The Hot Sauce Topic

[repoman]

I am a hot sauce junkie as well. I love Sirhacha, not only in Asian-influenced dishes, but in burgers mixed in with ground beef to the point of saturation. I love Desert Pepper XXX Habanero Sauce mixed with melted butter for dipping artichoke leaves into. I also have a friend who has his own sauce company (www.mbfsauces.com) and he makes some really interesting mixes. This fall he made a pumpkin based sauce that is great in squash soup and on chicken. He also does many pepper-fruit blends. I am also a huge fan of Frank’s as it allows you to add some heat but never overpowers your dishes with too much spice. The local Mexican food store has some great (and very cheap) sauces including some instense chipotle sauce that runs about 1.29 a bottle.

[JohnL]

My favorite, hands down, is El Yucateco.

I have their 3 different sauces, the green one, the red one and the brown one. The brown one is the hottest.

Unlike some other hot sauces which compete solely on the heat level, this one has flavor.

And, at my local Mexican grocery store here in the San Francisco Bay Area, they are about a dollar only for a 4 oz bottle.

Yucateco is awesome. Have you tried their new Chipotle?

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I am a huge El Ycateco fan~!

I gotta disagree though--the green is much hotter than the brown.--both are great.

agree that they have heat and flavor!

Chris Schlessinger in his seminal work--"The Thrill of the Grill" notes that Yucateco is one of his favorites.

also

I don't know if anyone mentioned a website " Americanspice.com"

they have a very large range of hot sauces (the descriptions are informative and hilarious).

[Daniel]

Got a delivery from MoHotta.com today.. I bring different hot sauces to the office where they are quickly consumed and talked about..I bought the Anchor Bar wing sauce for the Super Bowl.. The jerk seasoning for some chicken I want to make on the smoker.. And the Lizano I like to dip in Bell Peppers. The rest for the office.

I love the Yucateco Reds... So I am looking forward to try the Jalepeno.. Tabasco Habenero is something I just havent gotten around to trying.. Though I carry a bottle of tabsco in my briefcase.. The bee sting and the Marie Sharps I have heard good things about.. Blairs Sudden Death I have never tried, but the Original Death Sauce is a favorite of mine.. The other DeathWishe,is a cayenne sauce I figured I would give a shot.. The bee sting is a spicy honey mustard, and I enjoy h-mustards.. Mustard Gas is a good one, extremely spicy.. This seems a bit more tame..

Edited January 9, 2006 by Daniel (log)

[Meez]

My defaults are Tobasco (always); Frank's (when I'm contemplating wings); some kind of plain habanero (once in awhile, and brand does not usually matter); and a jalapeno sauce I make by putting pickled jalapenos into a blender and enough liquid to make it thin, sometimes more, sometimes less, and sometimes with lime, cilantro, or fresh chiles. This stuff I have around most of the time.

I recently gave a friend a huge laugh. He had this stuff with the word "inferno" in it (or something like that) and offered me some to go on the chicken fingers we were snacking on. I'm like yeah, whatever, and proceeded to sprinkle it on liberally. He warned me, but I'm like "I'm used to this; I've been doing this most of my life, and besides, most hot sauces aren't really that hot." I quickly turned into Cheech from Up in Smoke when he was all freaked out and saying "Man, I never had no shit like this before." There was about 10 minutes there when I was actually kind of scared.

[kalypso]

A couple of Mexican favorites

Valentina, from the state of Jalisco I believe, and readily available here in San Diego. Gold lable is the regular stuff, black lable the very hot stuff.

Purepecha brand from a small producer in the state of Michoacan, not available in the U.S., and hard to find outside of Michoacan. This is, without a doubt, the single best chipotle sauce I've ever tasted. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of taking my only bottle to work with me and 15 other people also thought it was the single be chipotle hot sauce they'd ever tasted and we killed the bottle at one lunch testing shrimp tacos

[OnigiriFB]

I just saw at my korean/japanese market (strangely the vietnamese one didn't have it) an extra hot Siracha sauce. It has a different color cap then the normal one. Anyone try this one? I'm also a lover of siracha sauce but have not thought to use it as creatively as many of you. I think it has a good kick as is but I'm tempted to try the extra hot.

