Heat Hot Sauce Shop – Chiltepin Aleppo Limon Seasoning

Heat Hot Sauce Shop is one of my favorite places to buy sauces and spices online, not just because of their excellent selection of third party sauces and great pricing, but because they also have a very tasty line of their own in-house sauces, seasonings, and spices. I personally always keep a bottle of one of their Garlic Crunch blends on my countertop and their Habanero Umami seasoning has become one of my favorite all-purpose seasoning flavor boosters. This one is something a little bit different from those – a citrus infused spice blend that looked interesting enough for me to add it to a recent order.

As it says on the label this is made from Aleppo chiles, chiltepin chiles, and lime powder. Some citric acid is used to add some sourness and tartness, and maltodextrin to turn the limes into powder. Maltodextrin, essentially a super-refined starch, is one of those cool molecular gastronomy tools used some fancy restaurants that can turn a variety of different foods into flavored powders.

Aleppo peppers are quiet oily and have an earthy flavor with notes of raisins and sun dried tomatoes plus a bit of a citrusy element. Chiltepin peppers are likewise both earthy and citrusy with a subtle smokiness. These peppers natural partners for the bright sweet tartness of lime. Lime is common in Mexican cooking where the Chiltepins are from, and while lemons and other citrus are more common in middle eastern cuisine lime plus Aleppo pepper seems like a good fit. The flavor of this spice is simultaneously earthy, citrusy, a little bit spicy, with a nice deep chile flavor that blooms more as heat is applied. It’s quite tasty on its own “raw” just sprinkled onto food, and transforms into something new when heated.

I first tried out the Chiltepin Aleppo Limon seasoning sprinkled on some take-out fajitas to add a little extra flavor kick. In that capacity this is successful, though I still prefer the Garlic Crunch for that type of use. The bottle suggests sprinkled on corn on the cob, and always loving an excuse to grill some corn I did just that and did enjoy how it turned it into sort of a poor man’s elotes. The real magic happened when I used it in a hot pan to season some sautéed shrimp. Exposing this seasoning to some hot oil really seems to bloom and open up the spices. The Aleppo pepper flakes in particular seem to develop a more complex flavor with the notes of tomato and cumin coming out. As tasty as this is used dry straight from the jar, it’s even better when you incorporate it into the cooking process.

I’m happy to recommend the Heat Hot Sauce Shop Chiltepin Aleppo Limon seasoning. It’s a tasty way to add a little bit of heat plus a nice citrusy freshness and has a flavor profile that works well with a wide variety of cuisines.

Ingredients: Aleppo Chile Flakes, Chiltepin Powder, Sea Salt, Citric Acid, Lime Juice Powder (Organic Maltodextrin, Organic Lime Juice)

Heat Level: 1/10 This is quite mild, it has a very gentle warming spice but won’t cause any burn