Search & Destroy: Hot Sauce

I like spicy foods, but not hot sauces.

Yeah, I'm not so hot (no pun intended) on the original Tabasco anymore. Once you have a good punishing habanero sauce it's hard to go back.

Tabasco. IS TOO :) Seriously, the original unadulterated Tabasco has a taste you'll simply never find in any other brand because of the three years of aging. That's why everyone else adds mangoes and onions and crawfish and stuff to theirs.

Tabasco Chipotle, the best chipotle sauce I've had.

Louisiana brand hot sauce, especially cayenne and habanero.

Dave's Insanity, the garlic one. Too hot for most uses, granted, but one of the few tasty insanely-hot sauces, for those of us who haven't burned our taste buds off in endorphin rushes.

Jump Up and Kiss Me.

Melinda's, the mustard one. Good on hot dogs, sausages, burgers, in sauces for ribs.

Sriracha, as previously praised on other threads, especially the green-cap brand.

Destroy:

Endorphin Rush, which just doesn't have much flavor.

Crystal -- except Crystal Cayenne Garlic -- and Frank's, because they just don't have much flavor and have that weird xanthan gum texture.

This pomegranate stuff I had once, don't remember the name, that had no real flavor except a burnt -- not smoked -- habanero taste, and something like fruit gone sour.

Purple Haze, which is made with cabbage, I think.

Most of the gimmicky "Monica's Blowjob Sauce" type ones, except Bayou Viagra and Texas Viagra (if those count as gimmicky in the same sense), both of which are tasty and from a company which makes legitimate sauces, not just joke sauces.

Most of the "look at the ingredient we managed to use THIS time!" sauces. Often, a good sauce does have some notable ingredient besides the pepper and vinegar -- habanero sauces work well when carrot is involved, tropical fruit works well with most peppers, and so on. "New England's Hooha Hot Damn Wappa Wappa Maple Syrup from Hell" hot sauce, made from maple syrup and capsaicin, would be stupid. And a lot of the gimmick-ingredient sauces are precisely that.

I wanna go hot sauce shopping with Tep.

Crystal Cayenne Garlic is really, really good because that vinegariness comes out (the vinegariness is what I like with Tabasco; I do tend to reach for something else when I want a condiment and not just an ingredient or something for eggs, though). But the others ... the flavor isn't deep enough, so like you say, you gotta use a lot of it. If I'm putting it on a hot dog or something, that's not the best option.

(Crystal and Louisiana get major points for being dirt cheap, at least in LA -- like, 37 cents for a bottle cheap, c'mon.)

I am aware that I'm not quite in touch with the spirit of this thread, but I love sweet chilli sauces from Thailand, Vietnam and Japan.

Also, nam prik rulex0rs.

Vineg0r r0x0r.

The be-all and end-all.

this stuff immediately sprang to mind. it's a bit salsa-ish, so i'm not sure if it counts.

i love the flavor of chipotle stuff too.

Best jarred salsa: Joe T. Garcias. Yum.

I also have a bottle of El Yucateco Habanero Green and Huy Fung Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce that get used pretty frequently. Don't understand those who go for the vinegary sauces. The taste overpowers everything else. I only like that stuff on eggs, and I will usually use Cholua Hot Sauce, which has the vinegar flavor but doesn't make everything taste like vinegar.

a) buy the ones which aren't thickened with things like xanthan gum, so that when you use them on anything wet, or as an ingredient in a sauce or marinade (Tabasco makes an excellent marinade for ribs or lamb, and is a good ingredient in a heavily-flavored brine for chicken or ham), the flavor blends in more and the vinegar dilutes.

b) if you want lots of heat and don't want lots of vinegar flavor, go with habanero (the one problem here is that there are very few habanero sauces on the market which don't combine the habanero with various other ingredients, so unlike with Tabasco proper, you aren't getting a pure pepper flavor).

c) even given a and b, if you like and are accustomed to vinegary flavors, you're gonna like vinegar sauces more than otherwise; vinegar is one of those flavors like cilantro, chile heat, and red wine, where if you're not used to it it stands out more sharply.

