Extremely hot sauce by Kanzuri
FERMENTED RED PEPPER SEASONING, "KANZURI" THAT IS UNIQUE IN THE WORLD.
Passing winter with eating hot, spicy food is one of the options to enjoy the weather. In "Myoko" (妙高) city of Niigata prefecture, there is a perfect seasoning called "Kanzuri" (かんずり). It is fermented red pepper seasoning which takes 3 years to complete.
Salted red peppers are exposed on snow to remove harshness and mixed with Japanese citrus and malt for fermentation. It is used in various Japanese cuisine such as "Nabe" (Japanese pot cooking), ra-men, miso soup, natto, and even as a seasoning instead of wasabi.
The fermented red pepper seasoning is made by a company, "Kanzuri". Since it takes years for the product to be completed, the company had been facing financial difficulties. Yet they are very particular about the main ingredient, red pepper. Kanzuri have never dipped their hands into cheaper oversea's red peppers and instead, grow red peppers on their own to maintain product quality.
Kanzuri has now become deep-rooted popular product sold Japan-wide. This time, I'd like to introduce the "kanzuri" and extremely hot sauce made with it. Three types are available, from the mildest, blue, red and gold made from different kinds of red peppers.
Kanzuri, (かんずり)
Price: ¥540
47g a bottle.
Strong smell of citrus and fermented red pepper from an opened bottle. The smell doesn't stick to the food when used.
Use only a little bit because this spice is quite hot and salty. I would start by small amount and add little by little if I were you.
Featured products in this "Kanzuri" post are these, extremely hot sauce. These hot, spicy sauce are made from soy sauce and kanzuri, and blue habanero, red habanero, and Carolina reaper are added.
I made pizza-toast to try these sauce, use them as Tabasco. Let's take a look one by one.
Wafu gekikara sauce "Kaminari" blue, (和風激辛ソース 雷 青).
Price: ¥432
Ingredients: Soy sauce (including wheat soybeans), habanero, kanzuri (pepper, citron, yuzu, salt)
Extremely hot sauce, but the most "mild" one out of three. Give it a go.
How much this sauce can be hot is unknown. Start by a couple of drops.
Moderate, I would say, was very nice. The flavor of kanzuri and blue habanero seems getting along. The spiciness is hot but moderate, could eat this forever.
Wafu gekikara sauce "Kaminari" red, (和風激辛ソース 雷 赤).
Price: ¥432
Ingredients: Soy sauce (including wheat soybeans), habanero, kanzuri (pepper, citron, yuzu, salt)
Just can't think outside the box. The red color looks very spicy.
Missed a spot and put more than I intended.
The spiciness is tolerable even though putting like 8 drops. It is very spicy but the flavor of kanzuri felt a bit stronger than blue. Still, the blue is my favorite.
Wafu gekikara sauce "Kaminari" gold, (和風激辛ソース 雷 金).
Price: ¥540
Ingredients: Soy sauce (including wheat soybeans), carolina reaper, kanzuri (pepper, citron, yuzu, salt)
The package of this sauce is cool but it also tells me how dangerous this can be. I was caught up with taking photos, I completely forgot to do one very important thing. To have a glass of water aside.
The red pepper breed, "Carolina Reaper" was once recognized as "the hottest red pepper" in 2013. The official record of Scoville scale for this red pepper is 1,569,300.
Only a couple of drops... Let's try.
The drop touched my lips and soon it started to burn. THIS IS HOT! Looked for a glass of water and surely couldn't find it. So I ran to the kitchen.
Despite the fact that it burns, it is edible and allows you to enjoy the food. (There are some hot sauce that kills the taste of the food. This doesn't.)
For even someone like me, eat a lot of spicy food, this sauce is very spicy. Just DON'T rub your eyes without washing your hands.
Where to buy: "Kanzuri"
You should be able to find Kanzuri products in high-end supermarkets or department stores through out Japan. Especially in Tohoku area, it is fairly easy to find in many stores.
If you are visiting Niigata prefecture or staying near, recommend to visit Kanzuri's main shop.
Kanzuri.
Address: 437-1, Nishijo, Myoko city, Niigata
Open hours: 8:30 to 17:30
Closed on: Sunday and National holidays
Kanzuri official site.
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