One of my co-workers is a lot of fun. She is as adventurous about food as I - or maybe even more than I am.She likes hot sauce, and has a bottle stored in the office fridge. When this became known, other co-workers started bringing her different types of hot sauce to try.
When she gets a new bottle of sauce, she gives me a taste. Recently, she brought me a taste of a sauce she found in a San Fernando Valley Asian market - Ranch 99 . It's more of a sambal or a relish. Bits of red chile - toasted, I think - floats in a red-tinted oil, along with peanuts. If you scoop up a spoonful into your mouth - and this should be taken with caution - you get an oily, crunchy HOT sensation.
The other day we bought banh mi sandwiches from a Vietnamese lunch truck, and this hot sauce was great with them.
The label is in Chinese, and we don't know its name, but the label includes a portrait of its founder - an unsmiling apron-wearing chef with longish black hair. My co-worker calls the sauce "Angry Chinese Lady Hot Sauce."
I was telling her how [The Man I Love] is a collector of hot sauces, and to my surprise, the next morning she brought me a new, sealed jar of Angry Chinese Lady Hot Sauce for him. So last night we enjoyed a dab of it on our roasted chicken dinner. Mmmm! Hot!
I wish I knew what this sauce was really called, but for now, I think we have a pretty good name for it.
Hot sauce rocks; direct line to release of endogenous endorphin high.
ReplyDeleteAre we 100% sure that's a lady? Maybe she's angry about her mannish haircut.
ReplyDeleteAngry Androgynous Chinese Person Hot Sauce doesn't have the same ring...
On the other hand, I've had near buzz-cuts myself (back in The Day) and they didn't make me angry...
ReplyDeleteI like heat, too. But I don't go around advertising the fact. Because the next thing you know, people are challenging you. I don't do crazy hot sauce challenges.
ReplyDeleteI like a little heat, but not so much that I can no longer taste the food. This sounds good with the peanuts in it.
ReplyDeleteSue
There's a Mexican salsa from Vera Cruz called Salsa Macha (sort of traslates to Angry Lady Sauce) that is made from grinding dried red peppers and peanuts. It is drier than the Chinese one but very yummy. I love hot sauce - love it.
ReplyDeleteFabulous name. And not to be confused with the Angry Hot Chinese Lady Sauce.
ReplyDeleteFor those who do like a hot sauce challenge, I ran across something called "Lottie's True Bajan Yellow Hot Sauce" in my travels.
ReplyDeleteMakes a ferocious Bloody Mary, I must say.
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Angry Chinese Lady Hot Sauce! ROTFL
ReplyDeleteShould I send this picture to my Chinese friend and get her translation?
This sauce is called Lao Gan Ma - it's amazing.
ReplyDeleteIn Chinese the sauce is called Lao Gan Ma - this should help you find more, as well as some people have made recipes to make your own at home.
ReplyDeleteLao Gan Ma Chili Crisp Sauce
ReplyDelete