Chili Sauce

Chili sauce is sometimes referred as hot sauce, or pepper sauce. It can be prepared with a wide number of hot peppers. The hotness of chili sauces are classified by typical kind of peppers used in its preparation and amount of hotness in a sauce. The amount of hotness is usually determined by a Scoville Scale ( a scale meant for measuring the hotness of chili peppers).

Within America the tastes of these sauces vary from region to region. In Mexico, lighter variants of chili sauces are preferred. They often use smoky chipotle peppers are the basis of sauce. In West Indies, many varieties of hot sauces are consumed and West Indians mostly use Habanero pepper or scotch bonnet for making these sauces. Tropical fruits, lime and cloves are also used for flavoring the sauce. 

In Louisiana, the chili sauces are hotter than that of many other countries. Tabasco peppers or cayenne peppers are generally used as the base. In Asia, chili sauce is usually served as a dipping or is added as an ingredient in many stir-fried dishes. Japanese blend these hot sauces with their soups and noodle based dishes. Vietnamese pepper sauce has gained popularity as a traditional topping sauce for French fries in California.

Chili sauce can serve as an excellent dipping sauce for vegetables and appetizers. It is typically considered as a condiment in many Central American and Southwestern American cuisines.  

Chili Sauce Recipe – Preparation Overview

• Ingredients - Various recipes are followed throughout the world to make the hot chili sauce. In a simple way chili sauce can be prepared by using ingredients like peppers, garlic, salt and vinegar and other flavoring agents like herbs and spices.
• Method of Preparation - The fresh peppers are chopped and cooked with garlic, vinegar, and salt. The mixture is cooked until the chilies soften, but it is sometimes cooked until the mixture reduces to half of its value.

Caution – Extra care should be taken while handling the fresh chilies because they can cause burning sensation in eyes and skin.

Popular Chili Sauce Recipe Variations  From Across the World

• Valentina Chili Sauce – It is a hot sauce variant from Guadalajara, Mexico. This sauce variant is usually commercialized as hot or extra hot and it is usually revered for its hotness and spicy aftertaste which lingers even hours after consumption. 
   

• Buffalo – This is another hot sauce from the Lomas de Chapultepec region of Mexico. It is usually commercialized by the names of chilies used in its preparation. Jalapeno , Chipotle, and Picanta Clasica are the varieties of sauce found in the market. This sauce variant is also liked for its unusual taste than hotness. 

• Tabasco Sauce – This sauce variant by Avery Island in Louisiana, gains its name from the type of chili used in its preparation. Tabasco peppers are used in the preparation of sauce. Salt, and vinegar are combined with the pepper and it is aged in white oak barrels for a long time before serving or using.

• Texas Pate – This is a popular chili sauce from Louisiana. It is sold in three variants like Texas Pete’s Hotter Hot Sauce” “Texas Pete Pepper Sauce” and “Texas Pete’s Garlic Sauce”.

• Crystal Hot Sauce – This sauce is prepared from aged cayenne pepper, Tabasco sauce, salt, and vinegar. The sauce appears reddish orange in color and it has milder flavor and medium heat due to the addition of Tabasco sauce.

• Dave’s Gourmet “Insanity Sauce” – This Costa Rican Chili sauce is considered one of the hottest chili sauces in the world. It is prepared using ingredients like hot peppers, tomato paste, salt, hot pepper extracts, cane vinegar, onions, citric acid, garlic, spices, and xanthan gum.  The hotness of the sauce is estimated to be 95000 Scoville units.

• Trappys Red Devil Cayenne Pepper Sauce – This Colombian sauce is prepared using ingredients like vinegar, salt, red cayenne pepper, guar gum, ascorbic acid, xanthan gum, etc.

• Valentina – This is a variant of hot sauce from Guadalajara and  it is prepared using ingredients like water, chili peppers, salt, vinegar, spices, sodium benzoate.

• Sriracha Sauce – This is an Americanized variation of Traditional Thai Sauce. It is primarily prepared using garlic, ground chilies, salt and vinegar. It is also known as rooster sauce.

• Susies Sauce – This is a popular hot sauce from Antigua. It is prepared in the mustard base.

• Sauce Ti Malice- This is a typical hot sauce from Haiti and it is prepared using ingredients like annatto seeds, onions, coriander seeds, and tomatoes. 

• Blair's Mega Death Sauce – The marketing tag for this sauce reads that it is 500 times hotter than the Jalapeno chili. Its usuage is restricted in many countries due to undesirable side effects caused by chilies. The sauce is generally recommended for usage after diluting. This chili sauce is prepared with ingredients like red habbanero pods, cayenne chilies, ancho chilies, white vinegar, chipotle chilies, guava nectar, molasses, fresh ginger, spices and salt.

• Predator Great White Shark – This is one of the hottest chili sauces because it claims to pack around 175, 000 Scoville Units. It defeated Pepper Extract and Habanero Pepper Sauce to emerge as one of the hottest sauces in the world. The sauce is prepared using papaya, pineapple and banana, wine vinegar, pepper extract, habanero pepper , mustard, tomato, sugar, water and real fruit juices.

• Tropical Sun Peri Peri Sauce- This chili sauce is prepared by blending lemons, chilis and spice and is considered ideal for sandwiches, hot dogs and breaded chicken. It is served as a dipping sauce for chips. Water, chili, vinegar, onion puree, vegetable oil, salt, modified maize starch, cayenne pepper, spices, and garlic are used in its preparation.