Poor Vida Hot Sauce – Tropical Thai
Ingredients:
White Wine Vinegar, Yellow Bell Peppers, Water, Fresh Pineapple, Fresh Pear, Thai Chili Peppers, Apple Juice, Orange Juice, Coconut Oil, Lime Juice, Cilantro, Sea Salt, Cinnamon, Xanthan Gum
I knew 2 things when I was kicking around ideas to make the third Poor Vida Hot Sauce. It had to have a significant color difference that the other 2, and it had to have some sort of theme to it. I had toyed with the idea of doing all “drink” flavors… Cherry Limeade, Pina Colada maybe? Pomegranate Ghost wasn’t a drink theme though, but I did like the idea of pineapple and coconut. I had some yellow chilis on hand, but they had next to no heat. I did have some Thai Chili Peppers though, and even though they weren’t quite yellow (more orangish and green), I would only need a small amount because they are HOT. So I dove into making something like a pina colada. I swapped out the olive oil for coconut oil, threw in some fresh pineapple, and we were nearly there. I decided not to call it pina colada, and lean into the Thai Chilis a bit more, and I love alliteration… lol. Tropical Thai just needed a bit more fruit, so a bit of apple juice and orange juice, and a new themed hot sauce was created.
– Colin
Joel LaPrade –
This is the most interesting flavor profile of the three that I tried. I’m not a fan of pineapple on savory dishes so this sauce would normally be a nonstarter for me but there’s far less sweetness on this than the pineapple flavor would have you believe. I actually really like this one, I just need to come up with a dish to use it with!
Frank –
so far I’ve only cracked open the tropical thai but just like Frank’s Red Hot. I have been putting this stuff on everything
Melissa Ortiz (verified owner) –
I can see why it was almost called pina colada – easy to pinpoint the pineapple and coconut on initial taste. Then the pear and apple and orange come in with the birds eye chiles (my favorite chiles!). But for me, this one is not a condiment, but rather something I will cook with (I’ve taken to frying spoonfuls of various hot sauces/salsas into the base of my dishes as of late), especially my Thai food, of course.