[spaetzle_maker]

I'm another sriracha fan, having recently picked it off the shelf at the local nyc korean market on 32nd street. I had never heard of it before I bought it, but there was something about the beautiful red color and that cute rooster that sold me on it! I've been extremely happy with this purchase - my default sriracha usage: slice up a bunch of grape tomatoes, dice up some tofu, cut up 1.5 scallions, toss in some toasted pignola nuts, crumble up some nori, boil up some korean brown rice cakes and then serve it all up with a healthy dose of sriracha and a glass of riesling. Yum. Well, um... I think so... It's become my "i've been working late dinner".

I also like green salsa. I get it with chips from the mexican restaurant in my neighborhood when I order take out. I throw out the chips and eat the salsa on some ciabatta bread with some olive oil along side a hearty black bean soup with a dollop of sour cream, sliced up avocado and a nice glass of red wine. The postings on this thread have been helpful - I'm inspired to go out and buy the brands of green hot sauce mentioned. It would be great to have the perfect green hot sauce on hand without having to go through the rigamarole of ordering take out, so thanks!

-spaetzle

[pork]

Some of my current stock.

[pork]

I also like green salsa.  I get it with chips from the mexican restaurant in my neighborhood when I order take out.  I throw out the chips and eat the salsa on some ciabatta bread with some olive oil along side a hearty black bean soup with a dollop of sour cream, sliced up avocado and a nice glass of red wine.  The postings on this thread have been helpful - I'm inspired to go out and buy the brands of green hot sauce mentioned.  It would be great to have the perfect green hot sauce on hand without having to go through the rigamarole of ordering take out, so thanks!

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I make it with:

tomatillos

jalapenos

onion and/or green onion

garlic

lime juice

cumin and/or coriander seed, freshly ground

salt and pepper

white wine vinegar

flat leaf parsley (most people use cilantro but I don't like cilantro.)

you'll have to play with the amounts to get the sauce you like. just combine in a food processor and pulse a few times, then refrigerate an hour or three to allow the flavors to come together.

Edited February 19, 2006 by pork (log)

[spaetzle_maker]

I make it with:

tomatillos

jalapenos

onion and/or green onion

garlic

lime juice

cumin and/or coriander seed, freshly ground

salt and pepper

white wine vinegar

flat leaf parsley (most people use cilantro but I don't like cilantro.)

you'll have to play with the amounts to get the sauce you like.  just combine in a food processor and pulse a few times, then refrigerate an hour or three to allow the flavors to come together.

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Thanks Pork! I'll let you know how it works for me!

-spaetzle

[DineNotEat]

Pico Pica hot version is my favorite table sauce. It's rich with the flavors of chile and is touched with garlic and is not ruined by the addition of vinegar, a cardinal sin in my salsa and sauce world.

[Andi Pena Longmeadow Farm]

Has anyone ever tried Mad Dog 357?

Haven't seen mention of this one.

Knowing how much I love REALLY hot sauce, (that is good, hot, and spicy) my grown son brought me a bottle of Mad Dog.

Never, never had a hot sauce like this. Thought my feet would blow off.

[takadi]

This thread must be revived.

I've been lately getting really into hot sauces and have moved up to about one or two notches above tabasco. I currently have in my stock right now Crystal's, Frank's, Yucateco, Pica pepa, Texas pete, Tiger, Grace's and Tropical island. I have been testing on my favorite treat and life sustenance: Popeye's chicken, with a side order of mashed potatoes and dirty rice. So far, I've found Grace's to be on top, but we'll see

[Boy R D]

Has anyone been in the test market area for Tabasco's newest flavor "Sweet & Spicy" pepper sauce?

The latest issue of Chile Pepper Magazine has a brief blurb on this newest flavor but says it won't be officially rolled out until March.  There's a link on the web page above to buy it online but I was curious if anyone has tasted it yet.

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Yes, I came across a bottle of the stuff at a neighborhood surplus grocery store. As much as I like a good hot/sweet sauce, I found this one to be a little to syrupy for my taste. First ingredient is high fructose corn syrup.

[TongoRad]

Yeah- that syrupy quality is a real turn-off. I was originally excited to find El Yucateco's Chipotle sauce because I am such a fan of the rest of their line, but then I tried it. It is very cloyingly sweet, and it has taken me forever to go through a bottle whereas Tobasco's or Melinda's Chipotle sauces don't last more than 4 or 5 'sessions'. It's not a bargain, even at $1.75.

[jsmeeker]

I tend to have have...

