# What's your favorite hot sauce, and what do you put it on? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 24, 2004, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-hot-sauce-and-what-do-you-put-it-on/265910 "2004-09-24T17:59:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bangiadore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@Bangiadore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bangiadore)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-hot-sauce-and-what-do-you-put-it-on/265910/21 "2004-09-25T02:39:26Z")
**silenus** , I’m gonna try that. Maybe eight years ago, Christina’s in Cambridge, Mass. made a batch of hot sauce ice cream at the behest of a local grill. It was sequestered in the back of their freezer. When they told me about it, I needed to try it. They said I was the only person who ever bought it. I said the rest of the world is crazy. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-hot-sauce-and-what-do-you-put-it-on/265910/22 "2004-09-25T03:15:19Z")
I gotta admit…when I was first presented with this dessert, I balked. But I have learned to trust my friend Ray, who is, among other things, a professional chef. One bite was all it took. 😃 It also makes a striking presentation. The jelly swirled atop a mound of ice cream, the chocolate seams contrasting with the green. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-hot-sauce-and-what-do-you-put-it-on/265910/23 "2004-09-25T03:32:09Z")
I like Sriracha too. I put it on everything, but not always. Good taste, and just the right heat, so you can adjust your own preference by how much and how you add it. I hatge it when the sauce overpowers the food. I like to put a generous dab on pot stickers, and wash it down into the stuffing with rice vinegar. I haven’t tried the garlic version yet. I’ll get some. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Cherry2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cherry2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cherry2000)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-hot-sauce-and-what-do-you-put-it-on/265910/24 "2004-09-25T04:04:19Z")
While I love trying all the different kinds of hot sauce out there, my favorite now is the stuff I make myself. Flavorful, and not _too_ hot…but if you make your own, you can control that quite easily. Now that I know how easy the stuff is to make, I plan on experimenting. But here is the basic recipe, for anyone who is interested. Fire Sauce 1 (6.00 ounces) can tomato paste 3 cups water 3 tablespoons vinegar 3 tablespoons finely minced canned jalapeno slices 1 tablespoon chili powder (Mexican, if you have it) \*\* 1 tablespoon dried onion flakes 2 teaspoons salt 2 teaspoons cornstarch 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon sugar 1/4 teaspoon onion powder 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 1. COMBINE the tomato paste and water in a saucepan. 2. Whisk until smooth. 3. ADD the remaining ingreadients to the tomato mixture. 4. Heat over medium/high heat until it begins to boil. 5. Continue to cook, stirring often, for 4 to 5 minutes. 6. Remove from heat. 7. When sauce has cooled, pour into a glass airtight container and refrigerate. 8. Stores well in the refrigerator. \*\*when I make this, I do not use chilli powder. I use ground chillies. There’s a difference! ---
**Author:** ![CheapBastid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8baadc/32.png) [@CheapBastid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheapBastid)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-hot-sauce-and-what-do-you-put-it-on/265910/25 "2004-09-25T06:33:45Z")
I love the Baja Fresh Black Sauce (I think they call it “Salsa Baja”) in one of their small takeout containers by the salsa bar. I put 3 drops of [Pure Cap](http://www.firegirl.com/hs1154.html) in it, and I’m in heaven. Spicy and Flavorful. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-hot-sauce-and-what-do-you-put-it-on/265910/26 "2004-09-25T10:04:45Z")
Another vote for Sriracha. Also, Yucatan Sunshine. And Yucateco red or green…both good. Eating pizza can be a 5 bottle affair for me. I don’t care for the Chipotle sauces…too smokey. Speaking of hot…Anyone ever had the Trappeys little yellow hot sport peppers? Suu-poib! ---
**Author:** ![Burrido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Burrido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burrido)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-hot-sauce-and-what-do-you-put-it-on/265910/27 "2004-09-25T23:46:23Z")
This for Steaks/burgers/shrimp anything meat basically. Not as hot as I would like it to be but good enough not to kill the taste of the meat. [http://www.originaljuan.com/product.asp?itemID=440](http://www.originaljuan.com/product.asp?itemID=440) This for everything else except soups. [http://www.originaljuan.com/product.asp?itemID=437](http://www.originaljuan.com/product.asp?itemID=437) And normal Tobassco for soups. Lots of it. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-hot-sauce-and-what-do-you-put-it-on/265910/28 "2004-09-25T23:49:29Z")
