The Art of Hot Sauce Appreciation: A Journey Through Flavors and Ingredients

Oh yeah, that used to be my go-to hot sauce when I was in high school, it's still one of my favorites today. I mean, it's pretty much the only condiment I use, especially when I'm making something bland like a sandwich or a salad. It really lets it shine and you can appreciate it for what it is.

I recently discovered a new hot sauce that has taken my hot sauce game to the next level - it's called habanero hot sauce. This version is deeply vegetable-forward, with carrots and onions adding to the sweetness of the habanero chilies. There's also orange juice and lime juice in here, which adds brightness and acidity to the mix. I love this on tacos and burritos, but also on tofu - it's like a game-changer for vegetarians.

But what really sets this hot sauce apart is its versatility. It's not just for adding heat to your food, it's also great as a finishing touch or even as an ingredient in sauces and marinades. I've been using it to make a spicy honey butter that's perfect for topping buttermilk biscuits - the sweetness of the honey pairs perfectly with the heat of the hot sauce.

One of my favorite ways to use this hot sauce is by mixing it with other ingredients to create unique flavor profiles. For example, when I'm feeling adventurous, I'll mix it with some mayonnaise and sriracha for a spicy mayo that's perfect for topping burgers or grilled meats. I also love using it as an ingredient in salads, adding a kick of heat to creamy dressings like ranch or blue cheese.

But what's really interesting about this hot sauce is its texture and color. It has a thick, saucy consistency that coats your palate, and the flavor is incredibly complex - there's a subtle sweetness and a deep, rich heat that's both soothing and stimulating at the same time. I've even started to appreciate it as a standalone condiment, without needing any other ingredients.

Speaking of unique condiments, have you ever tried Mario Paste? It's an amazing Peruvian pepper sauce that has taken my hot sauce appreciation to a whole new level. The texture is incredible - smooth and creamy at the same time, with just the right amount of grit to keep it interesting. And the flavor is so rich and complex, with notes of sweetness and fruitiness that are balanced perfectly by its slow-building heat.

I was lucky enough to try some fresh Mario Paste, which made all the difference in my experience. The texture is absolutely divine - like a warm hug for your tongue. And the flavor is like nothing I've ever tasted before - it's like someone took a bunch of different spices and roasted them until they were caramelized and sweet. It's like a party on your palate!

But what really gets me excited about Mario Paste is its versatility. Like with any great hot sauce, you can use it in so many different ways to elevate your cooking. I've been using it to make ceviche for my local sea bass - the acidity of the lime juice cuts through the richness of the fish perfectly, and the heat from the pasta adds just the right amount of kick.

Another favorite way I like to use Mario Paste is as a finishing touch for sauces and marinades. I'll mix it with some olive oil and lemon juice to create a spicy aioli that's perfect for topping grilled meats or veggies. And when I'm feeling really adventurous, I'll mix it with some yogurt and dill to create a spicy dip that's just amazing.

