Sweet Chilli Sauce The Ultimate Condiment - Tasting and Reviews

Two shelves in my refrigerator are reserved for condiments, bar-b-q sauces of every kind, mustards, Asian sauces, ketchups, dozens of hot sauces, etc. etc. A new addition, sweet chili sauce, is a result of our recent trip to Australia where it seems to be pretty much the condiment of choice.

A sweet and spicy sauce of Thai and Chinese roots it has many flavorful uses. In Australia they serve it in its pure state, with burgers, Asian dishes, lamb and more, or they mix it with sour cream and serve it as a dip or serve it on cream cheese. It is delicious with chips or "chups" as the say in Australia. As well as many other dishes.

Once back in the States I embarked upon a quest for the best source for Sweet Chili Sauce. 

Here is an Australian style appetizer, crudites plate with a sweet chili sauce and sour cream dip found on the wonderful Australian food blog posted by the "Food Pornographer" of Perth, Australia.

Her delicious photographs and food reviews make my mouth water, like this one "Not Quite Australia’s Finest Burgers" which features a fine representation of Australia's way of serving hamburgers, much better than what we do here in the US.

Back to my quest for sweet chili sauce. I found my first catch at Whole Foods, where I found one by Maesri, a great purveyor of Thai sauces and ingredients for over 40 years. This is a delicious sauce, but after finishing the bottle I discovered that Whole Foods had run out of inventory on this one.

I next tried what looks like a Maesri knock-off by Maggi which I found at Kings. This sauce was good but had preservatives which my body does not like. Turns out Maggi is a Nestle brand, the only Nestle products I buy is Nespresso. Maggi is off my list.

Another trip to Whole Foods came up empty handed. Responding to my sad lament over my lack of sweet chili sauce, my wife and daughter happily came to the rescue. They made a quick trip to the wonderful Asian market, East West, on 67 Belleville Avenue in Bloomfield, NJ (973) 748-0030. On Christmas morning I was presented to my delight with a treasure trove of sweet chili sauce.

East West is know for their great and wide selections, became the subject of a taste test the next day at lunch.

   

We tasted in order of their color, lightest first. Chips, cold shrimp, cheese, and crackers were our tasting palate.

Nuoc Tuong Cham Cha Gio, Sweetened Chili Sauce for Spring Roll, was first. It has a golden orange color and had the lightest consistency, very tasty and definitely a great sauce for spring rolls of any kind, dumplings, chicken wings or shrimp. This was the sweetest of the the group. Trong Luong Kho of Thailand seems to be the producer. This one has 10% red chili, turnip, carrot and garlic.

The next was called Sweet Chili Sauce for Chicken, Nuoc cham ga, by Aroy-D, the Thai word for yummy. A bit spicier with 19% chili. It was very good. It has some thickeners, corn starch and xanatan gum. Redder and and richer, good for chicken, pork or beef in my opinion. Great alternative to bar-b-q sauce. Made by Thai Agri Foods in Thailand.

The last and favorite was Mae Ploy sweet chili sauce. The spiciest of them all. Deepest red color and thickness. They say "This distinctive, slightly sweet chili sauce is ideal over chicken as well as seafood, vegetable dishes and as a dipping sauce for spring rolls & dim sum. It's a fairly thick sauce, and if you've ever purchased barbecue chicken from a vendor in Thailand, it was undoubtedly served with this sauce. Ingredients: palm sugar, red chili, vinegar, garlic, salt, water. Also see our sweet chili sauce for spring rolls. No preservatives and no artificial coloring. Product of Thailand."  By Theppadungporn Coconut Co.,Ltd. Thailand.

 

Comments

[David]

Just a short note: It is actually New Zealanders that say "Chups," not us Aussie. Thanks.

David. (A disgruntled Australian)

[NJCher]

this is the best chili sauce. Seeing that my bottle had become dangerously low, I wondered where we had purchased it. We are in Essex County, too. Thank heavens you posted this because now if WF doesn't have it, I'll try the Asian market on Belleville.

[Peter]

I know, nothing worse than running out of Chili Sauce!!! LOL