Hot sauce 101: types, heat levels and uses

A bottle of hot sauce on the table really means: everyone can decide how hot their plate will be. A few drops of Tabasco on a fried egg, a generous splash of Valentina over tacos, sriracha on a bowl of pho: all over the world people have their own bottle they can't live without. In our shop in Amsterdam there is a whole wall full, from mild table sauces from Louisiana to bottles where one drop is enough. In this guide we explain what hot sauce is, what styles there are and how hot they are, so you know where to start. The bottles in our shop are the same ones people have on their table at home in Louisiana, Mexico, Jamaica and Thailand, from Tabasco and Cholula to Grace and Flying Goose.

What is hot sauce?

Frank's RedHot clearly shows what hot sauce is at its core: the label only lists dried cayenne pepper, vinegar, salt and some garlic powder. Hot sauce is a thin, pourable sauce made of chili peppers, vinegar and salt, that you drizzle over your food at the table instead of cooking it in. The vinegar makes it fresh and ensures that you can store it for a long time, the pepper determines the heat and the flavor.

From that simple recipe there are endless variations. With Tabasco the peppers are aged according to the maker for three years in oak barrels before vinegar is added, making the sauce sour and sharp. Other sauces are fermented, like the Super Naga from Crazy Bastard, and others have fruit added: mango, pineapple or papaya make a sauce rounder and sweeter, so the heat hits less hard.

What types of hot sauce are there?

The major styles are Louisiana and American, Mexican, Caribbean, Asian, peri-peri and the world of craft and superhot. They differ in pepper, vinegar and sugar. Below, for each style, are a few bottles with our assessment of the heat.

Louisiana and American hot sauce

Louisiana Original Hot Sauce is made from three simple ingredients and that is exactly the idea behind this style: ripe red pepper, lots of vinegar and salt. They are thin, sour sauces that you shake over eggs, pizza, fries or a sandwich without thinking. Frank's RedHot with its cayenne is also the classic base for buffalo chicken wings, and Tabasco is just a bit bolder than the rest.

Tabasco Louisiana · tabasco pepperSour and sharp, a few drops are enough3/5Frank's RedHot US · cayenneRound and salty, the sauce for buffalo wings2/5Crystal Louisiana · red pepperThin, mild and generous to use2/5Louisiana Original Louisiana · red pepperAll-rounder for pizza, burgers and fries2/5

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Mexican hot sauce

Cholula Original is made with árbol and piquín peppers and is the model for Mexican table sauce: thin, slightly spicy and more flavorful than hot. Valentina is a bit thicker and citrusy, and you put it in Mexico on tacos, chips and fresh fruit. Besides that, Mexico has a second family: the habanero sauces from Yucatán, such as El Yucateco, which are fruity and quite hot. You read all about that in Mexican hot sauce.

Cholula Original árbol and piquínSpicy and mild, for tacos and eggs2/5Valentina yellow labelThicker and citrusy, on chips and fruit2/5El Yucateco Red Yucatán · habaneroFruity and bright, with tomato and spices4/5

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Caribbean hot sauce

Encona Extra Hot is a West Indian style pepper sauce, and with that you are immediately in another corner of the flavor. Caribbean sauces revolve around scotch bonnet and habanero, peppers that smell fruity and are quite hot. They are family of the Madame Jeanette that is on the table in Suriname. Read more about Jamaica, the West Indian sauces and the Surinamese side in Caribbean hot sauce.

Encona Extra Hot West Indian styleBright and fruity, with rice, chicken thighs and fish4/5Grace JamaicaSmall bottle of Jamaican pepper sauce4/5Crazy Bastard scotch bonnet · BerlinMedium hot according to the maker, with Caribbean spices3/5

Asian hot sauce: sriracha and chili sauce

Flying Goose Sriracha comes from Thailand and is a smooth sauce made from red pepper, garlic, vinegar and sugar, named after the coastal town of Si Racha. It is thicker and sweeter than an American sauce and goes well with noodles, rice and pho. From Vietnam comes Chin-Su, slightly sweeter and rounder, and from Malaysia, Lingham's sweet chili sauce. The full story of brands and varieties can be found in Sriracha explained.

Flying Goose Thailand · srirachaGarlic, sweet and spicy, for noodles and rice3/5Chin-Su Hot Chili VietnamSpicy, slightly sweet and full of umami2/5Lingham's Malaysia · sweet chiliSweet and mild, for dipping1/5

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Peri-peri

Nando's Peri Peri Hot is made with peri-peri, a small, fiery chili pepper from southern Africa. The sauce is slightly thicker than a Louisiana sauce and goes especially well with grilled chicken thighs or chicken wings. If you prefer it creamy, try Perinaise, a peri-peri mayonnaise from the same brand.

