# What's the best, mildest, real yet useful hot sauce in the US? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 16, 2011, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-mildest-real-yet-useful-hot-sauce-in-the-us/574978 "2011-03-16T23:21:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![StuffLikeThatThere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@StuffLikeThatThere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StuffLikeThatThere)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-mildest-real-yet-useful-hot-sauce-in-the-us/574978/101 "2011-03-23T02:43:01Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > It is amazing stuff, but it most certainly does not belong on a “mildest” list. Interesting. Our 2 1/2 year old son _adores_ rooster sauce, so I assumed it was pretty mild (I don’t use the stuff myself). Maybe the kid is tougher than I thought. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-mildest-real-yet-useful-hot-sauce-in-the-us/574978/102 "2011-03-23T02:58:34Z")
> [@TravisFromOR](#): > > Hold it up close to your eye, so you can see inside the top. Look for a blockage, and give it a good squeeze. A friend of mine did that once, except it was high test silicone caulking in a caulking gun. The blockage gave once it was given the eyeball test. Perhaps hot sauce would have been better given his description of subsequent events 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-mildest-real-yet-useful-hot-sauce-in-the-us/574978/103 "2011-03-23T03:16:44Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > Yeah, I’m still in Japan. And thanks for sending me the ineffable teachings of the universe, I think. There must be a different meaning of ‘aumrikyo’ that I’m not aware of. > > But yeah, don’t get me started on hot sauce in Japan. Now, I loves me some Japanese kweezeen, but they couldn’t do a proper spicy if their honor depended on it. Oh sure, they can do _hot_, but a truly delicious hot sauce I have yet to find outside the foreign supermarket. In my experience, hot in Japan equals more chili pepper oil. No other peppers exist…grrrr… > > They get points for wasabi though. I suggest the American Hot Sauce companies should tranxploit the exact same wildly successful Kikkoman marketing campaign and introduction of umami into American culture. We should exchange heat and complexity… the “seventh taste”, after fatty. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-mildest-real-yet-useful-hot-sauce-in-the-us/574978/104 "2011-03-23T04:31:20Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > Is it really true according to that article that Rooster sauce is made with red, ripe, jalapenos? That just doesn’t seem quite right judging by sriracha’s heat and flavor. It reminds me more of a cayenne or thai pepper… I’m pretty sure I read in Saveur that David Tran (the guy who came up with the American version of Sriracha) does indeed use red jalapenos in the sauce. [According to this](http://books.google.com/books?id=eV8EAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA72&ots=25dEHlvBcj&pg=PA172#v=onepage&q&f=false), it’s jalapenos, too. > [@](#): > > David confirms the peppers he uses are ordinary jalapenos. To the Tran palate, at least, the jalapeno, serrano, and the Anaheim are all very similar. “We chose jalapenos because they are hot but not too hot, and because they are easy to harvest, not like serranos.” And, apparently, the garlic in Sriracha sauce comes in the form of garlic powder. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-mildest-real-yet-useful-hot-sauce-in-the-us/574978/105 "2011-03-23T05:00:53Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > And, apparently, the garlic in Sriracha sauce comes in the form of garlic powder. Nope, I refuse to believe that. Either fresh garlic or rehydrated chopped garlic. Not Powder. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-mildest-real-yet-useful-hot-sauce-in-the-us/574978/106 "2011-03-23T05:05:48Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > Nope, I refuse to believe that. Either fresh garlic or rehydrated chopped garlic. Not Powder. Well, you can read the article for yourself and come to your own conclusions, but I see no reason to distrust that. Here’s the quote: > [@](#): > > The most complicated procedure, which requires a separate, glass-walled chamber, sees the mash pureed into a smooth, ketchupy fluid and mixed in vats with a little sugar, a small amount of a thickener called xantham gum […] and a whole lot of garlic powder. > > […] > > The revelation that the key ingredient in Huy Fong’s version of Sriracha is ordinary garlic powder, purchased in bulk from a local wholesaler, will shock only people who expect picturesque ethnic foods to be fresh and unprocessed. " ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-mildest-real-yet-useful-hot-sauce-in-the-us/574978/107 "2011-03-23T05:16:14Z")
"The revelation that the key ingredient in Huy Fong’s version of Sriracha is ordinary garlic powder, purchased in bulk from a local wholesaler, will shock only people who expect picturesque ethnic foods to be fresh and unprocessed. " No, it will shock people who have a highly developed taste and understanding of garlic as a favorite ingredient. It’s like telling us that dehydrated/freezedried is better than fresh, when it is clearly inferior. They must add a lot. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-mildest-real-yet-useful-hot-sauce-in-the-us/574978/108 "2011-03-23T05:23:15Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > "The revelation that the key ingredient in Huy Fong’s version of Sriracha is ordinary garlic powder, purchased in bulk from a local wholesaler, will shock only people who expect picturesque ethnic foods to be fresh and unprocessed. " > > No, it will shock people who have a highly developed taste and understanding of garlic as a favorite ingredient. It’s like telling us that dehydrated/freezedried is better than fresh, when it is clearly inferior. They must add a lot. Read the rest of the quote in the article I linked to. They’re not trying to imply that it’s “better.” In the next sentence they state it’s to keep costs down. It surprises me, too, that they use garlic powder, but it does make sense now. I’ve never found sriracha particularly garlicky, and that may be part of the reason. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-mildest-real-yet-useful-hot-sauce-in-the-us/574978/109 "2011-03-23T05:33:10Z")
Well, Heinz Chili Sauce sort of has the patent on American Sauce. They should come out with a reformulated “Heinz Chili Sauce: Bold and Extra Bold” to compete. New American Chili sauce reformulated, a much hotter strain of their genetically engineered mild red pepper for the chili sauce with extra garlic (powder) and homemade vinegar and fresh procured, bulk spices. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-mildest-real-yet-useful-hot-sauce-in-the-us/574978/110 "2011-03-23T05:52:02Z")
Heinz already has something like that [in foreign markets](http://www.flickr.com/photos/ianfuller/4116812184/#/) (might be limited to Thailand.) It’s a shame they don’t try it here, too. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-mildest-real-yet-useful-hot-sauce-in-the-us/574978/111 "2011-03-23T16:41:36Z")
Sriracha/Rooster Sauce is realistically hotter than it might appear on a technical numeric rating because it has ‘stickiness’. It tends to cling in the mouth and the ‘hot’ becomes more cumulative than other, more watery sauces. It can also be tamed more easily when applied to foods, because you can add a squirt here and there and spread the sauce out, much like you spread out mayo, mustard, and even ketchup now and then. It really is very versatile and can play the role of adding just the tiniest am’t of heat/spice (a little dab will do ya – just spread it out thinly) or you can use it in abundance and enjoy how the heat tends to accumulate. Most vinegary/watery sauces don’t have this versatility. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-best-mildest-real-yet-useful-hot-sauce-in-the-us/574978.md?page=5)