SFist Eats: Asian Chili Sauces at New May Wah Market
by Ben Kasman
We heart New May Wah Market. It may not have the size & scope of a Ranch 99 or Pacific Super, but it’s closer to most of us and only submerged in fog 60% time (versus 88%)*. On your next Green Apple visit, skip a few blocks down to New May Wah to buy your week’s supply of vegetarian duck, frozen frog legs, Saigon beer, and $3000 cognac. You will also find the best selection of Asian chili sauces in San Francisco.
* these percentages are entirely made up
Here are some of our favorites:
Taiwanese-style Lian How Brand Chili Sauce is the perfect chili sauce. Chili, salt, vinegar, and sesame oil. Simple. Salty. Sumptuous. It can be eaten straight out of the jar. For those of you salt cravers, this sauce is like crack. We discovered this “magic sauce” dunking crispy prawns at Taiwan, an inner Richmond gem. The food at Taiwan is so vibrant and delish (they serve the freshest hot and sour soup in the city), but we just can’t resist burrying everything with Lian How Brand chili sauce. We wish the stuff came in packets. Not only great on Chinese food, but delightful on cheeseburgers and nachos.
Ning Chi Premium Fresh Chili (spelled Preium Fresh Chili on the label), is a fiery Taiwanese condiment containing only fresh chili and oil. The chili flavor is spectacular -- When the jar opens, your nose instantly wiggles, Bewitched-style. This stuff is hot. In sauces and marinades, you only need a tip of a teaspoon to add a gorgeous chili flavor and a tip of a tablespoon to add some serious heat. Marries with soy sauce beautifully. Add a nip to guacamole for extra hair and mix a little with garlic and olive oil to start a sassy arrabiata. The jar is so big and so little is necessary that one jar will most likely last generations.
The label on Lingham’s Hot Sauce boldly touts the “world’s finest multi-use condiment.” Quite bold, Lingham. We all know that when food is touted “the best in the world”, it typically means the food won’t make any headlines, so headlines need to be created. But guess what? This Malaysian hot sauce is amazing. Lingham’s has been made for over 102 years for a reason: It will make you happy, whether you like it or not. Seriously. This stuff is silly good. The key to Lingham’s is sweetness. In addition to the usual chili/salt/vinegar, sugar is added and welcomed, hotly. For some, ketchup is the perfect condiment, but we ask, how can the perfect condiment not be spicy? Can taste buds be seduced without spice? Lingham’s is perfection in a bottle and no fridge should be sans-it. Lingham’s comes in many flavors, but we prefer the garlic and ginger flavors. Both serve as spectacular bases for barbecue sauce, the ginger perfect for a Hawaiian-style pork loin and the garlic is tailor-made for hot wings. Anything fried will grow wings with the addition of this sauce. We love fried rice and Lingham’s
Ah, Sriracha. The coolest chili sauce name ever. Most know Sriracha as “rooster sauce”, made in California by Huy Fong Foods and originating in LA’s Chinatown. The heat is sharp and the flavor is beyond bold. This sauce doesn’t play second fiddle, but conducts the entire orchestra. This prickly feller takes to tart fruits like green mango and granny smiths beautifully. Try it mixed with mayo & tuna and spread it on a French roll with pickled carrots, cilantro, cucumbers, and jalapeños for a tuna salad sandwich, Vietnamese-style.
The first thing you feel when Thai Sriracha Chili Sauce graces your tongue is a big, garlicky punch in the face. A tangy sweetness follows and gives way to a perfect heat in the back of your throat. Like Lingham’s, it’s almost made for fried foods, but also serves as Viagra for ketchup, aoli, bbq sauces, and mac and cheese. Add to chili. Sublime.
The total cost of buying a bottle of each of these chili sauces would be the same as buying a pack of Dunhills and cheap liquor store lighter.