Review - Kung Fu Monkey Brand Red Dragon Pepper Sauce
Kung Fu Monkey Brand Red Dragon Pepper Sauce is one of the best spicy food surprises I've come across in quite a while. Even though it was a Scovie Award winner for the World Beat category, I tried to remain objective while reviewing it. My attempts were futile; one try and I was hooked. This stuff is simply awesome!
Ingredients:
Water, papaya, sugar, red peppers, vinegar, lime juice, salt, spices.
Aroma:
4 out of 5. Tangy and sweet, like a beautiful coalesce of barbecue and mango pepper sauce.
Appearance and Texture:
Red Dragon is dark orange with a medium thickness. Spices, flakes of red pepper, and pepper seeds are abundant.
Taste Straight Up:
4.5 out of 5. I don't think I've ever had two "notes" (the lower sweetness and the higher heat) be so separated and distinct before from a fruit-based hot sauce. Red Dragon Pepper Sauce is the ultimate in "food flavor stereo". Yet the flavors complemented each other very well, and highlighted the underlying, fresh peppery taste.
I found this sauce to be neither "simple" (like a straight-up pepper/vinegar sauce) nor "complex" (such as a caribbean jerk sauce or seasoning), but landing squarely in between. The papaya flavor was similar to some of the mango-based condiments I've tasted.
Taste on Food:
I first tried this on tacos with seasoned beef and refried beans, which was topped with shredded cheddar, lettuce, tomatoes, and jalapeno slices. The Red Dragon's sweetness was a bit unusual (I usually splash on a bit of vinegar-based habanero sauce) but created a new unique flavor that prompted me to make a mental note, "I've gotten try tacos with this sauce again!".
Red Dragon is also perfect as a dipping sauce, and tasted fantastic on pizza and fried chicken breast strips. I would also recommend this on ribs or pork chops.
Heat:
2.5 to 3 out of 5. Pleasantly singeing on the tongue. Not for the weak. The label shows this sauce's rating as "3 fists" (according to their website, the "fist" scale goes up to five).
Label:
3.5 out of 5. Not exactly the latest in cutting-edge graphics, but tries real hard with a Far-East motif. From the picture of the dragon to the phrase "Have fire like dragon!", it's cool enough for my tastes.
Overall:
Red Dragon certainly deserves whatever accolades have been bestowed upon it.
There's two ways of picking up a file bottle of Red Dragon. One, you can purchase one on their website for $5.95 at http://www.kungfumonkeybrand.com/home.html. Or if you live in South Carolina, this sauce is available at selected retailers outlined here.
Related Articles:
Hot Sauce and Spicy Food Reviews
Comments
2009-01-26 14:37:18
2009-02-14 22:52:42
We are so very pleased that you have such praise for our humble pepper sauce and hope you may try another of our products. Our Happy Monkey Marinade has won two First Place awards in the Hot Pepper contest.
Best fortune to you,
Master M
2009-02-19 19:15:24
Try the Kung Pao Chicken recipe on their website. I add extra sauce, yellow peppers as well as red, chopped onions and sometimes bamboo shoots or bean sprouts.
Also excellent mixed with a little cream cheese, powdered or fresh minced ginger and onion/garlic powder as a veggie and cracker dip.
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