Favorite Hot Sauce.... GO!

[Killed_by_Death]

my taste have been influenced by Mexican food since I was a baby. I just can’t learn to like the ‘vinegary’ aspect of most Asian hot sauces.

Are you pulling our leg or something?
Mexican chili sauces are the epitome of vinegary!

Have you folks even seen a bottle of real Thai Sriracha?
oh yeah, you have, in the photos I posted, LOL!

I just looked at the ingredients, 45% chili.

Japanese & Thais have asked me why U.S. citizens think vinegar is spicy, so I'm not sure where this 'Asian chili sauces are vinegary' is coming from.

 

[Guild B301]

Are you pulling our leg or something?
Mexican chili sauces are the epitome of vinegary!

Have you folks even seen a bottle of real Thai Sriracha?
oh yeah, you have, in the photos I posted, LOL!

I just looked at the ingredients, 45% chili.

Probably I’ve only tasted an Americanized version of it. I’ve definitely tasted a lot of authentic Mexican sauces.
I guess it’s just something we’re not used to, and it seems ‘vinegary’ to us, because we don’t know what the flavor we are tasting, really is.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

That was one of a few things the Japanese used to rib me about, how we pronounce karaoke, & how we can think that Tabasco is spicy.
Now, the Philippines probably has some vinegary sauces, but it's because their culture is half-Spanish

 

[Killed_by_Death]

particularly Thai, hot sauces to be tasteful

My mind is boggled that you've had Thai chili sauces, so I have to ask, which ones?
Not that many get sent out of the country, original Sriracha is the only one I can think of TBH. They have many Thai brands of it, but they're all basically the same.

Thai Sriracha is less vinegary than most chili sauces I've had.

Oh wait, there are probably lots of 'chicken-dipping' Thai sauces out there, but they also are not vinegary.

 

[MJ5150]

My mind is boggled that you've had Thai chili sauces, so I have to ask, which ones?
Not that many get sent out of the country, original Sriracha is the only one I can think of TBH. They have many Thai brands of it, but they're all basically the same.

Thai Sriracha is less vinegary than most chili sauces I've had.

Oh wait, there are probably lots of 'chicken-dipping' Thai sauces out there, but they also are not vinegary.

I'll take some pictures the next time I'm at the Asian market we shop at. One we have now is the Dragonfly Super Hot Roasted Chili Oil. It's super hot alright, but short on flavor.
We haven't been eating out since the pandemic so I can't ask what the sauces are at our favorite Thai restaurant in town.
I don't think Thai hot sauces are as exclusive to Thailand as you may think they are.

-Mike

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I'm not commenting that they're exclusive as much as I'm commenting that those aren't real Thai chili sauces.
In a Thai restaurant there likely won't even be Sriracha sauce on the table, but you'll have a little caddy of a few things:

nahm-som (vinegary clear 'sauce' with very few chilies)
ground chilis in oil or just ground chili flakes
plain fish-sauce (bottom)

here's one with nahm-plah-prik, sugar, & a different style of nahm-som

sauces aren't a big thing in the Land of Smiles TBH, they put the spiciness in the recipe
It bugs me when I go to a restaurant & ask for it spicy & they point to the condiments & say I can make it as spicy as I like. That's a fail, because adding stuff later-on isn't the same as having it integral to the dish.

 

[MJ5150]

I'm not commenting that they're exclusive as much as I'm commenting that those aren't real Thai chili sauces.
In a Thai restaurant there likely won't even be Sriracha sauce on the table, but you'll have a little caddy of a few things:

nahm-som (vinegary clear 'sauce' with very few chilies)
ground chilis in oil or just ground chili flakes
plain fish-sauce (bottom)

View attachment 4039136

here's one with nahm-plah-prik, sugar, & a different style of nahm-som

View attachment 4039137

sauces aren't a big thing in the Land of Smiles TBH, they put the spiciness in the recipe
It bugs me when I go to a restaurant & ask for it spicy & they point to the condiments & say I can make it as spicy as I like. That's a fail, because adding stuff later-on isn't the same as having it integral to the dish.