> [@Bangiadore](#): > > **silenus** , I’m gonna try that. Maybe eight years ago, Christina’s in Cambridge, Mass. made a batch of hot sauce ice cream at the behest of a local grill. It was sequestered in the back of their freezer. When they told me about it, I needed to try it. They said I was the only person who ever bought it. I said the rest of the world is crazy. Dreyer’s out here has a line of ice cream they call Ice Dreams – unusual flavors and very rich. About three years ago I bought a pint of Chilly Chili – vanilla ice cream with hot sauce-covered spanish peanuts and a chocolate mole ribbon. The choccolate was not sweet; it was mildly spicy over the bitter chocolate edge. Absolutely delicious, but apparently it didn’t prove popular enough – I haven’t seen it since. DD ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-hot-sauce-and-what-do-you-put-it-on/265910/29 "2004-09-26T00:58:40Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Dreyer’s out here has a line of ice cream they call Ice Dreams – unusual flavors and very rich. About three years ago I bought a pint of Chilly Chili – vanilla ice cream with hot sauce-covered spanish peanuts and a chocolate mole ribbon. The choccolate was not sweet; it was mildly spicy over the bitter chocolate edge. Absolutely delicious, but apparently it didn’t prove popular enough – I haven’t seen it since. > > DD I saw that here too. It was gone before I had a chance to try it. I didn’t know they had Ice Dreams back east. I assumed it was only for girly-men here in California. ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-hot-sauce-and-what-do-you-put-it-on/265910/30 "2004-09-26T04:25:02Z")
Well, Sriracha was mentioned right off, but no one mentioned my favorite Mexican hot sauce, **Pico Pica**. It’s found on all authentic mexican roach coaches and taco trucks, alongside the Cholula. But I find Cholula too vinegary. Pico Pica is less vinegary and more peppery, and also is very heavy on the cumin. Which makes it very good on eggs, and in breakfast burritos, and on beef. ---
**Author:** ![Etherman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@Etherman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Etherman)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-hot-sauce-and-what-do-you-put-it-on/265910/31 "2004-09-26T06:52:22Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I gotta recommend Jalapeno Pepper Jelly on Fudge Ripple Ice Cream. **Qadgop** , are you listening? 😃 There is a flavor compound in chocolate that is greatly enhanced by capsaicin, but I forget the chemistry at the moment. That is why moles are so good, too. Try a (smallish) shake of cayenne in your next mug of hot chocolate, it makes the chocolate more “chocolatey.” Seriously, it’s like salt is for everything savory, it’s amazing. Excellent treat on a cold blizzardy night(couse I like it with a bit of bourbon too, but YMMV). ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-hot-sauce-and-what-do-you-put-it-on/265910/32 "2004-09-26T06:55:07Z")
Where exactly is Tapatio sold? I never saw it living in Maryland, saw it everywhere (well, everywhere except those restaurants which served Cholula instead) in San Diego (although a hot sauce aficionado I knew who grew up in Long Beach had never heard of it), and I have heard of it being served and sold here in Arizona but have not seen it here. It’s a nice sauce, although here’s the weird thing: the kind in the huge bottles at roach coaches seemed too hot, and the kind in the little bottles sold in stores seemed not hot enough. Was this a capsaicin placebo effect? ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-hot-sauce-and-what-do-you-put-it-on/265910/33 "2004-09-26T06:56:49Z")
> [@Etherman](#): > > There is a flavor compound in chocolate that is greatly enhanced by capsaicin, but I forget the chemistry at the moment. That is why moles are so good, too. > > Try a (smallish) shake of cayenne in your next mug of hot chocolate, it makes the chocolate more “chocolatey.” Seriously, it’s like salt is for everything savory, it’s amazing. > > Excellent treat on a cold blizzardy night(couse I like it with a bit of bourbon too, but YMMV). I did not know that. How interesting. I’ll have to give it a try. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-hot-sauce-and-what-do-you-put-it-on/265910/34 "2004-09-26T08:39:10Z")
