We used to frequent our favorite Chinese restaurant (🥠) probably once a week for family night dinners and many special occasions. It’s sadly been closed for over a decade now, and to this day, we refuse to even try the chain taco place that now stands in its place. After we’d finish ordering our main entrées and before the waiter stepped away, my dad would quickly request a side of their chili sauce. We’d get it even before the food came out, and everyone would amusingly dip into it with the little crispy noodles or wonton strips that were sitting out on the table, knowing that wasn’t the proper use for it. I don’t know why it took us so long to realize this was even an option, but once we discovered it, we never went without. Having enjoyed many great meals and memories there, we dearly miss that place.
This sauce is a tribute to the late, great Fortune Inn. Now, this is a hot HOT sauce, not for the timid. My side of the family is notorious for loving spicy things. At every meal, there are at least 2 different kinds of hot sauce on the table and the level of heat tolerance is almost absurd. It’s funny to watch an outsider observing the marvel of our apparently iron stomachs; or maybe we get a kick out of seeing how extreme we can go. My father-in-law jokes that I probably put hot sauce in my baby’s food, too (I swear I don’t!).
So this sauce is definitely hot, but it’s also got big flavor from the garlic and chiles gently infusing into the oil. A little goes a long way, but it’s super versatile and can be used on so many things like eggs, rice, noodles, soup, pizza, nachos, tacos, etc. We’re still experimenting to see what it doesn’t go well on.
