Pineapple Express is an all-natural blend of pineapple juice concentrate, apple cider vinegar, roasted bell peppers, onions, lime juice, garlic, habanero peppers, salt, fish sauce and coriander. Aesthetically, it’s yellowish brown, with a decidedly thin consistency which tends to make it more readily used as a marinade or ingredient as opposed to a straight sauce. I must admit that I didn’t find these two aspects very appealing at the outset; however, for me, that’s where the lack of appeal ends. Pineapple Express has a tantalizing aroma rich in, you guessed it…pineapple, yet with noticeable undercurrents of peppers, citrus and garlic. The taste, too, is remarkable with a preponderance of pineapple sweetness, with just the right amounts of tartness provided by apple cider vinegar and lime juice, pungency from roasted bell peppers and habaneros, and what I consider to be Pineapples Express’s master stroke ingredient – fish sauce. At first glance this may seem to be an odd addition to the other ingredients, yet, it is a notable compliment to the other flavors and helps make Pineapple Express a multifaceted “hot” sauce that can be used to great effect in all kinds of foods. It covers the bases of sweet, salty, pungent and savory, and it’s considerably mild making it an exemplary “gateway” hot sauce to those who have more timed palates.
Indeed, the wide spectrum of Pineapple Express’s flavor profile make it suitable for everything from tacos and dips for egg rolls and won tons, to seafood-based dishes such as sushi and bacon-wrapped scallops. I also imagine that Pineapple Express could be used with great success as a base for sweet and sour pork or chicken, and combined with some EVOO you’d have an interesting salad or sub dressing. Its sweet tanginess would also make it ideal in a glaze for ham and other meats, but on its own, its thinner consistency would tend to make it more appropriate as a marinade. Really, the more adept one is in the culinary realms, the more they’ll be able to devise all kinds of uses for Pineapple Express, and I would encourage anyone who’s interested to check out other recipe ideas at www.hotsaucers.com/recipes.
Overall, I think Pineapple Express is a solid start from a new company to the spicy foods industry. It’s flavorful and versatile as a cooking sauce and ingredient, but in my opinion, is somewhat limited by its thin consistency which is not readily applicable to certain foods the way a thicker sauce would be. Taking all this into consideration, I would give Pineapple Express a rating of 3½ out of 5 as a spicy foods product, and would encourage anyone to try it out, and have fun with all the possibilities this sauce can offer. At some point I hope Hot Saucers will develop a complimentary sauce that is a hotter, thicker incarnation of Pineapple Express, but I’m definitely excited to see what else Hot Saucers has in store for the future. (Check out Scott Roberts’ site for his take on Pineapple Express, and podcast interview with Hot Saucers.)
Pineapple Express pairs really well with poultry and seafood, and is perfect for Mexican, Asian or fusion dishes.
