Condiment Review: Sweet Chilli Sauce

Hot and Sweet, scorching and saccharine, Sweet Chilli Sauce brings together the diametric opposites of the flavour spectrum. This timeless culinary combination has ruled over our palates for as long as man has felt the urge to dip deep fried carbs into tasty slop. Bringing these extremes together in harmony is nothing less than alchemy itself.

Like all the best women, Sweet Chilli Sauce is a condiment divided: dual, complex, difficult to read. Not to be second-guessed, she is all sweetness and light on first acquaintance, massaging your ego with flattering pleasantries and fluttering eyelids. But beneath this charming exterior lies an angry temper, an irascible fire. Treat her unkind, overload on her enslaving qualities and she will leave you singed. Do not cross this sphinx; she has a dark side.

I thought my taste buds could do with a bit of invigorating for this challenge so I took the train to Brighton where there were plenty of fresh-tongued Condimentalists eager for a taste off. I packed my bowls, scoured the streets for every sauce in town, and putting a mound of prawn crackers in the middle of the table, let them do the rest.

In 6^th place:

Yeo’s Sweet Chilli Sauce (375ml) - £1.45 (from Taj the Grocer in Brighton).

The Condimentalists were left unconvinced of that of this one’s claims to even be in the competition. Suggestions that it might be a Worcestershire-Ketchup hybrid masquerading as Sweet Chilli did not bode well. Acidic and shit: avoid at all costs.

In 5^th place:

Sharwood’s Sweet Chilli Sauce (150ml) – £1.39 (from Sainsbury’s).

Essentially the sweet and sour sauce from a Chinese take away that’s been left out over night in its polystyrene container. Plenty of sweet, but the heat was irritating not invigorating.

In 4^th place:

Blue Dragon Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce (380g) – £1.89 (from Waitrose).

Texturally too smooth and lacked body. Over eager on the spice, over zealous on the vinegar, with nothing much in between.

In 3^rd place:

Mae Ploy Sweet Chilli Sauce (730ml) – £2.89 (from Taj the Grocer in Brighton).

Extremely aromatic; if I closed my eyes the wafts of Thailand aroused concerning memories of a mind lost to a full moon party. Complex flavours let down by an overly thick texture.

In 2^nd place:

Encona Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce (285ml) – 99p (from Waitrose).

A classic fruity sauce with an afterglow to die for. Visible slivers of chilli hung ticklish in the thick jam releasing a fire when aroused. Encona Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce had all the right ingredients, but perhaps lacked the perfect balance of flavours to walk away with the prize.

And in 1^st place:

Tiger Tiger Sweet Chilli Sauce (200ml) – £1.65 (from Taj the Grocer in Brighton).

A classic fusion of sweetness and spice supported by a durable texture that hung tantalising when dipped. Showing all round excellence, Tiger Tiger Sweet Chilli Sauce dominated the field on all fronts and was a deserved winner. Buy it, dip it, and enjoy the alchemy.

Tiger Tiger Sweet Chilli Sauce - Winner of the Condimental Sweet Chilli Sauce comparison.