I forgot a sauce I bought today at this odd little grocery -- Lemon something something Peri-Peri. Looks good, for cooking with if not so much as a condiment. Has xanthan gum in it, though :/

(And just as I start to eat the burrito, Olivia NEwton-John's version of "Ring of Fire" starts up...)

("... and it burns, burns, burns ...")

Actually, anti-confession time: I have never once -- not from Taco Bell, not from "what are these 'Scotch bonnet' things, anyway? Well, I suppose I'll put a bowlful in the chili to find out," not from burritos of questionable pedigree, not from undergraduate experiments gone awry -- had that particular problem.

Also, try that Toad-Sweat (sweet habanero syrup/sauce) stuff on ice cream. It's WEIRD.

I've made hot sauces since, just not that way. Pureed pickled peppers or chipotles, vinegar as needed, roasted garlic, and so on. Comes out thicker, but it's tasty enough (and usually very strong).

(There's no hot sauce in the minestrone ... oh! But one of the Cheap Cooking Things I used to do with the ex was roasted a bulb of garlic and just cover it in Tabasco. Bam, you got dip, or sauce, or whatever.)

http://www.peppersofkeywest.com/images/product_images/psychosoy2.jpg

habanero soy sauce

this is seriously the greatest product of all time

wow really?

soy psycho

they never sell shit like this in london :(

Man, Tep had terrible taste in hot sauce (except for Sriracha).

I like that Rhino Peri-Peri shit, too.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2069/2173100189_d797eec488.jpg

no

Good old Frank's Red Hot really hits the spot

I currently have three unopened bottles of cholula in my hot sauce estate but still have not tasted it.

I had the new sweet habanero Cholula tonight, not something I thought I would go for but it's great

They do a Frank’s Red Hot ice cream at lake effect in buffalo :P

omg (in a bad way). have you had it? how was it? I mean, I like hot sauce on cream cheese on bagels but...

Tobasco has a bunch of specialty sauces I learned recently though they’re hard to find for some reason.

Tabasco's chipotle one is commonplace at.. Chipotle restaurants. I've had a couple of the others but they weren't that memorable.

My current lineup: Cholula on my desk at work, Trader Joe's Habanero hot sauce on my kitchen table; Huy Fong Sriracha, Frank's, and TJ's Green Dragon in the kitchen, and there's a bottle of the xxx Yucateco around the place somewhere

The chipotle here has several “speciality” Tabascos inc the chipotle flavored one and I like them

Our local hot sauce scene has great options. I think we still have some cholula and trader joes stuff in the fridge but I use local almost exclusively now.

Great gift: https://number1sons.com/products/chili-bear-hot-hot-hot-trio

My go-to for cooking with: https://www.unclebrutha.com

there is a near full bottle of tabasco chipotle in the fridge of the rental I am in for 2 months, but the color is so off putting, I don't want to touch it. Like, I know that is the color it's supposed to be, but it just looks old.

So, I have learned that I don't like to use mystery hot sauce bottles.

Tabasco is underrated. There is nothing that approaches tabasco for certain things.

"Good old Frank's Red Hot really hits the spot"

not what I expected to hear on ilx, but I thoroughly agree!

had some habanero + squid ink hot sauce at a seafood restaurant in cdmx yesterday, p dope

xp nothing like a hot sauce party with old frank

I had Frank's before and didn't like it much, no tang and not spicy enough. just got a bottle of encona extra hot and it's the closest I've found to what I want so far, still not perfect of course

the idea that frank’s has no tang is... delusional

frank’s chilli and lime rules

there is a near full bottle of tabasco chipotle in the fridge

what is up with these animals refrigerating their hot sauce

I've had some that say to refrigerate after opening. There's vinegar in them but I assume just not as much as a tobasco type sauce?

the Frank's wasn't tangy, what can I say, it was just sort of vaguely sour, like it had a dash of cheap malt vinegar in there somewhere.

was going to post about valentina but see i did so 6 months ago. never buy anything else anymore

I would never under any circumstances put cold hot sauce on anything

hmmm. I refrigerate all my hot sauce at home. But I don't refrigerate things like soy sauce (that freaks me out to see it in the fridge). My hot sauce at work I am fine to just keep in the desk.

are you concerned that it's going to go bad?

you have always otherwise struck me as perfectly sance, non-demonic person

SANE

on the soy sauce bottles it says after opening: refrigerate and use within blah blah.. I always thought that was crap.

