The Chile Sauce You Should Bring Home from Vietnam | Eater

"A family-made, artisanal chile condiment from Hội An produced to a 150-year-old recipe and overseen by Tran Van Can (“Ms. Van”), this sauce is simmered slowly over three days and hand-processed in small batches. Made with locally grown elephant-tusk (cow-horn) chiles plus garlic, sugar, salt, sesame, peanuts and vegetable oil, it has a chunky, jam-like consistency suspended in red oil rather than the smooth, acidic profile of Thai sriracha. The flavor is nuanced—umami and earthy with a pronounced fruity sweetness that builds into a slow-burning heat—and its texture and balance let it complement delicate regional dishes without overpowering them. It’s commonly used on cao lau noodles, banh mi, crispy Vietnamese spring rolls, white rose dumplings (banh bao banh vac), as a dip for crackers, and as an ingredient in dressings or pork seasonings. Kept intentionally small-scale to preserve manual oversight and local character, production is limited and the sauce is largely unavailable for export, making it a tightly local, iconic staple in Hội An and the surrounding region." - Hannah Selinger