Have you felt that feeling lately? The one where your eyes keep watering, your nose is sniffling, your throat is tingling with the heat, your lips are red hot and dewy, and every fiber in your body seems to be on fire! That sure explains your love for spice. If you love the heat and seek more, you are just at the right place.
What types of sauces are available, which ones to use and in what dish to add that extra spice is fundamental to your cooking. As there has been an increase in the hot sauce industry globally, there are many different types of hot sauces that are readily available and being used widely in households and on a commercial level too.
Sweet-spicy blends are perfect for barbecue sauces; kicked-up pastes add depth to soups and stews, while vinegary styles lend a zip to pretty much everything. But as more and more people are beginning to warm up to hot sauces, how are you supposed to know which kind to use in your cooking?
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How much heat can you handle?
Before digging into drenching your food in hot sauce, you must consider just how much heat you can handle and choose your type of hot sauce wisely. One wrong decision about the type to use can make even a small amount feel fiery and too spicy to handle. The best way to determine which hot sauce has what spice level is to view its ranking on the Scoville scale, which is used to measure the heat of chilli peppers or anything derived from it. Bell peppers range between 0-100 SHU, which means they have no spice at all, and this range can go up to 3.2 million SHU for the world’s hottest pepper, Pepper X.
Hot sauce!
If you are a resident of the US and you hear words like “hot sauce,” you imagine a thin, vinegar-type liquid. Most of the hot sauces we have heard of arose from the same ‘from dull to delightful’ Louisiana-style formula, vinegar+salt+chillies first blended together, then aged.
There are countless variations of hot sauce—be it consistency, species of pepper used (some sauces specify a particular pepper, some use generic red chilies, often cayenne), treatment of the peppers (ground, dried, fresh, roasted, fermented), and the use of other herbs and spices.
Types of hot sauces:
Bland food? Hot sauce. Stuffy nose? Hot sauce. Head cold? Hot sauce. Don’t feel like going to work today? Hot sauce.
One answer for every problem! JUST HOT SAUCE!
The main types available are more easily sorted on the basis of area and region, mainly:
- Africa
- Harissa
- Shatta
- Asia
- Gochujang
- Sriracha
- Sambal
- Europe
- Peri-Peri hot sauce
- Paprika paste
- America (Northern and Southern)
- Louisiana-style
- Scotch-Bonnet pepper
AFRICA
- Harissa
Want a hot sauce that is flavorful as well as resonated with North-African culture? You should get your hands on Harissa. It is prepared from ground dried chillies, Serrano, olive oil and various other herbs and spices like coriander, cumin, garlic and a hint of lemon juice.
- Shatta
You probably have not been born yet if you haven’t tried Shatta. Originating from Egypt, this type of hot sauce has tomatoes and parsley in addition to red chilies and olive oil. Now isn’t that one deadly combination? It is frequently served with Egypt’s national dish Koshari, a street food made with lentils, macaroni, and rice. Use it like you would any other type of hot sauce, or stir it into soups and sauces for some added heat and flavor.
ASIA
- Gochujang
As weird as the name might seem, this type of hot sauce is a much-loved condiment in Korea and gets all its funk and flavor from fermented soybeans and sticky rice. It can be used with almost everything but mostly its texture makes it a good base for dishes.
- Sriracha
Look out for this type of hot sauce because its flavor is one that you won’t possibly forget! Deriving its name from the town of Si Racha located in Thailand, this hot sauce is made from basic red chillies, sugar, salt, garlic and our favorite good old vinegar! It is a little sweet and hence very popular. You can use Sriracha in marinades or dressings or just dip your finger in it and coat your lips for that extra tinge!
- Sambal
Having chile-based condiments makes its name ‘sambal,’ and it is becoming quite popular throughout Asia. It’s wetter than a paste but still has less moisture than many other types of hot sauces, making it great for adding flavor to sauces and dressings without diluting them.
EUROPE
- Peri-peri hot sauce
Packed with the heat falling somewhere between a habanero pepper and a cayenne, this hot sauce is definitely very popular and extremely hot! After all, Nandos got all the more popular because of our star: Peri-peri hot sauce! It is also at the centre of one of Portugal’s iconic dishes, Piri Piri chicken.
- Paprika paste
Hungarians love their paprika, and so do we! It is surprisingly only made from paprika, which is a member of the chile condiment family, mixed with salt and some acidic element. You just can’t get enough of the spice if you use it every now and then.
AMERICA
- Louisiana-style hot sauce
The funky taste these types of hot sauces have is because of the vinegar and salt, and also because of being fermented over and over. The acidity is perfect for cutting fatty foods like mac and cheese and lobster rolls, and they are some of the easiest hot sauces to find in stores.
- Scotch bonnet pepper hot sauce
This type of hot sauce is the star of the show in the Caribbean islands. Scotch bonnet is used very vastly in Jamaica and clocks in on the hotter side with around 100,000 to 350,000 SHU. If you ever go to Jamaica, you would surely notice how this is a kitchen essential with almost everything at the dinner table. Their pepper sauces are simple, hot, zippy with vinegar and made with fresh peppers and a staple!
Final Words
In a nutshell, the types of hot sauces that you choose to use in your dishes or even the ones you prefer with your wings is a crucial decision to make. Be wise, saucy and spicy when deciding which hot sauce to go with. As a treat, you may want to visit our shop at www.dingolayhotsauce.com and explore the variety of hot sauces we offer including mango hot sauce, pineapple hot sauce, and gourmet original hot sauce. Your day couldn’t have been made better! Right?