Chili sauce

See also: Hot sauce
Chili sauce
Fritters served with chili sauce in a ramekin
A green chili sauce
A thick and chunky variety of chili sauce (right) with crème fraîche

Chili sauce is a condiment prepared with chili peppers and red tomato as primary ingredients. Chili sauce may be hot, sweet or a combination thereof, and may differ from hot sauce in that many sweet[1][2] or mild varieties exist, which is typically lacking in hot sauces. Several varieties of chili sauce include sugar in their preparation,[3] such as sweet chili sauce[4] and Thai sweet chili sauce, which adds sweetness to their flavor profile. Chili sauce may have a thicker texture and viscosity when compared to that of hot sauces.

Chili sauce can be used as a dipping sauce, cooking glaze[4] and marinade.[5] Sweet chili sauce is used in Thai cuisine,[6] and is also sometimes used in the preparation of sushi.[7]

Many commercial varieties of mass-produced chili sauce exist.

Ingredients

Ingredients typically include puréed or chopped chili peppers, vinegar, sugar and salt[8] that are cooked, which thickens the mixture. Additional ingredients may include, water, garlic, other foodstuffs, corn syrup, spices and seasonings.[4] Some varieties use ripe red puréed tomato as the primary ingredient.[3]

Varieties

Commercial varieties

Many commercial varieties of mass-produced chili sauce exist. Some commercially produced chili sauces are canned, with red tomato that is processed into a pulp used as the primary ingredient.[3] The H. J. Heinz Company is one major producer of chili sauces.[9] In the United States, commercially produced chili sauces are assigned various grades per their quality.[10] These grades include U.S. Grade A (also known as U.S. Fancy), U.S. Grade C (also known as U.S. Standard) and Substandard.[10] Criteria in food grading for chili sauces in the U.S. includes coloration, consistency, character, absence of defects and flavor.[10]

Sriracha sauce (commercial)

Sriracha sauce, a type of hot chili sauce manufactured by Huy Fong Foods, has become increasingly popular in the United States in contemporary times.[11]

Sambal sauce

Commercially available bottled sambal sauce.

In Indonesia, the bottled commercially available chili sauce is known as bottled saus cabai. They are also commonly known as bottled sambal. However, unlike the coarse textured and richly flavoured traditional sambal, this bottled sambal or chili sauce has an even gloppy texture similar to those of tomato sauce, and rather simple hot flavour. Unlike traditional sambal, which enrichen with shrimp paste, the commercial sambal sauce usually only uses finely blended red chili pepper and garlic, and sometimes a little bit of sugar, without any addition of shrimp paste.

Sriracha sauce (general)

Main article: Sriracha sauce

Sriracha sauce is a type of hot sauce or chili sauce made from a paste of chili peppers, distilled vinegar, garlic, sugar, and salt. It is named after the coastal city of Si Racha, in the Chonburi Province of Eastern Thailand, where it was possibly first produced for dishes served at local seafood restaurants.[12]

Thai sweet chili sauce

A type of chili sauce is Thai sweet chili sauce,[13][14] which is used as a dipping sauce, a marinade, and for cooking, such as in stir fried dishes.[14] The company Mae Ploy is a major manufacturer of Thai sweet chili sauce.[13] Most major supermarket chain stores in North America carry Thai sweet chili sauce.[14]

Some versions of Nam phrik, a range of chili-based, hot sauces typical of Thai cuisine, are sweetened with sugar.

See also

References

Further reading

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, February 26, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.