# Japanese Hot Sauce Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 3, 2002, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-hot-sauce-question/135126 "2002-11-03T18:59:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2002, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-hot-sauce-question/135126/1 "2002-11-03T18:59:10Z")
A buddy of mine and I eat at a Japanese restaurant occassionally, and they offer this hot sauce (well, it’s more of a paste) that has the color and consistancy of cocktail sauce, and is incredibly hot. We’ve asked what it is, but because of language problems, we haven’t gotten an answer we can understand. Anyone know what it is? ---
**Author:** ![False\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee7513/32.png) [@False\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/False_God)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2002, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-hot-sauce-question/135126/2 "2002-11-03T21:57:32Z")
Well, Google was unusually unhelpful, but I know what you’re talking about. I’ve had it before, and it’s sometimes used in sushi rolls. Apparently, it’s usually used on shrimp and chicken, and it’s made of ground red Japanese chiles, water, vinegar, salt and sugar. EthnicGrocer didn’t have it, and the Lee Kum Kee site I managed to find this on : [http://japan.lkk.com/product/product\_hotsauce.asp](http://japan.lkk.com/product/product_hotsauce.asp) Was entirely in Japanese characters. Try going to a local Asian grocery, or taking someone who speaks Japanese. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-hot-sauce-question/135126/3 "2002-11-04T04:22:49Z")
Perhaps you had wasabi? [http://www.freshwasabi.com/about.html](http://www.freshwasabi.com/about.html) ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-hot-sauce-question/135126/4 "2002-11-04T04:31:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Controvert \* > \*\*Perhaps you had wasabi? > > [http://www.freshwasabi.com/about.html](http://www.freshwasabi.com/about.html) \*\* Um, no. Wasabi’s green, has a totally different taste, and this stuff is quite red. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-hot-sauce-question/135126/5 "2002-11-04T08:33:46Z")
What dish was it served with? I can’t think of anything that fits the description. The sauces on False\_God’s link are all Chinese or Korean. (The page is in Japanese but it’s clearly labeled “Chinese spices.”) ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-hot-sauce-question/135126/6 "2002-11-04T12:09:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by scr4 \* > \*\*What dish was it served with? I can’t think of anything that fits the description. The sauces on False\_God’s link are all Chinese or Korean. (The page is in Japanese but it’s clearly labeled “Chinese spices.”) \*\* It’s not served with any dish, they bring it out on their cart when they come to cook your food and its offered to anyone who wants it. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2002, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-hot-sauce-question/135126/7 "2002-11-04T13:45:18Z")
Damn, on preview, **scr4** beat me to it. By far, the most popular Chinese hot paste in Japan is called _tobanjan_. (It’s second to last on the site linked.) Anyway, [here](http://www.maruwa.com/onlineshop/spice/spice.html) is a bilingual site that offers pretty much all I would expect to find in the spice section of my grocery store. What you are looking for is almost certainly one of the bottom three pastes, Sichuan tobanjan (Youki Red Pepper Paste), hot pepper tobanjan (Toban Djan), or the Korean kimchi mix. What is this paste supposed to be eaten with? Is your restaurant kind of fusion? Here, the only spicy hot thing you’ll ever add to your food is either shichimi or ichimi, both of which are powders. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-hot-sauce-question/135126/8 "2002-11-05T04:05:32Z")
The restaurant is one of those ones where you sit down at the grill and they come out prepare your food in front of you. So, it’s more “Japanese style” than real Japanese food. There’s no particular dish that it’s served with, they just offer it to any of us who want it. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-hot-sauce-question/135126/9 "2002-11-05T05:36:05Z")
Lots of people packed into a tiny, cramped room, drinking heavily and using flaming grills. Fun, but I advise getting a table near the exit. Interestingly, most of the restaurants in Japan where you grill your food (or have it grilled) at the table advertise themselves as Korean-style, which may explain the choice of sauces. What’s great fun is getting a little charcoal grill at your table with a group of friends and just ordering plate after plate of meat and vegetables to cook on it yourselves. Round after round of beers to wash it down goes without saying, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Iteki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eada6e/32.png) [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-hot-sauce-question/135126/10 "2002-11-05T11:27:32Z")
If it is only “japanese-style” it could be Korean kojujane (koh-joo-jan) sauce, it could also be southeast asian sambal olek. I can not be held accountable for my spelling in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-hot-sauce-question/135126/11 "2002-11-05T11:38:09Z")
Yes, “Japanese” steak houses seem to be an American invention, and are in my experience quite different from the yakiniku places **Sublight** describes. [sub]Hmmmm, yakiniku…[/sub] Anyway, the sauce **Iteki** mentions, kochujang, is a good candidate as it’s usually used in the way you mentioned. Though in Korean restaurants.