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Mom's Mala Sichuan Chili Sauce
Mom's Mala is a vibrantly red and deeply fragrant Sichuan chili oil that is all about bringing out the aromatic side of chili, balancing mouth-tingling (ma) Sichuan peppercorns with spicy (la) chili peppers. This mouth-tingling sauce is a classic condiment much harder to find on supermarket shelves than other Asian hot sauces that feature peanut or garlic. Rounded out with a blend of star anise, cinnamon and cloves—the core spices of Chinese five-spice powder—and a touch of sugar and oil, this Sichuan chili oil has floral and lightly smoky notes and is available in both mild and spicy versions.
Pure Indian Foods Alphonso Mango Puree
Rarely have we seen a mango puree in supermarkets and, if we do, it’s often full of sweeteners and additives. Made from Alphonso mangoes, which are renowned in India for their natural sweetness and buttery-smooth texture, this puree contains no added sugar or preservatives—it’s just pure, juicy mango. About five fresh mangos are packed into every jar of this luscious puree and its silky texture is pourable, yet decadent like yogurt, and has a rich, bright flavor that balances sweet and tart, akin to snacking on refreshing mangoes at their peak season.
Mutti Triple-Concentrated Tomato Paste
Mutti Tomato Paste is tomato paste as it was originally intended. Traditionally, this ingredient was made by drying tomato sauce on wooden boards in the sun; likewise, Mutti's modern version has a sun-dried flavor and caramelized richness reminiscent of molasses. Yet the tomato paste is not overly sweet—as tomatoes cook, their amino acids break down, which produces savory umami compounds. And unlike most tubed tomato pastes which are double-concentrated, this version is triple-concentrated, so a little goes a long way. We far prefer it to other tomato pastes in tubes, not to mention canned varieties that inevitably have a metallic taste from reacting with acidic tomato juice.
Blank Slate Kitchen Sichuan Chili Oil
Fragrant Sichuan chili oil is as common in Chinese restaurants as ketchup is in American diners. Blank Slate's Kitchen small-batch rendition pairs the heat of chili with zesty ginger and aromatic shallots and garlic for an especially bright flavor.
Hanamaruki Foods Liquid Shio Koji
A traditional condiment made from fermented malted rice, shio koji is known in Japan for packing a punch of umami into everything from marinated meats to savory soups. All shio kojis aren’t created equal, though, for Hanamaruki Foods distills the powerful flavor properties of this essential Japanese ingredient into an easy-to-use liquid form—the only Liquid Shio Koji available on the market—to create the ultimate pantry secret weapon. We love the condiment’s clean, yet bold flavor: salty rounded out with a pronounced sweetness and burst of umami. It’s made by pressing shio koji in its original paste form and filtering until it yields the clear, golden-hued liquid. The product isn’t heat-treated, so its enzymes remain active and effective in rendering meat remarkably moist and juicy, balancing bitterness in veggies like eggplant and adding amino acids for a full-flavored finish to any dish to truly change the way you cook. Use as a marinade for meats and fish, drizzle into salad dressings and sauces to balance savory flavors, or incorporate into baked goods to add a layer of tantalizing complexity.
Milk Street Garlic Confit
Coaxing out the rounded, complex flavor of garlic is an essential part of the cooking process, but what if you don’t have time? Pre-prepped grocery store jarred garlics are typically raw—so they won’t speed up the process much—and often taste bitter and harsh, or lack flavor altogether. We searched for a garlic that was pre-prepped (to avoid painstaking slicing and grating), shelf-stable and already cooked and flavored so it could be used straight from the jar. We didn’t see any products on the market that fit the bill. That’s why we developed our own. Enter: Milk Street Premium Essentials Garlic Confit, which features more than a whole head of garlic in every jar. To make it, we simmered delicate slivers of garlic with herbs and spices in a creamy blend of extra-virgin olive oil and buttery Indian ghee. First, you taste the rich, rounded garlic—slow-cooked and tender. Then, the bright tinge of lemon followed by the aromatics steeped in the confit’s silky oil: warming, earthy bay leaf and fruity Aleppo pepper with a hint of heat. This complex mélange of flavors is bold enough to stand alone, but it also easily blends into all kinds of savory dishes and cuisines.