All of the authentic Thai and Vietnamese joints around here have those caddies of sauces. A couple you have to ask for it, the others leave it on the table. Most have the Huy Fong Sriracha on the table as well.
The one joint in town we really like, they bring out a few finely sliced Thai chili peppers with my meal at my request. The other place we like, which they label themselves as Asian fusion with a heavier lean to Korean, are the ones that bring out a hot sauce they say they make with a special bark since I like it so hot. The chef usually comes out to watch me eat it. I'll high five her between wiping the sweat from my brow. I've tried to get a better understanding of what she means by bark, but I think the language barrier prevents us from clearly communicating. Before the pandemic, my wife and I were working on learning Thai so we could communicate better with them.
I feel like the essence of the conversation and her passion for food/cooking is lost when she tries finding the right English words, that is why we are trying to learn her language.

You are right about the sauces not being a big deal, which is why I enjoy most Asian cuisine.
Anyone can pour a spicy sauce in top of a dish to make it hot and spicy, that's easy. The art of cooking spicy is making the dish hot and spicy using ingredients that don't require you to add sauce.

-Mike

 

[4Mal]

I would add to that ... that the level of heat has to be in balance with the other elements of the dish... just hot doesn't work for me . I need the aromatics and depth that is also hot. That makes mexican, thai, indian and malaysian go to cuisines for us when it comes to hot.

We have many other cuisines to cook from though. French, Italian, Morocco through Greece..Peru! Food is too important to be boring

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Nahm-Prik (water-chili) is what Thais call a chili paste
In some regions they use Cassia tree powder in it

I like nahm-prik-noom (น้ำพริกหนุ่ม)
, a Northern region paste that is green. I made some last week & finished it with some pork rinds yesterday

Nam Prik Noom Recipe (Northern Thai Green Chili Dip) น้ำพริกหนุ่ม - Thai Food Paradise

 

[4Mal]

Nahm-Prik (water-chili) is what Thais call a chili paste
In some regions they use Cassia tree powder in it

I like nahm-prik-noom (น้ำพริกหนุ่ม)
, a Northern region paste that is green. I made some last week & finished it with some pork rinds yesterday

View attachment 4039206

Nam Prik Noom Recipe (Northern Thai Green Chili Dip) น้ำพริกหนุ่ม - Thai Food Paradise

What chili did you use. Doubtful I can find those local to me. I have a
bunch of serrano, espellette and 'fiery thinwall' peppers left from my harvest.

I have dried a bunch already - making paprika from the espellette's. Was thinking chili flake from the thin walls and maybe powered from the seranos.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Those long green chilies are not very spicy, so I used jalapeños & a bell pepper.
I was surprised how much it tasted like the stuff I used to buy on the street in Chiang Mai!

It's SO tasty with pork-rinds.
My first couple of weeks working in CM, I'd buy it almost every day, but the one thing that bugged me was that it wasn't usually very spicy.

So I shopped around in the local market & found a vendor that sold that & Sai-Ooa that were both nice & spicy:

here they are together, nahm-prik-noom & sai-ooa
The chili paste I can do, but I still miss those spicy sausages. I could get them upstate, but it's a 2-1/2 hour drive (one-way).

Oh wait, there's also a Lao restaurant 30 miles North that sells one sausage for $10:

 

[tombowlus]

Those long green chilies are not very spicy, so I used jalapeños & a bell pepper.
I was surprised how much it tasted like the stuff I used to buy on the street in Chiang Mai!

It's SO tasty with pork-rinds.
My first couple of weeks working in CM, I'd buy it almost every day, but the one thing that bugged me was that it wasn't usually very spicy.

So I shopped around in the local market & found a vendor that sold that & Sai-Ooa that were both nice & spicy:

View attachment 4039490

here they are together, nahm-prik-noom & sai-ooa
The chili paste I can do, but I still miss those spicy sausages. I could get them upstate, but it's a 2-1/2 hour drive (one-way).

