how does hot sauce enhance the flavor of food?

[JEDI]

to me it just overwhelms the taste.

even if i make it a little spicy, i usually cant tell if i'm eating chicken, pork, or beef. the texture is too similiar to each other.

discuss

 

[Crono]

Maybe you just don't have the palate for spicy foods.

I love a touch of spiciness to many foods. Like tabasco sauce on my eggs or in tuna sandwiches, or peppers in rice platters.

It's the complexity and heat of the spice(s) that contrast well with other flavors.

 

[guyver01]

If it's overwhelming, you're using too much. The secret to hot sauce is to have a tempered hand. Too little, and it does nothing.. too much, and all you taste is hot sauce.

You should use it to enhance the taste of the food.

It takes some time to find the right level of hot sauciness.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

I eat most of my food very spicy. Some people just don't have the mouth for it and the heat overwhelms the flavours. For me heat enhances almost any savoury dish. Hell, I put chilli powder in spaghetti bolognaise, lasagna... just about anything. When I get a sammich at Subway I order extra-extra jalapeños. Yum!

But hot sauce does have a flavour of its own - you need to match your type of heat with the food you're eating. Chilli powder for chilli or curry, tobasco for plain meat, chilli flakes for potato, pepper for sandwiches, etc.

 

[DaTT]

Man up and try this http://www.chilliworld.com/SP6.asp?p_id=18. I have a bottle in my cupboard. 2 drops of that made an entire pot of spaghetti sauce way way way too hot for the wife. Borderline too hot for me, and I LOVE spicy. Does have a great taste though.

 

[sandorski]

The really Hot hot sauces don't have much for flavour, use those just to add heat, but just a drop or 2 into a Batch of Food not a portion.

I really like Tobasco Chipotle. Has a nice flavour, adds heat, and can be used directly on a portion. Louisiana Hot Sauces also add flavour, but are not all that hot, at least most of the ones you'll find in a store are not that hot.

 

[moshquerade]

a little dab will do ya

 

[sandorski]

a little dab will do ya

Ok flavour, but not Hot.

 

[guyver01]

Ok flavour, but not Hot.

This is good, hot, hot sauce

 

[KentState]

It release endorphins and makes you happy.

 

[darkxshade]

nah... now this is the stuff

http://www.delish.com/cm/delish/images/Tabasco-large.jpg

 

[dullard]

You have to build up to it. Use a little heat every day for the next week. Then use a bit more every day the next week. Soon, you'll see the difference.

Eating food without heat is like eating food without salt. It seems like it is all there, but just bland.

 

[Slacker]

My personal favorite, I put that shit on everything

 

[Ksyder]

To me, hot sauce is just a quick and easy way to make bland food taste good. Not any special magic to it.

 

[Kirby]

This is good, hot, hot sauce

I freaking love Crystal hot sauce.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

My personal favorite, I put that shit on everything

Greatest. Shit. EVER.

I love how it just stays with you for 2 hours on end. I've had half a cup of that stuff at a time, and the mornings after sucked, but SO WORTH IT.

 

[meltdown75]

hmm. some sauces in here that i'd like to try.

OP: your taste buds suck at spicy

 

[nerp]

Use less. Seasoning should marry the flavor of the food, not smother it.

 

[Slacker]

Greatest. Shit. EVER.

I love how it just stays with you for 2 hours on end. I've had half a cup of that stuff at a time, and the mornings after sucked, but SO WORTH IT.

Half a cup? holy crap, I use it sparingly and it packs a punch.

for example on any pasta, I would squirt some on top like if you were putting mustard on a burger, in that amount.

I love seriously hot food but I would never use half a cup of sriracha on anything :Q

 

[dank69]

You have to build up to it. Use a little heat every day for the next week. Then use a bit more every day the next week. Soon, you'll see the difference.

Eating food without heat is like eating food without salt. It seems like it is all there, but just bland.

That's because you have temporarily damaged your tastebuds.

 

[Dominato3r]

a little dab will do ya

Good flavor, but definitely not hot enough

 

[Dominato3r]

My personal favorite, I put that shit on everything

Funky smell, moderate spice level, moderate taste also,

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Half a cup? holy crap, I use it sparingly and it packs a punch.

for example on any pasta, I would squirt some on top like if you were putting mustard on a burger, in that amount.

I love seriously hot food but I would never use half a cup of sriracha on anything :Q

This thing about sriracha is that its not very spicy. But it stays with you for so damn long that you are in pain for hours. It also seems to build up to insane levels of spicyness if you have small amounts at a time.

But this is a guy who ate 6 wings in the several million scovilles in order win a T-shirt. I like my spicy.

 

[SlitheryDee]

This is the only hot sauce I buy. It has a wonderful flavor and the right amount of bite. Crystal brand is good too.

 

[Train]

Dont get me wrong, I love hot sauce when used properly, but I have been preaching a bit lately about the lowered quality of american cuisine, which has basically devolved into:

More cheese, more hot sauce, or both.

So many people are missing out on so many great flavors out there, what the hell is wrong with us when all you see is food that can be smothered in cheese, or smothered in hot sauce (or both) Restuarants that dont follow this pattern are getting fewer and fewer, and frankly I am dissapoint.