In conclusion, my friends, if you're looking to take your hot sauce game to the next level, look no further than Mario Paste and habanero hot sauce. They're two condiments that have completely transformed my cooking experience, adding depth and complexity to even the most mundane dishes. And with their versatility, they can be used in so many different ways - from spicy sauces and marinades to creamy dips and spreads.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enum look at the back of my throat today we're in the test kitchen sharing few of our favorite spicy ingredients heat is really like a hidden element it hooks me in for more even as the tears begin to fall it's an evergreen way to brighten up your food and it doesn't have to come in the same form every time finding something that is right for you just means trying a lot of different things yeah um i chose this spicy ingredient because i it's spicy yeah it also has a lot of flavor but it's still very simple that's a good one i picked calabrian chili paste because i feel like it's salty acidic and still very spicy calabrian chilies are these little almost like grape sized chilis that are quite like rounded they look like cherry tomatoes they're pretty spicy they get dried out and mixed with olive oil this one has um white wine vinegar sea salt and sometimes there's garlic in it too i think as you said it's not just straight spice it has a little bit of acidity in it so it really plays well with a lot of food yeah you know of course the first instinct is to use it with italian food you can see the texture of it is like pretty thick um but spreadable still so that's what we're working with it's such a gorgeous fire color right the color is amazing it makes pretty look like it's really spicy it's not not spicy no but i think it's like tolerable spicy yeah oh it's so good it almost um look at the back of my throat it's giving me pepperoni vibes pepperoni yeah like because i think it has that tang it has that spicy thing so it's kind of reminding me of like pepperoni pizza so basically one of my favorite ways to use it is just to like simply make a calabrian chili mayo um it's good for dipping fries or my favorite idea when tomatoes are in season tomato toast okay so just taste them and then this is like just fried french sourdough ready yeah okay so good it's really like waking that tomato up if you use a condiment like that it's bringing wake up yeah tomato yeah it brings flavor and heat if you like hot sauce and you like salty spicy a little bit acidic i think you're really gonna like this too um it hits all of those notes and it's super versatile are you ready i'm so ready okay okay okay so this is a very kind of easily available condiment okay and i was introduced to it after i moved to america okay great i'm obsessed with it yes oh the green classic the green one this is the el yucateco it's a mexican hot sauce and it uses habanero it's pretty spicy when you eat this you're going to feel it yes and it goes well with so many things totally it's mostly habanero and water yeah and there's like quite a few preservatives in this but it you don't taste them and i think that's the mark of like a good shelf-stable hot sauce that is easily available in many places do you want to try it yes see right at the front right at the front of your mouth but it's the perfect balance it's like salty and spicy it's a little bit of acid and it has a really good mouth feel a great like finishing sauce yeah if you want to add some spice and yeah like flavor totally yum like these are plain tacos so this is the flour tortilla with just some chicken and onions and cilantro when you add the sauce to it they just get better yeah it doesn't mean that the original thing is not good it just means you're enhancing the flavor slightly absolutely yeah you don't need to go too crazy on the fillings of your taco if you're gonna have something this punchy and flavorful to go over the top it's hanging around it stays but it's all at the front of my mouth for me same i love it i'm a huge fan and it's like a staple it's got to be there i would say if you're looking for a hot sauce that you basically want to enjoy with generally like mexican food or like that kind of food this would be your go-to the heck is that oven mitt was like a scratch and snip this is something that i find absolutely indispensable to cook with okay all right all right blew the doors wide open classics classic spicy chili crisp lao ganma made in china you can find this in so many different marketplaces infused chili oils you know of all sorts like they show up in so many different cuisines and what i like about it is it's so much about the texture look at all of that there's so much solids in this from the pieces of fermented soybeans that have been sort of dried out and turned crispy bits of chili bits of garlic it's pretty incredible stuff there's also so i really i love that this one has msg in it it's just like it adds like a wonderful savory thing it's not overly hot there's a ton of flavor there's a mommy in there it's inviting the next bite that is the one of the beautiful things about it that's what we got here bud this is just grilled broccoli ramen that's something i often do um i will like basically turn like something like a chili oil chili crisp into effectively like a vinaigrette it's like i'll do like a little bit garlic rice vinegar just a super neutral i'll effectively use the chili oil in the chili crisp as like you know part of the vinaigrette as the oil fat like could not be simpler it's it's just a way of like balancing flavors out i would put this like on pretty much any vegetable i put this in my breakfast tacos i put this on my burgers i poked it on my hot dogs i put it on a fish often it's a great way to not just add heat but to add flavor and to just really deepen the dimensions of something okay i'm actually really excited to show you this one because it's a little bit new to me turkish red pepper paste it's also called biber sal chassis and i live in queens and we have a lot of like turkish stores around the neighborhood and saw this and i was like what is it and it's amazing i just can't believe i never knew about it