This week, we’re looking to Asia and the Caribbean for sauces to perk up our meals.
Caribbean Flame barbecue sauce from Maeday
Maeday Gourmet Sauces and Meat Rubs, based out of Sugar Hill, was named for Ella Mae, mom of owner Ella Burton. The foundation of the business was Ella Mae’s secret barbecue sauce recipe. Now, that original recipe has been joined by three more sauces (including honey mustard and apple cider vinegar) and two meat rubs. We love that the sauces cover so many Southern barbecue traditions. We tried the fourth flavor, Caribbean Flame. We really liked this sauce, which is smoky, sweet and hot, but not overly so. We grilled chicken wings, and double-dipped them in the sauce, as instructed by Burton. Some of our testers thought they were the best wings they’d ever had. As long as we had the grill going, we cooked burgers, too, and topped them with the sauce — delicious. Burton said the sauce will “remind you of being on an island and enjoying life.”
$7.99 per 12-ounce bottle. Available at Kroger, Whole Foods Market in Duluth and Sandy Springs, Juices Wild in Buford, Wilkes Meat Market in Suwanee and at maedaybbq.com.
Credit: Jess Penegar
Credit: Jess Penegar
Red Bone Alley pineapple ginger teriyaki marinade and finishing sauce
In Florence, South Carolina, Red Bone Alley restaurant is known for its menu of regional favorites. Plenty of garden peas and rice, South Carolina shrimp and Lowcountry grits star on the menu, which has its share of New Orleans-based specialties, as well. Customers love the food, and their demand for take-home quantities of the restaurant’s dressings, sauces and marinades led to the creation of Red Bone Foods. They offer remoulade, three varieties of aioli, and marinades, including the one we got our hands on: pineapple ginger teriyaki marinade and finishing sauce. This isn’t a sticky sweet teriyaki; it’s bright and sharp, tasting of pineapple, ginger, garlic and toasted sesame oil. We took the classic approach, and brushed it on salmon fillets for the grill. We’re going to add a little oil and vinegar to the remaining inch in our bottle and turn it into an Asian vinaigrette for the vegetables on our next rice bowl.
$3.99 per 12-ounce bottle. Available in the seafood department of Publix or by calling 843-673-9584 and placing an order with Will Green. redbonealley.com.
Credit: HANDOUT
Credit: HANDOUT
Wild Wild East sauce from Chinese Southern Belle
Natalie Keng’s Smyrna-based Chinese Southern Belle makes a range of delicious sauces, including Wild Wild East, a barbecue and teriyaki glaze with pineapple, molasses and just a bit of wasabi. All Chinese Southern Belle’s sauces are based on family recipes, and are made with fresh ingredients, like the pineapple in this glaze. The sauce is a great answer to “What’s for dinner?” since, with a bottle of the sauce and a vegetable or two, and maybe a protein, you have a stir-fry that can be pulled together in minutes. All her sauces also work as marinades, glazes for grilled or roasted foods, or to improve any packaged meals or takeout. Really, who needs ketchup or steak sauce when you have these in the pantry? Wild Wild East is one of Chinese Southern Belle’s Asian Chef Sauce Trio, which includes My Sweet Hottie (a sweet chili peach sauce) and You Saucy Thing (a Vidalia onion saute sauce).
Available as part of the Asian Chef Sauce Trio (three 8.5 ounce bottles) for $32.99, available at chinesesouthernbelle.com or through Amazon. Individual bottles available at Whole Foods Market.
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