The Big Problem With American Hot Sauce, According To Chrissy Teigen's Mom Pepper
Considering her Thai roots, it makes sense why Chrissy Teigen takes hot sauce so seriously. After all, when the celebrity cookbook author took on the "Hot Ones" challenge, she voluntarily added extra hot sauce to every single wing, and eventually ended up in the hospital for it. The self-proclaimed "hot-sauce freak" clearly takes after her mother Vilailuck "Pepper" Teigen, who ate hot sauce by the spoonful in the Thai food taste test she did with Cosmopolitan.
Based on the fact that Pepper even dunks her fruit in a homemade spicy dip, it's safe to say knows what she's talking about when it comes to the good stuff. Her least favorite of all happens to be one of the most popular hot sauces in the U.S. "The thing that I don't like here in America is the hot sauce has too much vinegar. I would never use Tabasco," she told Cosmopolitan. Pepper however has zero qualms with vinegar, as long as it's used correctly. In fact, according to a vlog on the "Pepper's Corner" segment of Chrissy's YouTube channel, Pepper makes her own vinegar and always has pickled jalapeños on hand — one of the ingredients in her Korat-style pad thai (via YouTube).
Pepper keeps a stash of Thai spices in Chrissy's pantry
While Tabasco obviously doesn't make an appearance in Pepper's debut cookbook, there's certainly no shortage of heat in her recipes or in Chrissy's. "Mostly I just go with the whole Thai pepper," Pepper said of her cooking (via Cosmopolitan).
The influence of Pepper's cooking shines through whenever Chrissy makes spicy food, and it's probably because Pepper makes sure her daughter's pantry is stocked with the best Thai ingredients, which the two showcased together on another installment of "Pepper's Corner" (via YouTube). Chrissy's cooking isn't as traditionally Thai as her mom's, but she is big on Asian fusion with an emphasis on spice. Among her recipes are beef bourguignjang, which is beef bourguignon with gochujang, and spicy miso pasta, which is a twist on carbonara with chili oil and miso.
But one of Pepper's pantry staples that Chrissy uses most often is Tom Yum powder. Meant to be diluted as a base for hot and sour soup, Chrissy unsurprisingly likes to use it instead as an extra spicy concentrated paste to marinate her meat with (via YouTube). We can only assume she learned from the best. It's clear from this mother-daughter cooking duo that the spicier the better — just as long as it's not Tabasco.