Ethnic minorities living in villages along Muong Khuong district have a long tradition of growing chili. The chili they grow is a rice chili with a small fruit the size of a chopstick head, wrinkled skin, three colors (white when green, yellow when ripe, and red when ripe) with a very characteristic spicy taste, different from other types of chili. Other common chili peppers are sold due to the specific weather and terrain of the Northwest mountains and forests.

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Muong Khuong chili sauce is made from rice chili – a type of chili as small as the tip of a chopstick with a very characteristic spicy taste.

Initially, they only made jars of chili sauce to store in the house for the purpose of serving the dietary needs of family members. Gradually, jars of chili sauce with the traditional hand-pounding method have appeared at meals at restaurants in the center of Sapa town, making diners forever remember the characteristic spicy taste that numbs the tongue. . Since then, jars of Muong Khuong chili sauce have officially ‘transformed’, becoming one of the specialties of the majestic Hoang Lien Son mountains and forests, alongside other famous local dishes such as armpit pig, sturgeon, salmon, sour bamboo shoots, bamboo shoots and even wild shiitake mushrooms.

Chili peppers used to make Muong Khuong chili sauce must be rice chili peppers, and must be fruits that have just reached perfect red ripeness, not green, overripe, or bruised or wilted. In addition, it is impossible not to mention the spices that contribute to the perfect flavor of the rich and spicy chili of the Northwest highlands such as garlic, coriander seeds, dill seeds and even herbs such as Doi seeds, fragrant cinnamon, cardamom, and the special corn wine of the Bac Ha region as well as salt and water. Muong Khuong chili sauce is usually made according to the ratio: 30kg fresh chili: 100g dill seeds: 100g coriander seeds: 50kg doi moi: 3kg garlic: half a liter of Bac Ha corn wine: 3kg salt: 50g cinnamon: 50g cardamom: 5 liters Boil water and let cool.

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The chili peppers used to make the sauce will be carefully selected, only medium ripe ones are used, not too green, not too wilted, and not bruised.

Usually, the garlic will be peeled, while the coriander seeds and other seeds will be sifted and filtered carefully, avoiding using rotten or flat seeds because they will directly affect the flavor of the soy sauce. That’s why almost all the ingredients used to perfect this special chili sauce are carefully filtered by the people.

After being harvested, rice peppers will be washed with clean water, removed from the stems, then drained. When the chili is completely drained, everyone will grind the chili and mix it with garlic to make the mixture even. After being washed, the nuts will be roasted until fragrant, then ground separately for each type. Next, the soy maker will continue to mix cooled boiled water with salt, then add the mixture of ground chili with garlic and Bac Ha corn wine into the barrel and let it ferment for about 2 consecutive months from the beginning. When processed, it achieves chewiness and a faint, mild aroma along with a characteristic sour taste.

A special point is that the barrel used to ferment the soy sauce must be a barrel made from oak wood and have a lid tightly covered with a thin towel for ventilation so that the exact flavor of Muong Khuong chili sauce can be produced. And during the incubation period, the soy maker must constantly stir the soy sauce to avoid fermentation. At the end of the incubation period, the chili sauce will be poured into small jars and jars and then sold at ethnic minority markets.

Anyone who uses Muong Khuong chili sauce will comment that the sauce has a very special spicy taste along with the gentle aroma of fresh chili, herbs and ingredients from the old forests in the Northwest, creating a unique flavor. The taste is so unique that it seems like no bottle of chili sauce in the lowlands can have such an exact flavor.

The bottle of chili sauce with the traditional handmade method of ethnic people in the mountains and forests of Hoang Lien Son can be combined with all dishes on the daily dinner table, such as dipping with hot, fragrant grilled skewers, Boiled meat dishes, delicious pieces of grilled squid and delicious buffalo meat. In addition, ethnic people often use chili sauce when eating spring rolls and even use it as a spice to marinate dishes or broth.

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A fragrant piece of buffalo meat dipped in spicy Muong Khuong chili sauce, what could be more wonderful than that?

On the occasion of the end of Tet, after a year of hard work in the fields, people in the small district of Muong Khuong often gather around a kitchen with glowing red coals, sharing each piece of buffalo meat. In the kitchen, you can dip a little chili sauce and sip glasses of corn wine with a very unique flavor. It seems that it is the spicy taste of the chili sauce and the warmth of the corn wine flowing through the throat that dispels the cold of the Northwest winter days and brings people closer together. That said, sometimes it is these small, simple jars of Muong Khuong chili sauce that are the thread that binds people closer together.

Muong Khuong chili sauce – a ‘small but powerful’ bottle of sauce from the Northwest mountains with an irresistible spicy flavor that makes many diners remember it forever if they have the opportunity to taste it once. Don’t miss the opportunity to tear off a piece of buffalo meat and dip it in some spicy chili sauce when you come to Sapa.