Oh wait, there's also a Lao restaurant 30 miles North that sells one sausage for $10:

View attachment 4039493

Those sausages look tasty!

 

[Killed_by_Death]

best sausages I've ever had TBH
Here's a recipe if you're up to it:

“Sai Ua” Northern Thai Sausage ไส้อั่ว

I notice 'gapi' is in the recipe, that's another type of paste that the Thais love, it's fermented shrimp ground into a paste:

The Thai writing is 'real shrimp gapi'

 

[MJ5150]

Hmmmmm. The Asian market we shop at sells sausages that look like these posted. I've been afraid to try them. Maybe I'll give it a try.

-Mike

 

[4Mal]

Nahm-Prik (water-chili) is what Thais call a chili paste
In some regions they use Cassia tree powder in it

I like nahm-prik-noom (น้ำพริกหนุ่ม)
, a Northern region paste that is green. I made some last week & finished it with some pork rinds yesterday

View attachment 4039206

Nam Prik Noom Recipe (Northern Thai Green Chili Dip) น้ำพริกหนุ่ม - Thai Food Paradise

Tonight I made nam pla prik. We sous vide some halibut, re-heated last night's Basmati and cranked out a stir fried bok choi with sesame oil, ginger and garlic. Used 3 serrano's from my garden harvest for heat. Doubled the garlic. Way too strong for the halibut. No surprise. Really amazing over the rice. A keeper for sure. Thanks for the d'inspiration ;-)

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I just had some fried rice with pork & basil, & consumed half our nahm-plah-prik to spice it up. I'll have to top it up tomorrow.

Here's a photo of some putt-graprao-moo (basil-fried pork) that I had almost daily on my week in L.A.:

there's the nahm-plah-prik in the top-left

 

[Ruknrole]

Another tasty not so spicy hot sauce find.
Not sure how I feel about the taste of Guajillo pepper yet. This is the first time I try it. It has a peculiar taste. Feels more like a marinade than a hot sauce.

 

[4Mal]

Guajillo's are fruity, earthy not real spicy. Backbone of some mexican stews ... a staple in my kitchen along with ancho's. pair them with some chilies that bring the heat for a layered chili experience. I do a kitchen sink pork shoulder stew on a Sunday monthly. That carries us a few days into the work week with taco and burritos. and adobo. Always a fav here for bringing the heat.

Another Sunday it might as well be Coq au vin which has very little heat but damn tasty with a bottle of red wine anyway

 

[marchone]

Has anyone yet mentioned Chili Crisp?

"Chili crisp is an infused chili oil condiment with crunchy bits, made by simmering chili peppers, onion, garlic and seasonings in oil. It is spicy, salty and savory with an addictive umami, great for adding flavor and texture to anything from sandwiches to desserts."

 

[4Mal]

Chili crisp. Check. Not much in the way of heat but at least one uses the mouth numbing prickly ash stuff associated with szechuan pepper. We go through a few bottles a year. This is the one we use.

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Another nice heat source, gentler than most of what
is mentioned here is the oil from Calabrian Chili's packed in oil. Really nice in a Fra Diavolo or Arrabiatta. Very fruity and a nice kick. Anything in a mediterranean kinda direction ... Definately not something I would use in asian cooking. Probably the olive oil base. I have done kalamata olives chopped with calabrian chili, some of the oil, garlic and parsley as a sort of tapenade reaching towards muffuletta.

A similar thing that I love as a sandwich condiment is Mama Lil's Goathead peppers.
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Being lactose free (and feeling better than before) I like a nice crusty bread, a couple of varieties of cold cuts, violife smoked gouda or chao (tofu based cheese substitutes, both are go to's along with violife Parmesan and feta) some mama lil's and lettuce. Or just a blt with chopped mama lil's in some mayo...

none of that brings the punch of the nah, play prik but the all have their place in my repertoire... though I am probably going over the top with the nahm plah prik at the moment... That stuff is addictive!