Chili sauce and paste

Chili sauces and pastes are condiments made chiefly from chili peppers, often combined with vinegar, salt, garlic, oil, or other ingredients. They range from pourable sauces to thick, concentrated pastes.

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Capsaicin: A pungent chemical compound in chili peppers that produces a burning sensation by activating heat-sensitive nerve receptors. Its concentration helps determine how hot a chili sauce or paste tastes.
Sriracha: A Thai-style hot sauce commonly made from chili peppers, vinegar, garlic, sugar, and salt. Its smooth, garlicky profile is a widely recognized style of chili sauce.
Hot sauce: A liquid condiment whose defining feature is pungent chili heat, often balanced with acid and salt. Hot sauce overlaps with chili sauce, but its emphasis is usually liquid heat and pourability.
Capsicum domestication: The cultivation and selective breeding of chili pepper plants from wild ancestors in the Americas. Domestication made the peppers available for the diverse condiments that followed.
Chili pepper: The fruit of plants in the genus Capsicum, used fresh or dried as a spice and vegetable. Chili peppers supply the defining flavor and heat of these condiments.
Sambal: A family of Indonesian chili condiments made from crushed or ground chilies, often with other seasonings. Sambal illustrates the many textures and ingredient combinations possible in chili paste.
Chili powder: A dry spice made from ground dried chili peppers, sometimes blended with other spices. Unlike moist sauces and pastes, chili powder seasons food without adding liquid or paste texture.
Columbian exchange: The movement of plants, animals, people, and diseases between the Americas and Afro-Eurasia after 1492. The exchange carried chili peppers across oceans, enabling new regional sauce traditions.
Fermentation: A metabolic process in which microorganisms transform sugars into acids, gases, or alcohol. Some chili pastes ferment, developing acidity and savory complexity.
Gochujang: A Korean fermented paste made from red chili powder, glutinous rice, fermented soybeans, and salt. This thick, fermented condiment brings sweetness, heat, and umami to Korean cooking.