This is the seventh hot sauce I’ve reviewed from Jade City Foods, getting far deeper into their selection of Godzilla themed sauces than I ever expected. For this entry I’m looking at Hedorah’s, the Dark Gaseous Nebula of the Orion hot sauce. This is a red jalapeno and space chili based entry. So how is the heat and taste for this particular one? Does it live up to being kind of murky like the Smog Monster itself? As it turns out, no… it’s kind of a red, stereotypical hot sauce, both in appearance and also a bit in flavor.
Heat
This hot sauce is given a heat score of 8/10, although technically some of the hot sauces in this line reach 11. Tasting it, there was some heat… but wasn’t very hot. Feels like the rating was a little off on this one, although I realize heat is subjective for people. I was having the Megalon God of the Seatopians hot sauce around the same time as this one, which is a 10, and the contrast in heat between them was night and day with the Megalon one being so much hotter.
Taste
First off, this is a very watery hot sauce. A dipper would have been great for more controlled pours because of that, but that’s very rare on these hot sauces with only the Biollante Mutated Rose Hot Sauce having it so far from the ones I’ve reviewed. As for the taste, the smell will probably give it away as it not just smells very vinegary but smells very similar to the Crystal hot sauce, a brand of Louisiana hot sauce by Baumer Foods. As a result, the best way to describe this is a stereotypical hot sauce flavor. When mixed with food it lacks the uniqueness found in other hot sauces in the line despite having agave in it. The coffee fused Gabara Malicious Dreams of the Electric Deity hot sauce or the pineapple Mothra Queen of the Monsters hot sauce feel a lot more interesting.
As for what it might pair well with it, I’ve only had it with Mexican food so far. The food itself was chips and tacos, pictured below. Speaking of, my wife noted when I was taking the picture that it would look better with radishes… it did not, but for giggles I’m showing both below.
I tried the hot sauce on its own, without any food, and the flavor actually came through better. I actually tasted the hint of agave I missed when having it with Mexican food. It did taste a bit too salty though, and surprising the sodium level is the same on this one compared to other Godzilla hot sauces. Anyway, as a result, it might pair better with blander food. Given the similarities to Crystal hot sauce, I’d imagine this would also pair very well with oysters.
Dark Gaseous Nebula of the Orion Ingredients
For the ingredients on this hot sauce, the bottle lists them in the following order: red jalapeno, garlic, onion, space chili powder, agave, vinegar salt. The stand out for me was the space chili powder. Thematically, it works for the extraterrestrial smog monster that the hot sauce is based off of, but was a little curious on what exactly is a space chili. Doing some research… I still don’t know. If it’s from this Italian vendor, it probably just means the peppers are hybrids. If it’s from this Australian vendor, it probably means seeds that literally went to space and experienced zero gravity. Could also, and probably likely, be neither and a different vendor altogether. Basically there are a few products and concepts that carry the space chili name.
As for the nutrition, it’s like other hot sauces from Jade City Foods that I have seen so far. That means 0 calories or fat, but having 100mg of sodium and 1 gram of carb per teaspoon.
Final Thoughts
I wasn’t big on this one. The Jade City Foods hot sauces, while not exorbitantly expensive, do carry a higher price tag. As a result, having this one taste similar to widespread store found hot sauces makes it a bit harder to merit. If you really love Crystal and similar hot sauces, though, this one might be right up your alley as a variant of that as it is more complex in its flavor profile.
