Why is this not hot?

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#1

Good Morning All,

I have a recipe for Cajun Shrimp. The first time I made it, it came out perfect with great heat. Every time since I barely get any heat at all. I’ve tried every hot sauce out there (the entire bottle) and the same thing. My questions is, do certain spices interact with each other to decrease the heat? Here’s the recipe:

2 Cups veg oil
1/4 cut of hot sauce (I’ve used whole bottle)
1 tbls minced garlic
1 tbls olive oil
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp old bay
1 1/2 tsp drdied basil
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 1/2 tsp minced parsley

All the above added to cooked shrimp and marinated overnight. Any ideas on why I can’t get any heat?

Thanks for looking - Diane

#3

I would try a blender to make sure the hot sauce and oil are mixed. If the oil is hitting the shrimp before the hot sauce does, it would hinder the shrimp from picking up the heat.
And it wouldn’t hurt then to add a hot pepper while blending.
Just a thought…

#4

You can try blending your hot sauce together with some spicy chili with seeds. Some smaller versions are real spicy-guaranteed. Or if you can’t get spicy fresh chili, then sriracha or pepper plant hot garlic sauce might be worth a try. Personally, I prefer the small bird’s eye chili to get that spicy sensation.

#5

Thanks for the replies. I will try both ideas. Honestly there was no heat at all, not even a tang. It starting to become a battle between me and this dumb recipe!

#6

What kind of hot sauce did you use. Even tho some say “HOT” they’re not.

#7

Lately I"ve been hooked on “Franks’s” brand hot sauce - and a pepper will sure help - the more seeds you include the hotter it will be!

#8

Does the sauce still taste “hot” on its own? Spices can lose their “zing” if they sit in the cupboard too long.

#9

I’m often amazed how people don’t know about horseradish having to be kept refridgerated to keep it hot.
Once I found a store clerk stocking the shelf with fresh ground horseradish. She was putting it along side the bottles of ‘horseradish sauce’, which doesn’t require being cold, coz they use a chemical for the heat. But pure horseradish must be kept cold. If it gets too warm in you car trunk while you take your groceries home from the store, it can be ruined.
Even when I make cocktail sauce for shrimp, I make sure I refridgerate the chili sauce for the recipe as well, otherwise if at room temp, it can ruin the ‘bite’ of the sauce from the horseradish when mixed together.
One brand I buy, even has the slogan; “Keep it cold, to keep it hot.”

So anyways, back to topic~~~~Seems shrimp have a way of easing the heat when eaten chilled. Tis why we usual add a hot sauce to eat them. They go together so well. So has me wondering now, if maybe the problem is the shrimp. Wouldn’t jumbo shrimp need more heat per ounce than small shrimp, maybe ? And I don’t mean merely coz the shrimp are bigger, but as we all know, the larger the shrimp, the more succulent the flavor of the meat.