> [@Etherman](#): > > Try a (smallish) shake of cayenne in your next mug of hot chocolate, it makes the chocolate more “chocolatey.” Seriously, it’s like salt is for everything savory, it’s amazing. When Mudd makes hot chocolate, it goes down like this: 1/8 cup of Sacred Ghee 1 Tablespoon of Cocoa 2 Tablespoons of sugar 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract 1 cup milk 1 chili pepper Melt ghee over low heat Stir in cocoa, sugar, cinnamon,vanilla, and pepper. Increase heat, and add milk bit by bit, waiting until it it begins to steam beforre adding more. Remove chili pepper and serve. Come quietly. ---
**Author:** ![YWalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/6f9a4e/32.png) [@YWalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YWalker)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-hot-sauce-and-what-do-you-put-it-on/265910/35 "2004-09-27T00:08:57Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I gotta recommend Jalapeno Pepper Jelly on Fudge Ripple Ice Cream. **Qadgop** , are you listening? 😃 A local company has developed a line of dessert hot sauces to put on ice cream, in cheesecakes, etc. It’s called [Toad Sweat](http://www.calantilles.com/Products/prod48.html) and comes in Cranberry, Key Lime, Chocolate Orange and Vanilla Lemon (all with habanero) flavors. And while looking for it, I found another interesting site: [Firebreath.com](http://www.firebreath.com/app/site/site.nl/c.ACCT89406/sc.2/category.6/it.A/id.584/.f). Ya gotta love a place that will sell you “Old Fart Beans of Fire Baked Bean Mix.” ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-hot-sauce-and-what-do-you-put-it-on/265910/36 "2004-09-27T15:30:06Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > I am basically _addicted_ to [Yucateco Green](http://www.mohotta.com/ShowView/category/s&) (scroll a click or two down to see it). Hell yeah. I love that stuff. I mainly just put it on tacos, but I should branch out more. Unfortunately, my experiment in making El Yucateco pancakes didn’t work out that well. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-hot-sauce-and-what-do-you-put-it-on/265910/37 "2004-09-27T15:50:14Z")
Yeo s Sweet Chillie Sauce, available in most Asian groceries. They also make a hot but I prefer the sweet. (Chefguy, Sambal Olek definitely my number two, together with Kechap Manis it is a thing of beauty!) It is so wonderful on almost anything. Especially things with eggs or cheese, of course I put it on my noodles or fried rice. But the best, the very best, is to pan fry a thick piece of ham over med high heat, until toasted and hot through, then add the chillie sauce and cook just long enough to carmelize the sauce on the ham. Heaven, absolute heaven, on a fresh roll with a piece of lettuce. I gotta go, I am getting too hungry. ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-hot-sauce-and-what-do-you-put-it-on/265910/38 "2004-09-27T15:51:13Z")
> [@Casey1505](#): > > Regular run of the mill Tabasco. I’ll use it just about everything. Beats using salt for flavoring. Another vote for tabasco. I don’t use it on bread-y products (ie, pancakes). Other than that, it’s mmm mmm good. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-hot-sauce-and-what-do-you-put-it-on/265910/39 "2004-09-27T16:33:56Z")
I try to keep a rotation going. Right now on my desk is **Cholula** for sandwiches (just this noon), and certain leftovers, including pizza. At home, I have in the fridge, **Sriracha** for Chinese food, and rice dishes. I also have my virgin bottle of **Chipotle Tabasco** which I’m enjoying (soups, sandwiches). **Franks** which (as someone else said) is great on pizza. Right now I have no regular **Tabasco** but I like it. I prefer sauces without Xanthum gum, and **Tobasco** fills the bill. I also have a habanero based sauce whose name escapes me. I primarily use it for putting into marinades. It’s almost too hot for regular seasoning, but I will use it for such occasionally. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2004, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-hot-sauce-and-what-do-you-put-it-on/265910/40 "2004-09-27T16:56:00Z")
I’m really into many of the above (I’ll throw another vote for regular Tabasco, it’s my “go-to” hot sauce) I’m almost ashamed to bring this one up, it’s not really all that hot, and it will blow any food cred I may ever have on the board, but…I…love…Taco Bell Fire sauce. I don’t know what it is, but I’m all over it. I have hundreds of the packets in my kitchen drawer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-hot-sauce-and-what-do-you-put-it-on/265910.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-hot-sauce-and-what-do-you-put-it-on/265910.md?page=3)