Like many of you, I am “shelter-in-place.” This weekend it will be our second weekend doing this. We are stocked up with toilet paper (got our usual year’s worth in early February) and all the basics, but you know, I need flavor. Normally I order small batches from Fuego or browse the hot sauce selection in gourmet markets, but this isn’t really a time for that.
So I ordered a 1-gallon container of Louisiana brand habanero sauce.
Thoughts? I’d give it 8 out of 10. A B+. This is something I would recommend if you are holed up in semi-quarantine. First, it’s a lot of sauce. Greater value. Second, it is spicy a.f. This is real habanero. It packs a big punch. Third, it has the nice tangy flavor of classic Louisiana cayenne hot sauce.
But in that’s actually this sauces the main downside: it’s basically just conventional Louisana hot sauce on steroids. Nothing creative or new. It’s the same flavor profile that you know and love, just amped up.
Definitely a recommended sauce. Just know what you’re getting.
Thats almost 4 litres of sauce.
Are you sure that it won’t expire before you can finish consuming it
I had the same thought as Maree. When I get the big grocery-store size Sriracha (24 oz?), it seems to lose some of its punch once it’s been open for two weeks or so.
My brother gave me a gallon of Tabasco in a glass jug for my 30th birthday. Years and years ago. I got through about half of it before I realized it had lost its appeal for me.
I’m more or less a Chula man now, as is my son.
If I may stray slightly afield from pure hot sauce for a moment, I can highly recommend the Hatch Valley salsa verde from Trader Joe’s. I never had anything that good out of a jar before. I esteem it highly.
Of course, you have to go to Trader Joe’s to get it. Sigh.
Good luck to all of you.
@ first two posters: if you keep hot sauce in the fridge it will be good for several years. Maybe sriracha is different, idk. I’m a Crystal man, that stuff keeps for quite a while.
It’s not great value, but my local Whole Foods has been carrying Alex’s Ugly Sauce recently, and their habanero is quite tasty (but not very spicy). I haven’t tried any of their (supposedly) spicier sauces.
https://www.alexsuglysauce.com/sauces/
BTW, I tried that Yellowbird Serrano condiment that you liked… and while it’s a bit on the mild side, I really like it.
I also like the “Salsa Picante Verde de Chile Habanero” (green) from El Yucateco. It seems to have the right amount of kick for me. I’m far from being an expert though…and I’m definitely NOT a foodie.
I recommend chocolate habanero (roughly double the Scoville units of the range of normal habaneros, from what I can tell) paste from Italy. I got a jar of it from an ancient lady running a chili pepper shop in Scala, Calabria a couple years ago, as well as rope of dried peppers. The paste was 92% chocolate habanero, plus olive oil and salt. Can’t attest to quality of anything sold online, but it’s simple to make, so shouldn’t be hard to find something good. It’s a potent pepper, but also has a lot of flavor. Excellent on a pizza, calzone, pasta, or anything else.
Tabasco has a Cayenne Garlic hot sauce that’s pretty good. To be honest, I used to find good deals on hot sauce at TJ Maxx. Though, the selection could be variable.
When I get the big grocery-store size Sriracha (24 oz?), it seems to lose some of its punch once it’s been open for two weeks or so.
When you write “punch,” do you mean spiciness or acidity or perhaps bitterness? Personally, I like “mellowing” sauces/condiments a bit first, before consuming them. I can taste the flavor better.
‘Currently unavailable’. You bought all of it?
I always have a bottle of Frank’s in my fridge (the big glass bottle, but “jug’ size does sound useful.) It is not an especially spicy sauce and is a fairly common choice but it has a nice garlic/salt profile that goes well with a lot of foods. Even good by the spoonful itself. I find Louisiana Hot Sauce to be somewhere in between Frank’s and Tabasco – a nice alternative with a smidge more kick than Frank’s. I have used Louisiana in a Spanish rice recipe that I serve with fajitas – it has been a while since I have made that – time to put that together again.