Well, I couldn’t resist.  I had to try a little bit of the wicked ghost pepper powder that I made a few days ago.

It’s funny.  Normally, when describing a recipe, I might say, use a tablespoon of this and a teaspoon of that but, when it comes to ghost pepper, I think much smaller.

As an example, here is the rub that I used for two large chicken breasts, before breading and frying them.

1 ½ Tbs dried onion flake (crushed into a powder)

2 tsp smoked paprika

1 Tbs salt

2 tsp Tajin seasoning

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp ghost pepper powder

If I did the math right, the amount of ghost pepper in the spice mix is about 13%.  At first thought, 13% doesn’t sound like much but, when that 13% is ghost pepper, it’s impressive.  The curious thing is, when I use a spicy rub on chicken, prior to frying, much of the spiciness diminishes during the cooking process.  So, even though this was a robust amount of ghost pepper, the spice rub didn’t make the chicken unbearably spicy. 

However, the sauce that I prepared for the chicken bumped up the heat, just enough to make me grin with satisfaction.

3 Tbs soy sauce

2 Tbs sriracha sauce

2 Tbs Louisiana hot sauce

1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce

¼ tsp ghost pepper powder

See the difference in the ratio of ghost powder in the rub compared to the sauce?

The total amount of sauce is about ½ cup and the amount of ghost pepper powder in the sauce is a mere ¼ teaspoon.   But that’s plenty!  Any more ghost pepper and the sauce would be ridiculously hot.  

I like this sauce.  The overriding flavor comes from the soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce.  The heat provided by the hot sauces and ghost pepper gives it a nice, spicy kick.

A parting thought…

Tread lightly when adding spice to your sauces.  You can always keep a secret stash of wicked sauce on the table.  Don’t wreck a great meal for others just because you want to push your own taste buds to the extreme.  Same goes with sugar or salt.  Be kind. Be bold. Come back for more when you’re hungry! – The Pick