I add these to every batch of chili and Chicken Tinga I make. They are so good.
I’ve read that the drying process accentuates the natural spiciness of chilies, but I’m not convinced that that adobo sauce stuff doesn’t just contain a bunch more chili in it. . .
I can’t use straight peppers, as my wife can’t do spicy (as in using crushed red pepper in any serious amount renders it inedible for her). So for me all spicy is post prepared. And the sauces I use are typically for flavor, not pure hot. I use sriracha like ketchup, there is no amount of it that would ever qualify as ‘too spicy’.
But I don’t get the super hot sauces very frequently anymore. Occasionally, sure, but only occasionally. Partly because I don’t want to deal with the three year old stealing a bite off dads plate ;)
In my experience Jalapenos that come from a jar or can (like bought from a store) taste pretty decent but don’t have much heat or as much flavor as home grown or fresh peppers. I get a giant jar of Vlassic Jalapenos however, that bucks that trend. They are salty and awesome like from a jar, with a lot of amazing flavor, but they are very hot, and too many can actually ruin something. It took me awhile to learn to scale back on them.
I have seen a few mentions of Taipato here and there, and I forgot about it but I used to love it! There used to exist a brand of Frito Lay corn chip that was “extra spicy” and man, I loved those things. Then they vanished, over night. It was crazy. A buddy of mine told me to mix up a baggie of regular corn chips with Taipato and sure enough, almost the same thing (but soggier). I’ve been a fan of that sauce since.
I also really miss Habanaro Doritos. Oh man, I fucking loved those things (after the first bag nearly killed me, I was reborn and could eat them like normal Doritos, but they were 1,000% better tasting even). They also just … vanished from shelves. At least around me.
Pickled cherry peppers might not be bad for you to cook with. One or two could be chopped up or blended and added into a dish, they aren’t overly hot. Even calmer would be pepperoncini’s.
I hear ya though. My girlfriend likes things waaaay less spicy than me.
Dude. How did I not know they made pickled jalapenos? I MUST try those.
Oh hell yeah, it’s the only Jalapeno I use any more. We get them from Wal-Mart, if you have that in your area. Here is what they look look like, but the are out of stock on Amazon.
I’d like to say they last a long time… but I put them on pretty much everything, and so does my son.
About the only thing I’ve had luck with is the occasional cucumber salad with deseeded jalapenos finely diced in there. That is the absolute bounds of what I can do with her ;)
But, still, it’s two to three large jalapenos in a bowl with cucumbers, carrots, peanuts, salt, sugar, cilantro, and rice vinegar. So it’s something, just not very much.
Very good friend of mine can’t have too much spice or her mouth starts swelling up. Her roommate is gluten free and allergic to honey. They do dinner parties at their place semi regularly and invite me to bring stuff. Doing so has become an exercise in frustration ;-)
This thread reminds me of when @Scotch_Lufkin and I were young, and stupid, and went to a small town place in north Iowa to try the ‘World’s Hottest Enchilada’.
We have no idea to this day what is in it (we’re guessing ghost peppers before they were well known things). Keep in mind this was at least 20 years ago.
The waitress asked us three times if we were sure, of course we were sure, it wouldn’t be on the menu if it could hurt you right? Fucking wrong. I think it scorched half my soul and turned me into a cynical old bastard for the rest of my life. I’m pretty sure driving home was a mix of trying to recall what lane to stay in and hoping my organs would remain intact.
I do occasionally partake of a little siracha now and then but not often. I lost my hot sauce fun times that day. Happily for Scott, he can still enjoy these things, because he didn’t lose any of his Horcruxes from the Enchilada like I did.
Armando we have a lone vegetarian friend in our boating friends group. We have the same issues, though not nearly as bad. We did have a vegan that hung out with the group, but I believe she fell to the wayside when she started complaining about being able to smell the meat on deli sandwiches people brought. “That smells disgusting, why would you eat that.” Yeah, look, eat what you want, don’t be a dick about it.
