Trader Joe's Soy Sauce (17.6 fl. oz.)

Item Purchased: Trader Joe's Soy Sauce (17.6 fl. oz.)
Location Purchased: Trader Joe's / 1840 N. Clybourn Ave. / Chicago, IL
Price: $2.99 + tax (01/23/07)

Review: This huge bottle of soy sauce is a bargain for only $3.00. Since my girlfriend and I cook with tofu and other protein cakes made from soybeans, I tend to use soy sauce often. Not in large quantities, mind you, but quite often. Just a little dab of soy sauce here or there can make a world of difference in a tofu dish. Think of the difference between a White Castle Slider and a T-Bone steak from Morton's. There is more to it, of course, but soy sauce is important.

You don't want that sickly sweet sauce that you find in most grocery stores that is made for western tastes. Sure, it's salty, but it almost makes your bowl of rice taste like candy.

What you want, is your soy sauce to have a bite that balances delicately on the fence between spicy and bitter. That's exactly what this soy sauce offers you.

It's also low in sodium, which I didn't even notice until I got home. loses a few fractions of a point for that... I'd rather have had the full flavor regular style.

Rating: 3.75 / 5

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Trader Joe's Jalapeno Pepper Hot Sauce (5 fl. oz.)

Item Purchased: Trader Joe's Jalapeno Pepper Hot Sauce (5 fl. oz.)
Location Purchased: Trader Joe's / 1840 N. Clybourn Ave. / Chicago, IL
Price: $1.99 + tax

Review: I didn't think Trader Joe's sold hot sauce. My girlfriend didn't think so either (and she used to work there). You can imagine my surprise when I found this stuff tucked away on the bottom shelf next to the canned beans and salsa. Okay, maybe you can't imagine my surprise. Hell, I don't even know if I was surprised. I was, however, happy to find it.

The real surprise came when I tasted just a speck of this stuff on the tip of my pinkie finger. Wow! Not only is this pepper sauce hot as August in Arizona, but also fully flavorful. I could actually taste the roasted peppers in all of their breath-gasping glory.

I can't wait to make a rice dish with a splash of this hot sauce mixed in. I'm sure I'll be rolling the complexities around in my mouth as well as reaching for an oil drum of ice water.

A must for all spice-heads! You'll never go back to Tabasco again.

Rating: 4.5 / 5

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