I didn't say this earlier, but I avoid habanero-based hot sauces. There is something astringent about that pepper, it tastes poisonous instead of delicious.

The combination of Tabasco and cheddar cheese (on nachos, for example) is pretty divine imo

I guess i just automatically put condiments in the fridge at home to keep everything in the same place. All my hot sauces are in the door with all the mustard.

Soy sauce, if you grew up in an asian household it's a huge ass jug of soy sauce that is never in the fridge.

I have never refrigerated soy sauce either, that would seem equally wrong.

where do you all store your opened bottles of hot sauce? In a cupboard?

I also haven't lived in a place with central ac since maybe around college. So the kitchen will get super hot in the summer. My rental with the suspicious chipotle tabasco has central ac but we turned it off and leave the terrace doors open all day. It's mostly tropical here so I wouldn't leave any food out for multiple days (bugs). The soy sauce is in a cupboard here though.

i put frank's on everything. sometimes the simplest is the best

I have some encona west indian hot pepper sauce at the back of my fridge I'd forgotten about. Yes I keep them in my fridge as well! But doesn't that mean they retain their potency and flavour for longer? I don't know the science behind that theory, but it seems to make sense! Also nothing wrong with putting cold hot sauce on food that is piping hot or getting grilled anyway, surely?

xxp yes in a cupboard, on a dedicated shelf with soy sauces and vinegars and harissa etc.

In my experience this has no bearing on potency/flavor retention..,these things are so locked in by acids and salt. Hot sauce does seem to me thinner and more absoptive/"penetrative" to food at room temp than when cold.

I guess for cooking the temp doesn't matter but as a table condiment at the table I just don't like putting cold liquid on hot food.

hot sauces we eat the most are chopped jalapenos in white vinegar, prik nam pla, and trader joe's jalapeno sauce. Keep them all in the fridge. I wonder how much heat is required for a vinaigrette to be considered a hot sauce.

the chunkier the hot sauce the more likely I want it to be in the fridge. I put harissa and chili garlic in the fridge. But I also can't be bothered looking at the contents of all the small batch new hot sauces to figure it out.

I don't mind putting cold hot sauce on hot food. it's usually with guac or a cold veg or a raw fish thing. Or for my eggs I have to usually wait for the eggs to cool off a bit anyway.

My brother brought me back a couple of bottles of Lombok Kuning from Makassar, Indonesia. It works pretty well in places where I would use Yucateco - a similar heat level.

I forgot about Melinda’s Naga Jolokia. This is the go-to for when I want to actually sweat

bought some kimchi-based hot sauce and it's salty but I really like it. Also bought some gochujang, it's really good

just had a lazy improvised fryup with onions, garlic, green bell peppers and chestnut mushrooms, cabbage and some Encona hot pepper sauce. i'm not joking it was the fucking biz!

going to do the same tomorrow with some egg fried rice on the side for dinner.

made my own

seems pretty good !

was pretty easy too - takes a bit of time fermenting the peppers but after that was a piece of piss

the encona extra hot is very good, not taken with regular encona though.

The Rancho Gordo Rio Fuego is really good. Not insanely hot, but a ton of depth.

Ordered some stuff from Heatonist (store that is connected with Hot Ones youtube show) and holy shit that garlic reaper sauce is so hot. I don't know why I keep wanting to eat it again! It's tasty for the few moments you can taste.

I got a bottle of this for xmas as a stocking stuffer, just broke it open recently and GOT DAMN it is the saltiest hot sauce I've ever had. Good garlic flavor but the salt almost kills it.

https://garlicworld.com/product/the-pepper-plant-chunky-garlic-hot-sauce/