Behold Chili Paste with Fermented Soy Bean from the Six Fortune company.

To the uninitiated, this may look oily, spicy, foreign, unappetizing, or weird. But to the initiated, this is a beautiful sight!

I cannot remember the first time I tasted this sauce, but I do know that at some point in my life the flavour was burned into my mouth and mind.

My parents and brothers have always been open to new tastes, and this sauce was purchased many years ago by someone in our family and we liked it. Our city had a small Chinatown from which to purchase various Asian foods, often without knowing exactly what we were buying or eating. To this day I can remember a certain noodle soup we used to buy by the case because it was so delicious. Yet I have no idea what flavour it was or what was inside.

The problem I and others (maybe?) have encountered is that certain products disappear from store shelves, never to be seen again. Alternatives are for sale, but they don’t match our memories of the original product. Living as I do now, in Japan, one might hazard a guess that getting my favourite Asian products would be easy, but that’s not the case. Yes, I can almost any Japanese product I wish at my local stores (though some products are only sold in limited areas of Japan). But other Asian foods can be hard to come by. I have found similar chili sauces in stores here, but not this product.

Last year I visited a few stores in Canada and even in New York, while in the US in my search for this sauce, all to no avail. And then recently, one of my brothers visited a new store in town and by chance found this sauce! Unbelieveable! You see, the sauce from Six Fortune company tastes the best. I have 3 other jars of similar sauces in my cupboards right now and can tell you without a doubt that Six Fortune’s is the best! Trust me on this one.

And how does one use this sauce? Beats me! I can tell you how I use it, but the people in Taiwan and China probably laugh and roll their eyes at my usage. Nevertheless, here’s how I like it. First of all, a spoonful of this sauce, with an equal amount of mayonnaise, and a sprinkling of sesame seeds in a bowl of white rice is good place to start. Also, adding a spoonful to a bowl of noodle soup, such as ramen makes for a great lunch. With pasta, add a spoonful with a splash of cream, slurp it down, then sit back satisfied. And finally, on sandwiches, mix some sauce with mayonnaise and spread in over one slice of your bread for the sandwich, with the filling of your choice.

Should you ever find this product in Japan, especially here in Naruto or nearby Tokushima, give me a call. I’ll be over before you know it.