A spicy dipping sauce will add a kick of flavor to your grilled dishes.
Cooks often find it hard to please everyone; some people inevitably enjoy mild-tasting food, while others prefer hot, spicy dishes. Serving a spicy dipping sauce with a meal allows guests to tailor the flavor of their food to their particular liking. Spicy dipping sauces from other countries are also an excellent way to turn ordinary dishes, such as grilled chicken skewers, into something different and exotic.
Asian Sauces
Spicy dipping sauces are quite common and popular in many Asian countries. Nuoc Cham is a dipping sauce commonly used in Vietnamese and Thai cuisines that combines lemon juice, Thai fish sauce, peppers and garlic--although these ingredients can vary and may also include coriander or lemongrass.
Japan has a tonkatsu sauce, which is traditionally served with pork cutlets. The sauce is not hot, but Worcestershire sauce and mustard help make it spicy. The Japanese also use wasabi--also known as Japanese horseradish--to add a powerful kick to other sauces. China also has its share of spicy dipping sauces, including a plum version that is often served with egg rolls and other appetizers.
Middle Eastern Sauces
The spicy dipping sauces of the Middle East are as varied as the countries they come from. Turkey, for instance, has cacik, which is a delicious and refreshing blend of cucumbers and yogurt that is excellent with pita bread.
Muhammara is a spicy dipping sauce that combines roasted red peppers and walnuts and can be served with pita, grilled meats or vegetables. It is popular in Lebanon, Palestine and Syria.
Mexican and South American Sauces
The salsa -- which actually translates to sauce--found in Mexican restaurants is the most common and well-known of the spicy dipping sauces from south of the United States border. Depending on the peppers and other spices used, the heat of a salsa can range from pleasantly spicy to downright painful. Habernero peppers are considered to be one of the hottest chile peppers available at the grocery store and if you eat a salsa that contains it, you will definitely know it.
Of course, South America and Mexico are blessed with many other spicy dipping sauces, including Brazil's molho apimentado, which is commonly used to add flavor to grilled meats, and Colombia's Aji Picante sauce, which is served as a condiment for many types of dishes.
American
Americans enjoy a variety of spicy dipping sauces. Buffalo sauce, which was first made in Buffalo, New York, is a popular sauce used as a marinade for chicken wings, but it can also be used as a dipping sauce for appetizers such as chicken nuggets. Barbecue sauces, which can range from mild to very spicy, are also often used as dipping sauces.
It is probably not surprising that an area famous for its food, New Orleans, Louisiana, is also well known for its own version of the French dipping sauce remoulade. The sauce can be found accompanying a variety of dishes, as well as being used on a variety of food, including shrimp remoulade, one of New Orleans' most popular dishes.
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