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chili paste

13 years ago

Hi folks, after the chinese meatballs thread, I went looking for chili sauce & chili paste. Found chile sauce at Trader Joes. Found chile paste at the local grocery store (Thai Kitchen brand), but it contained shrimp & peanut ingredients, both of which my son is allergic to. Is anyone aware of other brands that don't contain those ingredients or are they essential to chili paste?

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Comments (6)

Lars
13 years ago
You can substitute Chinese chili sauce for chili paste - it will just be a bit more watery. A lot of brands of chili sauce or chili paste will also contain garlic, which should not be a problem for a meatball recipe. You can also make your own chili paste from dried chilies. Just soak the dried chilies in hot water for 10 minutes and then run them through a food mill to remove the skins and seeds. I generally make a Mexican style chili paste, which uses Ancho, Pasilla, and Guajillo chilies, but for Chinese chili paste, you would want to add some hotter chilies, such as Jalapeno, Serrano, Cayenne, Chile Pequin, Habanero (my favorite), or Chile de Arbol. If you use fresh chilies for chili paste, you should choose the red, ripe ones and roast them first before adding the water. I add a bit of salt and lime juice to my chili paste, and it keeps in the fridge for 2-3 weeks. The trick is not to add too much water.

Lars
arley_gw
13 years ago
Here's my 'go-to' chili paste. Zingy and clean (and cheap!). Mostly chili (HOT!) and a touch of garlic. Between this product and the Huy Fong Sriracha, I hardly ever use any other hot sauce.

According to the label, it contains: Chili, Garlic, Salt, Distilled Vinegar, Potassium Sorbate and Sodium Bisulfite As Preservatives.

Here is a link that might be useful: huy fong chili garlic paste
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elba1
Original Author
13 years ago
Thank you both. I've actually never bought fresh hot peppers - my sister was roasting some once & somehow got the seeds on her hands & ended up in the ER with burns, which scared me away from them. I do put the jarred ones on sandwiches sometimes. The chili sauce I got at TJ's isn't as hot or authentic as the paste Arley posted - the ingredients are water, sugar, red chili, modified tapioca starch, garlic, acetic acid & salt.
Lars
13 years ago
Huy Fong is a good brand, and I have their chili paste, Sriracha, and Sambal Oelek. In addition to that, I stocked up on Tex-Mex chili sauces while I was in Texas. They used to be easier to find here in the 1990s, but I guess that fad has passed, although it may not have reached some other areas yet.

I would not buy chili sauce at TJ's, and it should not have sugar in it! I keep larger quantities of dried chilies on hand, and sometimes I grind them to make chili powder, for a quick seasoning. I toast the dried chilies before I grind them because they still have moisture in them, and it enhances the flavor.

Lars
jadeite
13 years ago
To me chili sauce or paste means sambal oelek which has chili, salt sometimes vinegar but that's about it. Some brands have preservatives, but I try to avoid those. Sugar and garlic do not belong in chili paste. There's nothing wrong with chili garlic paste, but it's not the same as chili paste. My husband loves sriracha as a dip so we keep it at home but I don't use it in my cooking.

I also keep lots of dried chilies, both whole and ground, on hand. I would not expect TJs to stock authentic Asian foods.

Cheryl
elba1
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks again - I will go back to the store & look for dried chilies.

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