This Lao Gan Ma Chilli Sauce with Peanut came from a local Asian market with a large selection of Lao Gan Ma product. Certain items there are perennial, while others seem to rotate in and out of stock. This one we actually mistook for the Lao Gan Ma Spicy Chili Crisp – China. When we asked the cashier to clarify the difference between this (or what we thought this was) and the Lao Gan Ma Spicy Chili Crisp, all we were told was "this one has peanuts". Only after we had a chance to translate the label and search the UPC did we realize what had transpired.
The characters under the LGM logo read: 油 "yóu, oil", 辣 "là, spicy", 椒 "jiāo, pepper". Though expressed in a stylized font, that's what we were able to come up with. Oddly, we couldn't find any characters indicating peanuts.
Main Flavor Elements
- Chili
- Peanuts
- Sugar
Snapshot
- Base oil(s): Rapeseed
- Solids to oil ratio: High
- Flavor Enhancer: MSG
- Potential allergens: Peanuts
- Storage: Store in cool dry place, keep refrigerated after opening
Our Impressions
- Heat level: Medium
- Texture: Crisp chili flakes and crushed peanuts
- Saltiness: Moderate (540mg. per 30gm.)
To better explain, as we said, we thought we were getting the China version of the Spicy Chili Crisp. But after trying it, we were happy to have found another chili oil/crisp to add to our arsenal.
We liked the rapeseed oil base, it provides a mellow roundness of flavor soybean oil often doesn't. The texture of the solids, which are copious, has a satisfying bite, and the peanuts add a welcome extra crunch. In addition to crushed peanut, there are whole peanuts as well.
No alliums here, but the sugar and a smidge of prickly ash add a certain something that made us not miss them. The latter leaves just a touch of Sichuan style numbness on the lips.
All in all, we're glad to have made the mistake and found a new flavor profile to enjoy.
More Ingredient Roulette
Once again, contradictory ingredient information online confounds us. The jar we purchased has an all-Chinese label augmented by an add-on label in English, with an ingredient list as shown in the section below. Lao Gan Ma's China website says the product contains "rapeseed oil, garlic chili, peanuts, MSG, salt, sugar, Sichuan peppercorns". We weren't able to remove the add-on label from our jar to see what the Chinese verbiage underneath actually said.
A website showing the US export version of the product with English labeling says this same UPC contains "soybean oil, chilli, peanut, salt, sugar, sichuan red peppercorns, flavour enhancer- e621 (MSG).
It's entirely possible that there exists a situation similar to the two Lao Gan Ma chili crisps, where one contains the soybean oil-based formulation. What little portion we could see of the ingredients on the image appears to bear out this scenario.
Ingredients
From our jar's add-on label: Rapeseed oil, chili, peanut, food additives (MSG), edible salt, white granulated sugar, prickly ash.
More Information
Brand: La Gan Ma
Style: Chili sauce with peanut
Price Paid: $3.99 / 7.4oz.
Country of Origin: China
Manufacturer website: https://en.laoganma.com.cn/?type=productinfo&S_id=117
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