I can’t really eat properly spicy food any more since my whole thing. On the other hand, less-spicy food tastes spicier for whatever reason, so that works out okay.
Ive become a huge fan of gojuchang. I never got into Sriracha much, its got a horseradish flavor Im not fond of. Anyway, I am generally making my own sauces, often using gojuchang. I also use fresh peppers and the jarred Jalapenos. In fact today I made a sauce that was based on gojuchang, honey, orange marmalade, freshly minced and roasted ginger and soy sauce. I added just a bit of the juice from the jarred jalapenos ( seriously do not throw that juice away, its awesome for adding a kick to stuff ) I used it on grilled chicken wings ( it was 70 outside today, had to grill! ) and it was heavenly. I was afraid I used too much heat but it came out perfect.
I love hot sauces. To pick only one is a weakness. You need to find that sauce that goes just right with each & every food.
For eggs, it’s Cholula. No contest. This is like p-nut butter & jelly.
For chicken wings, It’s Frank’s Louisanna Red Hot sauce.
But I seriously after tasting Buffalo Wild Wings Mango Habenero, I have a hard time going back to Frank’s.
For asian food, my go to is Chiu Chow Chili Oil
For heat, we grow our own peppers. Ghost, Scotch Bonnet, Habenero, Thai, Serrano, Jalepeno, and my wife dries them out & grinds the whole enchilada into a shakable seasoning. Two shakes and I’m on fire.
Thanks for bring this up, I fucking love this sauce on their chicken so much. I keep meaning to pick it up, but I don’t know what else I’d use it on other than maybe when I make popcorn chicken or something. So freaking good though. But eating it to quickly and too fast really fucking hurts! :)
I love heat, but I’m usually using the actual peppers instead of hot sauces. I go through a ton of cayenne and habaneros, which are both the right balance of heat level and flavors that add something past “hot” to a dish.
When I do go for hot sauce, it’s to go even hotter. I get this stuff from the local farmer’s market:
It’s yummy. It’s also WAY too hot for my wife, which means I have to be careful - I’m pretty sure the angriest she’s ever been at me is the first time I tried this as part of a stir fry sauce. It was divine… and I had to whip up a second batch without it so she could actually eat dinner that night.
Those who brought up Gochujang are totally on the money. I tend to use it as a component in other stuff rather than an outright sauce, but the flavor is just amazing!
I love hot hot sauce. I have over a dozen in my fridge / pantry.
I put a ton Frank’s Red Hot in Mac & Cheese to make Buffalo Mac.
I recently discovered The Pepper Plant. It’s not very hot, but delicious. Goes great on breakfast type stuff, but also pretty much anything.
El Yucateco is great. Pretty hot, and it gets hotter the more you eat. It will make you sweat. Only pussies go with the weaker red sauce.
Habanero Jelly is great on chicken and other meats.
I use about half a bottle of Green Tobasco when I eat a burrito.
Cholula sauce is also great. Much better than that watery Tapatio crap.
And of course, pickled jalapenos. I like to mix a bunch into cheese queso to make a dip.
I have two bottles of this! There was a consultant here from California that I worked and hung out with a bit. He came to learn I like hot food and we had a chat one day about hot sauces, etc. He left to go home a few months later and not long after two bottles of this showed up for me in the mail from him.
The two I have are “Habaneros - Extra Hot!” Worth searching for if you can find them. Chunkier than a normal hot sauce but lots and lots of flavor mixed in with the heat.
EDIT: Holy shit, they make a seasoning too. I MUST have some of this on popcorn.
About five years ago I bought a bottle of chipotle sauce around April, enjoyed it, and semi-declared a summer of chipotle. This was before the restaurant chain was so popular. Had it on everything from burgers to pasta, and had a few different types of sauce, ordered whenever I saw it, etc.
So I was thinking about that and picked up this a couple weeks ago:
Its tasty, hot, and simple (mostly vinegar and chipotles), which I like.