Thursday, September 17, 2009

The Spicy Stuff

We natives of Louisiana have a reputation for a disposition to spicy food, and bottles of Tabasco on restaurant tables are as customary as salt and pepper shakers. I like to spice up my food just as much as the coonass sitting next to me, but lately I have been tantalizing my taste buds with a wider range of hot sauces. In fact, I would say that on average I probably use more sriracha than traditional Louisiana hot sauces. I like it with sushi, pizza, and even (gasp) red beans and rice.

But I have not forsaken our homegrown sauces all together. I still douse my fried shrimp po-boys with plenty of Crystal and hit a few drops of Pepperdoux (a gift from a friend) on a pork tenderloin. But I am just as likely to use sambal in my pho or piri piri (a recent discovery in Portugal) on my roasted chicken.

Variety really is the spice of life. So what's your favorite hot sauce?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I worked in a poultry factory for several years, and became quite familiar with the cut named the "drummette"... I deep fry these until almost crispy, drain and place onto a paper towel laden pan and slide into a 200F oven to complete the crispness... Then throw into one of several tupperware containers filled with my favorite sauces... One being a bottle of Crystal that has a pat of butter melted into it... close the lid, shake three times, find some bleu cheese and enjoy!

Other than that, I like to make my own sauce from peppers in my garden... I grow a variety named NAGA Jolokia... If you've never heard of it, ask someone that has... I put ~ 3 of these peppers into a blender with either fresh or canned tomatoes... Emulsify, seeds and all (remove stem prior, of course) If you don't emulsify completely, someone could get hurt... add this blend to the stove, with some fresh tomato bits, some slices of banana peppers and bell peppers (color only) throw in some vinegar and honey, and finish with jalapenos or whatever suits you... thank me later...

-cookinandsmilin

DocCalvo said...

Crystal is my favorite, it allows the flavors of the chile peppers and vinegar to come thru w/out killin menw/ heat. If I want sweet heat, sriracha is my go to hot sauce.

Good Eater said...

Louisiana Hot Sauce is the best.

blathering said...

Had to throw the siracha out when the sugar ants discovered it. I always used Crystal growing up, but since I live next door to a McIlhenny granddaughter, I figured I should add tabasco to the mix.

Azn Glow said...

I'm so old-school..I can't have anything but Tabasco.

Superdeformed said...

Louisiana Hot Sauce is my fave. Raw oysters drowned in it and horseradish is like crack to me.

Of the Louisiana stuff it's Louisiana>Crystal>Tobasco.

I use Sriracha for fried rice a lot.

But overall Indian food kicks all of our asses with spice.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous former poultry factory worker, pretty much nailed our ideal hot wing recipe. In fact did that last night, but with big bottle Louisiana hot sauce and 2 sticks of butter for a large batch. One trick is not to let the sauce get much hotter than enough to melt the butter.