Welcome back, everyone. Yes, I am already back again with another hot sauce review. Over the weekend, I got more chicken, so I’m continuing to hit hard into my To Review pile. This time around, I’m returning to a sauce I got from my Fuego Box subscription. And, like usual, I couldn’t actually tell you when it showed up on my doorstep. But, like with a lot of my reviews recently, better late than never. Anyway, this is a new brand for the blog. It’s Supernova and their sauce is Garlic Jalapeno.
So, longtime readers will know that I’ve been on the lookout for a super-garlicy hot sauce. Will this be the one? Well, let’s look to the ingredients and see what we have. This sauce consists of: chili peppers (jalapenos and green Thai), water, vinegar, apple, garlic, salt, and turmeric.
So, fairly straightforward. I’ve actually done a few of these types of sauces very recently, particularly the Newks sauce. I am expecting much the same, then. Though, spoilers, not having seen that there were Thai chiles in this before I ate it… that will come into play in a bit.
Anyway, taking the cap off I notice that this sauce has one of the little, plastic stoppers on it. Woo! Both the Newks and the sauce from yesterday really needed this and they didn’t have it. Here’s a sauce that also really needs it, considering how thin it is. And I was very thankful for it, to begin with. I figured, worse comes to worse, I’ll at least get the amount of sauce I really want. If I need, I can add more later. Though, I was rather generous the first time around. I mean, it’s jalapeno and the bottle is only 1 flame. So, how bad can it be? … … …
But back to things, the sauce smells much like I would expect. It’s a bit vinegary, but mostly in just the “bright, acidic” sense and less the “sour/bitter pungent aroma” sense. I do get a little bit of the turmeric, I feel. I mean, it’s not like, “Wow! The pungent aroma of turmeric!” or anything like that. It’s more that there’s an earthiness to the smell. It actually smells really good.
As I said, the sauce is rather thin, though the plastic flow control topper means I only get sauce where I want. When it hits the chicken, it readily soaks into the breading.
Taking a bite, I get much that I would expect. I get really just the bright, acidic note of the vinegar without the sour/bitter tinges it can sometimes have. I get the taste of the peppers. And I actually get a bit of the garlic as well. I’m guessing it’s the pairing with the turmeric that’s helping out. One’s rather pungent and the other’s earthy. They play well together. It’s got a bit fuller of a flavor than I’ve gotten from even a lot of the regular green sauces I’ve had. And there’s a lot of flavor to be had. I mean, I still taste the chicken underneath, but while some sauces like this have been rather mild, this one’s not, in more ways than one. It doesn’t overpower, but it definitely does let itself be known.
Now… heat… Look, spice is extremely subjective. There are people who have ice water and think it’s too spicy. There are also people who would guzzle The Last Dab like it’s nothing. That’s something that makes rating “how hot is this thing” a bit of a challenge and why I tend to use an analogy to other sauces, namely off-the-shelf sauces so people can get a bit of an idea of where these sauces are comparatively, in my opinion. So, even though this sauce just has one flame on the side, whoof… It’s not a superhot by any means. But as I was eating, the cumulative effect really grew. I’m guessing I have the Thai chiles to thank for that. The first couple chicken strips? Fine. No problem. I didn’t feel like I needed to add more sauce, but I felt that if I had, it wouldn’t’ve been terrible. By the last 2? My nose was running. I was drinking down my water. I’d already ran out of blue cheese. But I got through them. And as I’m typing this, my mouth is still going pretty solidly with the spice. It’s no joke. This sauce may not be a show-er, but it’s a grow-er. It definitely comes on with time. If I’d stopped at one piece of chicken, I’d say that this might be around off-the-shelf levels of heat. After six strips, I’m thinking that this is closer to above the Hotter variety of off-the-shelf sauces and pushing into just plain old hot. Proceed with caution.
All in all, this was an interesting one. I feel this sauce has a really good flavor and definitely gives you an experience while eating. And that’s part of what hot sauce is here for. Eating it, it’s more than just flavor and texture, it’s temperature as well. You involve another element into the equation and that’s what makes hot sauces actually fun to eat, if you ask me. Is this “the garlic sauce of my dreams?” Eeeh, not entirely. I think I’d prefer a red sauce with more garlic and habaneros. But this is definitely up there in terms of green sauces that I’ve had, and one of the better sauces of my recent marathon run of them.
Suggested dishes: Being a bright, green sauce, I’d go with using it to lighten other heavier dishes. Put some dashes on some chili or on an enchilada, for example. Some dashes would also go well in a salad to really liven things up and contrast the cool crunch of the lettuce.
If you’re looking to give this sauce a try for yourself, you can find it on the Fuego Box website here: https://www.fuegobox.com/products/supernova-garlic-jalapeno-hot-sauce?_pos=3&_sid=c224f67aa&_ss=r
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