before but i love it and now it's something that i use all the time it's made from these red peppers which are local to turkey it's ground up and then cooked and then it cooked a little bit and then it gets sun dried for a few days maybe like a week 10 days and then it slowly concentrates that's really how it's made it just has peppers and salt and that's that's a good way to know that you're getting a good one is it should just have those two ingredients the flavor of the pepper is like quite unique it's like sweet and smoky it's around the same intensity as like a canned chipotle in adobo sauce yeah it's at that range so you know spicy but not just within our range we can handle it and it does have a very tomato pasty yeah vibe it has that sourness but not like a vegan garden it's like it's like a mild acidity yes it's a very smoky fruity kind of heat i like to use it in pasta um i love to use it in sandwiches i like to mix it in with meat um you know when i make like meatballs and stuff i always add in a scoop i'm like thinking this would be so good with lamb like i kind of want to like spread it over a rack of lamb and like sear it off i feel like that would like give it like the red pepper paste crust i'm showcasing it in like a grilled cheese sandwich wrong with the grill oh my god oh wow i can't wait oh god just spread it on you know one side of the sandwich and then just proceed to build it how you would your normal green grilled cheese sandwich in fact that is how you should taste the new ingredient incorporate into something that you already are familiar with so it doesn't seem so alien and yeah yeah still getting the like sweet smokiness and it's playing really well with like the salty cheese yeah if you're using like a really fatty or rich ingredient i think using some kind of spicy um yeah element really represents balances and really offsets that fatty acid more interesting too oh yeah yeah that used in an application like this where it's pretty much the only condiment and something that's otherwise bland really lets it shine and you can appreciate it for what it is okay so this is my spicy ingredient within the mint of fire it is my like back pocket i just need something then no truly no matter what the dish is it's also like my it's my midnight snack spicy thing it's my like first thing in the morning spicy thing it is habanero hot sauce stop i haven't tried this it's so good so this version is like deeply vegetable forward yeah it has carrots and onions in addition to the habanero adding to the sweetness of the habanero chilies and there's orange like a tangerine juice and lime juice in here so you have like the brightness and the acid and a little bit of sweetness from that citrus as well yes i love it on tacos and burritos i love it truly on tofu i love it on everything okay we'll do we'll do shots or we'll do we'll do bumps yeah wait great idea any bar if you're watching i love it because you can taste the fruity sweetness and the heat is powerful i think like after tasting it i feel like this is like you said it's a great hot sauce for everything it's i'm doing good but like i i like feel the heat it stayed which is great it's like tingling on your tongue okay so the way we're going to implement this hot sauce is in a hot honey butter that's going to go on a buttermilk biscuit like spicy butter is such a delicious condiment i smell that like put it on corn put it on any roasted vegetable like if you roast sweet potatoes and then pull them out and toss them with a little bit of the hot honey butter yum and then you gotta do your flaky salt pinch of course wait that's so good there's just a little bit of heat it complements the butter and the honey so well there's a hint of spice you get that vinegar that's the thing you don't have to eat the hot sauce directly yeah you know as a chopper you can mix it with something to like take the edge off big fan great choice thank you you're probably familiar with it let's just let's just let's just rip the band-aid off oh again mario paste yeah bud if you're not familiar i believe it's a peruvian pepper talk about complex right it's like i mean the texture and the color are incredible yeah but then also i mean it's a very palatable heat it's not overwhelming it's sweet it's got let's just open it up huh is it fresh pepper so i think they're blanching them cooking or steaming them stripping the seeds puree in it it smells like a roast it's wonderful oh it's thick right i mean it's got texture oh it's it's saucy i mean it's not like oh it packs it's warm it's just like it's swaddling your palate and this like water it's swaddling for me it's more like you taste it there's texture to it there's some grit there's some sweet there's some like mystery kind of what am i eating and then it's almost like a baby food texture and then you get a nice kind of very welcoming kind of burn i don't i don't find it to be overpowering the flavor you bring that home it's like it's hard to express it's like it's cooked pepper in the way that like roasted red pepper is cooked pepper but it's like concentrated and it's so bright and it's like very floral it's just it's a powerhouse you know and and it's very versatile but we made a little black sea bass it's in season it's local and there's a lot of them so it's a good fish to eat and um and it's delicious and it makes a fantastic ceviche so we got a little little citrus juice some lime some lemon sometimes i can put a little squeeze of orange i'm gonna add a little bit more it's like it's the sun gold tomato of the chili world damn that sounds good that's somebody's done the work for you all you have to do is show up you know what are you complaining about i tell you what it does magic with the citrus yeah complement each other amazing brings out floral floral big time boom boom boom great stocking stuffer or holiday gift birthdays chris whatever it is bar mitzvah you don't need an occasion to buy someone get out just get when you take like just like food right food okay you apply you apply salt all of a sudden you broaden the flavors that you can experience fat acid heat whoa all of a sudden you extend the kind of continuum of flavors that are possible\n"