Craft and superhot

Crazy Bastard Habanero & Tomatillo is handmade in Berlin and is a great first step into the world of craft hot sauce: small brands working with unique peppers and fruit. The label states 20,000 SHU, which is already considerably hotter than Tabasco. From there, things quickly get serious, with ghost pepper, Trinidad scorpion and Carolina Reaper, as with Torchbearer from the US. You use these sauces by the drop, not by the spoonful.

Crazy Bastard habanero · tomatilloFresh and hot, 20,000 SHU according to the label4/5Crazy Bastard Trinidad scorpionCitrus-sweet, the maker gives it 9 out of 105/5Torchbearer Zombie ghost pepper · habaneroFor those who really know what they're getting into5/5

Hot sauce all stylesFrom Louisiana to superhotShop nowSriracha and chili sauceThai, Vietnamese and sweet chiliShop nowMexican salsa and hot sauceTable sauces and habanero from YucatánShop nowChili sauce AsiaChili sauce for stir-fries, noodles and dipsShop now

How hot is hot sauce?

A sweet chili sauce from Lingham's and a Trinidad scorpion sauce are miles apart, which is why we give every sauce in our guides a rating from 1 to 5. This is based on the pepper in it and what is on the label, such as Mild, Hot or Extra Hot. It is our own assessment, so always taste carefully, because everyone experiences heat differently.

1 · mild sweet-spicySweet chili and mild sauces, heat in the background1/52 · medium cayenne, árbolTable sauces such as Cholula, Valentina and Frank's2/53 · spicy tabasco, srirachaTabasco, sriracha and sambal oelek3/54 · hot habanero, scotch bonnetHabanero and scotch bonnet sauces4/55 · extreme superhotGhost pepper, scorpion and Reaper5/5

You sometimes see Scoville or SHU on bottles. The Scoville scale measures how much capsaicin is in a pepper or sauce, the substance that gives the burning sensation. The higher the number, the hotter. However, such a number is never exact, because peppers differ per harvest, per plant and per batch, and a sauce with fruit or sugar feels milder than the number suggests. That is why we only mention Scoville values that the maker themselves puts on the label.

And where does sambal fit? Sambal oelek is mainly ground red pepper with salt and sits at a 3 on the same level as Tabasco and sriracha. Sambal rawit, made from the small rawit pepper, is a 4 and thus comparable to a habanero sauce. How the other sambals score, you can read in Sambal 101.

Is sambal also a hot sauce?

Sambal is the Indonesian counterpart of hot sauce, but it is not the same. Sambal is coarser, often without vinegar and more of a paste than a sauce, and you scoop it out of the jar with a spoon. Some sambals are fried with onion, garlic and terasi and are therefore savory and sweetish, others are pure ground pepper. If you want to know which sambal to use for what, read Sambal 101.

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What is the difference between hot sauce and chili oil?

La Lia Crispy Chilli Oil from Amsterdam clearly shows the difference: chili oil is dried pepper in oil instead of vinegar, and chili crisp contains crispy bits, such as fried garlic, shallot or in this case buckwheat. It tastes warmer and fuller, less fresh, and is especially suitable for noodles, dumplings and rice. You can read more about the well-known jars of Lao Gan Ma and other chili oil in Chili Oil and Lao Gan Ma.

How do you store hot sauce?

How you store hot sauce varies per bottle, so follow the label: it states whether it needs to be in the refrigerator after opening and how long you can use it. Shake the bottle briefly before use, because pepper and moisture often separate a little. Wipe the neck clean and close the cap tightly.

Not sure which sauce belongs with which dish? In Which hot sauce with what we list it per dish, from eggs and tacos to noodles, pizza and burgers.

Recipes with hot sauce

These recipes show how hot sauce makes its way to the table in different cuisines.

Tacos al pastorPork shoulder with achiote and fried pineapple, with a fruity habanero sauce on the side.Cochinita pibilSlow-cooked pork shoulder from Yucatán with pickled onion and a few drops of habanero sauce.Pho boClear broth with raw beef flank, and sriracha and hoisin on the table.Stewed jack mackerelSurinamese jack mackerel with tomato and onion, which pairs well with a fruity pepper sauce.

Read more about hot sauce

In four other articles we go deeper into brands, peppers and use.

Sriracha explained Thai and VietnameseWhat sriracha is and which one to chooseRead moreWhich hot sauce for what per dishFrom eggs and wings to noodlesRead moreCaribbean hot sauce scotch bonnet and Madame JeanetteWith the Surinamese sideRead moreMexican hot sauce table sauce and habaneroCholula, Valentina and YucatánRead more

Frequently asked questions

Hot sauce is ultimately very personal, because one person only wants a sour kick over their egg and another is looking for the bottle that will shut them up at the table. Start slowly with a table sauce and a sriracha, taste them side by side on something simple like rice or a fried egg, and discover which way you want to go, because after that it will naturally be fun to keep looking. If you come into the toko in Amsterdam and find yourself in front of that long wall of bottles, feel free to ask us for a tip, and if you want to read this story again later, you will find everything in Hot sauce 101.