Villa Jerada Harissa
Villa Jerada’s Harissa No. 1 is our favorite version of this North African red pepper paste for its bright, complex flavor. While many store-bought varieties have a one-dimensional spicy flavor, this harissa layers acidity and fruitiness with preserved lemons, a touch of vinegar and tomato paste for a lively, tangy condiment. Villa Jerada uses just enough high-quality Moroccan olive oil to make the harissa spreadable and smooth without diluting its flavor, as opposed to conventional brands that contain a high proportion of water and vegetable oil.
Fly By Jing Sichuan Chili Crisp
This chili sauce is enhanced with preserved black beans, mushroom powder, sesame oil and garlic for a complete flavor profile. The crispy bits of chili, the namesake ingredient of this dish, provide bursts of contrasting texture, making it an ideal tableside topping for stir fries, soups, braises and more.
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.
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.
Auria’s Malaysian Kitchen Hot Chili Sambal
This small-batch chili paste from Auria's Malaysian Kitchen has a wonderful chili-forward flavor, with a balance between the brightness of fresh peppers and the earthiness of dried chilies that makes it adaptable to all manner of recipes. The spice is rounded out with pungent garlic and a touch of sugar and vinegar, and the producer also uses shrimp paste in its recipe, which contributes umami flavor without any fishiness. As an ingredient for cooking, you can get more mileage out of sambal than hot sauce thanks to its thicker consistency, while its complexity makes it a great powerhouse ingredient for weeknight stir-fries. Try substituting sambal for the red chili flakes in our Thai Stir-Fried Spinach.
Auria's Malaysian Kitchen Lime Leaf Sambal
Based on a family recipe, Lime Leaf Sambal by Auria's Malaysian Kitchen is a one-of-a-kind tangy and savory chili paste made with makrut lime leaves and lime juice. The clarifying aroma and complex floral notes of makrut lime complement the chili peppers' fresh, vibrant quality without making the hot sauce taste overwhelmingly citrusy. The sambal is rounded out with pungent garlic, cane sugar and kosher salt for a savory, balanced condiment that has both the brightness of fresh chilies and the depth of cooked chilies.
K-Mama Korean Hot Sauce
K-Mama is a rich, mildly spicy and savory-sweet sauce that will add instant Korean flavor to almost any dish. Featuring a base of the Korean red pepper paste gochujang, K-Mama's Original Sauce has a mild, lingering chili heat balanced by brown sugar, umami-rich soy sauce and the fermented soybean paste used to make gochujang. Aromatic sesame oil gives the sauce a silky richness. The company also makes a Gluten-Free Sauce that's slightly tangier, brighter and lighter-bodied, but with all of the same complexity.
Minnesota resident and Korean American K.C. Kye developed K-Mama Sauce out of nostalgia for his mother's homemade Korean cooking. The award-winning condiment is ideal for making bibimbap, a classic Korean rice dish, as well as marinating meat, drizzling over rice or noodle dishes or using as a flavor base for stir-fry.
Casa Firelli Italian Hot Sauce
The Italians heard how Americans love to top their pizza with a dab of hot sauce, so they developed this one in Parma with Italian ingredients so we could do it right. The nose is vinegary and vegetal. And on the palate, it’s incredibly complex. It has a moderate heat level from fruity roasted Calabrian chilies balanced with sweet, bright balsamic for acidity and porcini mushrooms for umami depth. Plus, the bottle has a smaller opening, so you can shake out just as much as you’d like and not a drop more.
Bee Local Hot Honey
This acid-sharp, bright-hot Bee Local Hot Honey is great drizzled over everything from rich cheese and grilled meats to roasted vegetables, fried chicken or even Greek yogurt. Its acidity helps balance the intense sweetness of the Oregon honey. The heat is provided by Scorpion pepper, which has a sharp, floral, fruity quality that pairs nicely with the honey. A little goes a long way.
Bobbie’s Boat Sauce Classic
A rich red color and ketchup-y texture, this sauce is spicy, peppery and perfectly briny—we put it on anything and everything. Its flavor is tomato forward, with a wonderful savory base of fish sauce and alliums like onions and garlic and subtle sweetness from maple syrup. Bright ginger, lime and white vinegar keep it balanced and the vegetal heal of jalapeño pepper. It’s like nothing we’ve tasted. It can take the place of a ketchup, hot sauce and barbecue sauce to be your go-to sandwich condiment.
Chita Organic Thai Sriracha Chili Sauce
Many mis-attribute sriracha to Vietnamese cuisine, thanks to the presence of sriracha bottles on the tables of most pho restaurants, but in reality, the condiment hails from Thailand. What we associate with sriracha sauce (the beloved green-capped bottle in almost every home and most diners) isn’t actually the same style as what you would find in Thailand. The Thai style is less acidic and slightly sweeter, with a thinner texture and mellower heat, and this one showcases those qualities perfectly. It’s sweeter and milder than the typical rooster-adorned bottle of sriracha you’re likely used to seeing, with much less of a vinegary tang. It has a distinct savory complexity thanks to the fermentation process and the addition of tropical-sweet pineapple vinegar—which they craft themselves—to boost the fruitiness of the chilies. A twist on the traditional.
Auria's Malaysian Kitchen Sambal Set
This set of two Malaysian sambals pack a punch of bold flavor pleasant heat. Hot Chili Sambal has a chili-forward flavor and fire that's balanced between the brightness of fresh peppers and earthiness of dried chilies. In addition to garlic, sugar and vinegar, this small-batch sauce also includes shrimp paste, which contributes umami without a fishy flavor. The sambal has a thick, spreadable consistency and incorporates easily into dips, spreads and sauces. Based on a family recipe, Lime Leaf Sambal is a one-of-a-kind tangy and savory chili paste made with makrut lime leaves and lime juice. The clarifying aroma and complex floral notes of the lime complement the chili peppers' fresh, vibrant quality without making the hot sauce taste overwhelmingly citrusy. The sambal is rounded out with pungent garlic, cane sugar and kosher salt for a savory, balanced condiment that has both the brightness of fresh chilies and the depth of cooked chilies.
Bachan's Hot & Spicy BBQ Sauce
Unlike grocery-store teriyaki sauces that include artificial preservatives or sweeteners, Bachan's uses only fresh, natural ingredients in its Original Japanese Barbecue Sauce. Authentic Japanese shoyu—soy sauce made with wheat—provides an umami flavor base, while cane sugar and mirin add the signature complementary sweetness. Bachan's also layers green onion, ginger and garlic, which add aromatic complexity and ground the sauce in earthy, savory notes. In a nod to Western barbecue sauce, the secret recipe also includes tomato paste, which adds a nuanced, natural fruitiness and thickens the sauce. And the addition of red jalapeños packs a mouth-watering heat.
Iasa Hot Pepper in Olive Oil
We’re big fans of the defining kick a little chili heat can add to sauces, sandwiches, dressings. These Calabrian peppers pack a punch, but pull short of being incendiary, making them more all purpose than most preserved chilies. A little dab will do you.
Bobbie’s Boat Sauce Hot
A rich red color and ketchup-y texture, this sauce is spicy, peppery and perfectly briny—we put it on anything and everything. Its flavor is tomato forward, with a wonderful savory base of fish sauce and alliums like onions and garlic and subtle sweetness from maple syrup. Bright ginger, lime and white vinegar keep it balanced and the vegetal heal of jalapeño pepper. And this hot version of the stuff has a higher concentration of jalapeño, with a heat the blooms on the tongue. It’s like nothing we’ve tasted. It can take the place of a ketchup, hot sauce and barbecue sauce to be your go-to sandwich condiment.