Yugeta Organic Yuuki Shoyu Soy Sauce
This Japanese soy sauce has a light-tasting without being too thin or watery, with a rounded, mouth-filling umami flavor and clear, bright salinity that quickly yields to a light, wheaty nuttiness. Its clarity of flavor and clean finish are perfect for delicate foods like chicken and fish, as the shoyu won't overwhelm but rather enhance other flavors in a dish.
Crazy Korean Cooking Chung Jung One Gochujang
Gochujang is a Korean hot pepper paste that has a savoriness similar to Japanese miso and is fermented with glutinous rice, which gives it a slightly sticky texture and subtle sweetness. It’s a real powerhouse ingredient that we’ve come to rely on and consider an essential element of the Milk Street pantry. Chung Jung One's version has an approachable, mild heat level for adding to everything from tofu stew to barbecue meats.
Mutti Tomato Ketchup
Most ketchup is watered-down and overly sweet from corn syrup. Not so with Mutti's product, which has a full tomato taste because it's made from concentrated tomato paste instead of puree. The ketchup also has a wonderful balance of flavors: robust and savory with a touch of spice. We like that Mutti makes this condiment with wine vinegar, which adds dimension and offsets tomatoes' ripe sweetness.
Hotaru Foods Yuzu Mayonnaise
While most mayonnaise is made with vinegar, Hotaru Foods uses 100% yuzu juice as its acid of choice, which adds a bright, citrusy kick and subtle sweetness reminiscent of Kewpie mayonnaise, a Japanese favorite. We especially like to pair it with seafood, which doesn't need its usual squeeze of lemon thanks to the tart yuzu flavor.
Che Fico Calabrian Chili Bomba
The iconic condiment of San Francisco’s Che Fico restaurant, this Calabrian chili paste is incredible, with a pleasant texture and layered flavor that sets it apart from others we’ve tasted. Where most chili condiments have a one-note chili flavor, Che Fico’s features the fruity Calabrian chili at the forefront but also adds nuance with the additions of bright Fresno chilies, savory roasted garlic and a tangy vinegar that lingers on the palate. The juicy pulpiness of the peppers and the slick of oil is both pleasantly textural and somehow creamy and silky. The opening pop of slightly vinegary calabrian chili flavor is perfectly seasoned, but the following fade into garlic is what makes this feel appropriate for any and everything.
Soom Chocolate Sweet Tahini Halva Spread
You can think of this chocolate tahini spread as the bittersweet, dark-chocolate sister of Nutella. Similar to how adding espresso powder to brownies brings out the chocolate flavor, the nutty and pleasantly bitter notes of toasted sesame are a wonderful counterpoint to the chocolate in this spreadable halva. Soom's tahini is made from single-origin white sesame seeds from northwestern Ethiopia that have an ideal oil-to-protein ratio and result in a creamy, pourable texture.
Colonel Pabst All-Malt Amber Lager Worcestershire Sauce
This sauce’s profile is unlike any other we’ve tried. While Worcestershire can typically have a reputation as being tart and tangy, we love how this one leads with sweet and malty notes. It’s brewed in small batches before it’s carefully strained and bottled. And it begins with award-winning Milwaukee amber lager from Lakefront Brewery—mellow, yet rich. Made from a family recipe, it has far more noticeable layers than the typical grocery store variety, but still offers that special flavor boosting quality Worcestershire is known for. Indian tamarind, molasses and Demerara sugar offer a unique sweetness, while madras curry, peppercorn and cinnamon yield a balanced warmth. We especially love the use of tomato paste here, which is relatively uncommon, and the classic umami base that comes from classic anchovy paste and soy.
