Food

Fire It Up: 5 Hot Sauces We Love

Looking to turn up the heat in your kitchen? Local chefs and entrepreneurs are whipping up hot sauces in a global range of flavors.


Washingtonian Featured Content


// Remove scrollbar in JS $('#slidesContainer').css('overflow', 'hidden');

// Wrap all .slides with #slideInner div slides .wrapAll('

') // Float left to display horizontally, readjust .slides width .css({ 'float' : 'left', 'width' : slideWidth });

// Set #slideInner width equal to total width of all slides $('#slideInner').css('width', slideWidth * numberOfSlides);

// Insert controls in the DOM $('#slideshow') .prepend('Clicking moves left') .append('Clicking moves right');

// Hide left arrow control on first load manageControls(currentPosition);

// Create event listeners for .controls clicks $('.control') .bind('click', function(){ // Determine new position currentPosition = ($(this).attr('id')=='rightControl') ? currentPosition+1 : currentPosition-1;

// Hide / show controls manageControls(currentPosition); // Move slideInner using margin-left $('#slideInner').animate({ 'marginLeft' : slideWidth*(-currentPosition) }); });

// manageControls: Hides and Shows controls depending on currentPosition function manageControls(position){ // Hide left arrow if position is first slide if(position==0){ $('#leftControl').hide() } else{ $('#leftControl').show() } // Hide right arrow if position is last slide if(position==numberOfSlides-1){ $('#rightControl').hide() } else{ $('#rightControl').show() } } });

Uncle Brutha’s Allsauce No. 9

District native Brennan “Uncle Brutha” Proctor blends serrano chilies, ginger, and cilantro for his smoky twist ($8) on Mexican salsa verde. All the ingredients are natural and gluten-free.

Best for: Eggs and fish or pork tacos.

Where to find it: Order online at unclebrutha.com.

1/5

Woodberry Kitchen Snake Oil

Chef Spike Gjerde of Baltimore’s Woodberry Kitchen uses fish peppers for this searing sauce ($12). The chili shows up on his menu in everything from deviled eggs to Bloody Marys.

Best for: Dashing on rich seafood dishes.

Where to find it: Salt & Sundry in Union Market, 1309 Fifth St., NE; 202-556-1866.

2/5

Apinya Thai Chili Sauce

Love Sriracha? Try this similarly flavored Thai sauce ($6) out of Herndon. It delivers a bigger hit of ginger plus hints of garlic and roasted bell peppers.

Best for: Marinades, Asian noodles, and grilled meats.

Where to find it: Order online at apinya.co.

3/5

Capital City Sweet Hot Mumbo Sauce

The District’s iconic condiment ($5)—a flavor mash-up of barbecue and sweet-and-sour sauces—gets extra punch from cayenne and habanero peppers.

Best for: Eggs and fish or pork tacos.

Where to find it: Order online at capitalcitymumbosauce.com.

4/5

Small Small Red Pepper Sauce

Aromatic berbere—a spice mix that’s a key ingredient in Ethiopia’s long-simmered stews—is the basis for this complex and fragrant sauce ($9).

Best for: Marinating meats and vegetables or substituting for awaze, a hot-pepper paste.

Where to find it: Order online at buysmallsmall.com.

5/5

Photographs by Jeff Elkins.

This article appears in the April 2013 issue of The Washingtonian.

Food Editor

Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.