.  Recently I ordered a half-gallon directly from Gator Hammock.  I'm still using directly it from the jug but have decanted portions into pint jars for later use.

 

 

[liuzhou]

I've mentioned this before. My go to sauce. Except it maybe isn't a sauce at all. The Chinese means chopped chilli.

 

But I used to buy it in 210 gram jars. Then I got excited when I found it in 425 gram jars. Today I'm having chilli orgasms. 2.3 kilogram jar!

 

210 grams

 

425 grams

 

2.3 kilograms!

 

 

[paulraphael]

For anyone in Brooklyn, I just discovered a great local option. There's an unassuming little bodega down near the corner of Windsor Terrace / Park Slope / Sunset Park. Reyes Deli and Grocery. 532 4th Ave. They make tacos, burritos, etc., and have a seating area for 2 very slim diners. We stopped for an emergency lunch yesterday, and were blown away by the red hot sauce that they served in a little plastic ketchup container. Really full-flavored and smokey. Like a mole, but not really. We asked, and it turns out the owner's mom makes it from scratch down in the basement. They sold us 2 jars for $5 each. Highly recommended!

[C. sapidus]

The past 2 years Mrs. C has given me hot sauce Advent calendars, so I get to try 20-some hot sauces in small bottles. Usually takes about a year to go through them all. Some of the habanero / Scotch bonnet sauces have been eye-openers, in both ways. I had not been using those sauces but discovered that the combination of fruity flavors with appreciable heat enhances many dishes.

 

Otherwise my staples lately have been Melinda's Extra Hot, Tiger Sauce (sweet, mild), and Cholula or Tapatio.

 

I generally do not enjoy Tabasco or Frank's, unless I want a dish to taste strongly of vinegar (which works well for collard greens).

Edited March 6, 2023 by C. sapidus
Splelnig (log)

[C. sapidus]

29 minutes ago, paulraphael said:

For anyone in Brooklyn, I just discovered a great local option. There's an unassuming little bodega down near the corner of Windsor Terrace / Park Slope / Sunset Park. Reyes Deli and Grocery. 532 4th Ave. They make tacos, burritos, etc., and have a seating area for 2 very slim diners. We stopped for an emergency lunch yesterday, and were blown away by the red hot sauce that they served in a little plastic ketchup container. Really full-flavored and smokey. Like a mole, but not really. We asked, and it turns out the owner's mom makes it from scratch down in the basement. They sold us 2 jars for $5 each. Highly recommended!

Always nice to find local treasures like that!

 

I have enjoyed some fabulous red sauces at unassuming taco places. I assume they are made in house since the sauces are too thick for a typical pepper sauce bottle.

[weinoo]

Is there still a "shortage" of this stuff?

 

 

Cause if so, I know a guy...

[heidih]

Gotta love a guy who knows a guy...  Only a copycat in my local Ralphs. Ox Brand - made in Thailand, imported by company down road here.

[Kerala]

My two current favorites. 

They are both is from TKMaxx. The one on the left looks Jamaican, but I can't find a country of origin on the labelling. It has 60% Carolina Reaper, whereas Encona's Carolina Reaper sauce has ...5%. There is indeed a quantum leap in heat. I would call it very hot. No bitterness or off notes. Lovely.

The one on the right is bottled in Portugal. Light, sharp, bright. It's hot. Perfect for what you'd use Sriracha for, but if you wanted more oomph. To be clear, it does not taste like Sriracha.  Much more of a vegetal taste. I could ladle this on just about any meat, fish or egg as a guilty pleasure.