This is a new product from Trader Joe's. The company's own description of this sauce is here.
First, a confession: I'm one of the worst people you could choose to write a thoughtful review of a hot sauce. I had never in my life either bought or used a hot sauce until I moved to Asheville 2 1/2 years ago. When I started having Nina over for dinner regularly, she requested that I buy some sriracha sauce for her to use. I did--but it was some off-brand, since I assumed they were all alike. Nina quickly but gently set me right on that point, and I soon bought her a bottle of the good stuff, the rooster sauce made by Huy Fong Foods. I have used a bit of it on occasion, when Nina breaks it out, but I've only used it once or twice on my own, and that has been when some Trader Joe's product turns out to be inedibly bland, and I'm trying to save it from being thrown away uneaten. See here, for instance. I do like it, but only occasionally, and only in tiny quantities.
All of which means that I have an incredibly limited repertoire of experience with hot sauces. I don't think I've ever even tasted Tabasco. So with that disclaimer....
Last night Nina was here for our weekly dinner. I made scrambled eggs, which I figured would make a nice neutral substrate on which to test this new TJ's sauce against the king of the hill, the rooster. I made a little squirt of each onto opposite sides of my plate, and alternated which I dipped a bite of egg into.
On the most basic level, the results are easy to describe: I liked the sriracha, I did not like the green sauce. I found them approximately equal in sheer heat factor. Beyond that, I'm basically incompetent to explain why. I probably just don't like the flavor of jalapenos much, and that's the major component of the TJ's stuff.
So this is the point at which I turn the microphone over to the reviewer with the far more experienced and discerning palate.
Will I buy it again?
No.
Nina’s View
The sauce of green, it is tasty. And it is named after a dragon, which can also only be good.
In order to enjoy this, you must actively like 1) jalapeños (the real deal with some kick) and 2) cilantro. And as luck would have it, I do. Bob, not so much. In fact I’m willing to wager that it’s not so much the jalapeños that he dislikes in this sauce, but the cilantro.
I can think of many uses for this stuff: adding zip to a salad dressing, zinging up a taco, adding zest to a cole slaw, blending with rice and peas for a kicky pilaf, etc. I’m happy to give it a spot on the condiment shelf in my fridge.
I bought a bottle today to try with veggie omelettes at my new house. It was tangy and zesty without being overly hot. It is a worthy competitor to Cholula and Tabasco brand green jalapeño sauces. This is Top Ten worthy in my book.
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