Cholula's (w a wooden top)

Tabasaco (original)

Frank's Red Hot

Tapatio

On hand at any given time.

Franks is for making wing sauce (along with some Tobasaco) and and as part of a marindae. The Tobasaco is "general purpose". Maybe a bit into some mayo to make tuna salad. or into a bloody mary. The Tapatio and Cholula is yummy on beans, barbacoa, etc.

[BigDan]

If you want a less syrupy version of the Sweet and Spicy Tabasco I would go with Paul Prudhomme's Magic Pepper Sauce. It is the same sort of thing but with a better flavor and consistency in my opinion.

Besides that I usually just have Chipotle and regular Tabasco around plus whatever interesting thing I pick up at the store. If you have a designated hot sauce store or are fond of ordering online I would recommend Devil Drops. Absolutely delicious fruity and spicy sauce.

I also love to keep some sort of Jalepeno jelly on hand (speaking of which does anyone have any experience making any? I'd love to try it myself).

Edited October 21, 2008 by BigDan (log)

[paulraphael]

Marie Sharp's habanero pepper sauce is my runaway fave. This sauce used to be Melinda's (the U.S. distributor screwed Marie out of the name, so now Melinda's is a more generic, industrial recipe).

It may be blasphemy, but I'm not a fan of Tabasco. It just tastes like hot vinegar to me.

[takadi]

Marie Sharp's habanero pepper sauce is my runaway fave. This sauce used to be Melinda's (the U.S. distributor screwed Marie out of the name, so now Melinda's is a more generic, industrial recipe).

It may be blasphemy, but I'm not a fan of Tabasco. It just tastes like hot vinegar to me.

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Not blasphemy at all especially if you're an experienced chilihead. I guess the capsaicin kinda dulls out your tastes buds after a while and all you taste is vinegar

[Alisuchi]

another vote for Valentina...yummmm . I haven't found it in ATL, normally I just buy when I go home to NM, though. And definitely the extra hot one--it's addicting!

[andiesenji]

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?

[patrickamory]

It may be blasphemy, but I'm not a fan of Tabasco. It just tastes like hot vinegar to me.

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Not blasphemy at all especially if you're an experienced chilihead. I guess the capsaicin kinda dulls out your tastes buds after a while and all you taste is vinegar

Now here's a use for cooking science (and apologies if this has already been addressed in another thread): is it true that long-term use of capsaicin dulls the tastebuds?

[andiesenji]

It may be blasphemy, but I'm not a fan of Tabasco. It just tastes like hot vinegar to me.

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Not blasphemy at all especially if you're an experienced chilihead. I guess the capsaicin kinda dulls out your tastes buds after a while and all you taste is vinegar

Now here's a use for cooking science (and apologies if this has already been addressed in another thread): is it true that long-term use of capsaicin dulls the tastebuds?

Prolonged use of capsaicin allows one to tolerate more of it but I have not noted any diminution of my taste sense. I can taste flavors in things that are not noticed by other people and I'm elderly, when all the senses are supposed to be in decline.

However, I certainly wouldn't want to be tasting something with subtle flavors immediately after consuming a dish heavy on the chiles.

[patrickamory]

However, I certainly wouldn't want to be tasting something with subtle flavors immediately after consuming a dish heavy on the chiles.

Ah yes! This reminds me of a time I was staying at a friend's family's house with a serious wine cellar. The people preparing the food and the guy choosing the wine were in two totally different worlds, and we ate very spicy smoked pork ribs with a 1982 Haut-Brion and a 1985 La Tâche.

The food was delicious, but I was going to the kitchen to wash my mouth out surreptitiously so that I could try to taste the incredible wines!

[Trev]

I'm not a fan of tabasco, I think it's the fermentaion process that kills it for me.

However, I do like an assortment of hot sauces from the mild the the wild; including Franks, Sriracha, Sambal Oelek, Valentina, various El yucateco's (especially the new jalapeno one) and some home made ones of my own design. For me it's not about pure heat, it has to have good flavour too, or what's the sense of it? In the flavour department I think that Sambal Oelek may be the purest tasting but it's also one of the hotter ones; a little goes a long way. My wife fell in love with this kind, so as a gag I bought her a gallon jug of the stuff. Now she's half way through it and show's no signs of slowing down!

I don't think that hot sauce dulls taste buds because we eat hot sauce most every day but I think my appreciation for the taste of good food is growing, not waning.