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Multi-Review: Kato’s Island Sauce
By admin | February 3, 2009 |
Ingredients: Habanero & cayenne peppers, mangoes, mustard, brown sugar, vinegar & spices.
Review 1: Ethan
Kato’s Island Hot Sauce
Last time around (Kato’s Hemi Hot Sauce) I mentioned how I didn’t like the label. This time, it’s the complete opposite. The label for Kato’s Island Hot Sauce is exactly what a label should be: colorful, informative, and fun. So we’re off to a good start here, but I have to admit after the first two sauces from Kato the bar is set very high and I’m not sure how much better things can get. I also find that sauces with words like “island” and “tropical” in their names tend to be less versatile than their simpler cousins. After cracking the bottle open and trying the sauce, I’m simultaneously blown away by the unique flavor (kind of curry-ish, and a little fruity?) but also confused as to what foods I should try the sauce with.
First up: BBQ Chicken burritos and refried beans. Normally I would use a “fun” BBQ sauce, something spicy and maybe a little sweet, but this time I used a regular, run-of-the-mill store bought sauce. Boring, I know, but I didn’t want to interfere with the Island sauce. The burrito is essentially shredded chicken, onions, green peppers, a few spices, and BBQ sauce all wrapped up in a tortilla. Nice and simple. I don’t know what I was expecting. Would the Island sauce work well with the BBQ and the chicken? The answer is most decidedly: YES! After the first bite, I knew I had a winner. I devoured the burrito, doused the beans with more Island sauce and inhaled them. I wanted more sauce! So I went back for seconds and made a second burrito, adding even more of the Island sauce this time. The stuff was literally dripping out of the burrito as I ate it.
Later that week I made a skillet meal with smoked sausage, potatoes, and spinach. It doesn’t sound like a match for a sweet sauce, but I figured what the heck. It couldn’t be that bad could it? I was wrong: it wasn’t bad, it was fantastic! The flavor combination was certainly different, but I honestly can’t imagine any better pairing. Finally, the Kato’s Island Hot Sauce went on some scrambled eggs. I can’t say I’ll use the Island sauce on eggs again, but not because it was bad. It just wasn’t as good as some other sauces.
The Island sauce’s flavor is hard to describe. It’s sweet, but certainly not overly so. It has this smooth curry-like after taste. I have no idea what gives it that flavor, or if that’s even a good way to describe it. In fact, I haven’t even looked at the ingredients. I just know that Kato’s Island Hot Sauce took me completely by surprise and has blown me away. The heat is on the low end of medium on my scale, which makes it perfect for drowning food. It’s been delicious on nearly everything I tried it on, and I wouldn’t change a thing about the sauce.
I didn’t think things from Kato could get better, but they have! Kato’s Island Hot Sauce is not only a sauce I “would” buy, but it is a sauce that I WILL be buying, because I’m all out and I want more!
Review 2: Blackeye the Pirate
Kato’s Island Sauce is a sweet hot sauce with a mango flavor. I sampled this sauce on some Chinese food and with some grilled chicken. The sauce contains habanero peppers, cayenne peppers, mangoes, mustard, brown sugar, vinegar, and various spices. Before reading the ingredients, I sampled the sauce and tasted the mustard flavor and spice. The mustard and mango really stand out but the taste is followed up by the pepper spice. Blending of the peppers and mustard gave this sauce some significant spice. I usually stray away from really sweet sauces, but this sauce wasn’t bad. I think the hint of mustard made up for the sweetness, and definitely adds a lot of flavor. All in all, the mango sauce was my least favorite of Kato’s sauces, but it is still a sauce worth trying if you enjoy a sweet, fruity sauce.
Review 3: Buddah
I have heard the word unique is not a good word for a hot sauce when described in a review. They say it is a reviewer’s way to beat around the bush about not really liking the product. Well, this product is not only unique, but it is a standout amongst all the hot sauces I have ever tasted before, and I mean that in the best of ways. Presently, I do not think I have ever had a product close to this one in flavor.
Island Sauce is a cross between a curry sauce and a mango sauce. I think the thicker consistency is nice for a condiment like this. You do not need much to taste this product on your food, so creating it with a higher viscosity is perfect. It gave me a chance to try it with many more foods than I usually do for my reviews.
One way was the ham and pineapple pizza I bought specifically for this sauce. This slice sent my mouth to happy town real fast. The heat is present, but not too much. The Island Sauce went real well with the pineapple, ham and cheese, which I pulled off the slice at one point just to see the effect without the pizza dough and sauce. It was a good start for this Island Sauce, but I really never had a bad moment.
I saw that my local supermarket made chicken kiev and I wanted to try it with a review. For those that have never had chicken kiev, it is a dish of boneless chicken breast pounded and rolled around cold unsalted butter, then breaded and fried. The result when cut open is a warm buttery liquid inside. Whilst this particular chicken kiev was not as good as I have had in some dining establishments, it was quickly turned around when I dipped it into Kato’s Island Sauce. I would not buy this store bought chicken kiev again, except to specifically use with this product.
I tried some Island Sauce with quiche, mac ‘n cheese and some instant mashed potatoes. In a nutshell, it just worked well with all my meals. The flavor isn’t spicy for me, but it has a trace of heat on certain foods. I think it is a sauce made for the masses. It isn’t a sauce you will pour all over your food because it might overpower your meal, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It has an incredibly strong flavor, much like a lot of curry sauces do. I found that just a few drops on my quiche and I had enough to put the zing in my dish. While I also poured it on the mac ‘n cheese, I thought if I had a good recipe to make a homemade version, this sauce might fair real well inside with the cheesey sauce for a different spin on this traditional American dish.
I think most people would agree that one of the top ways to have hot sauce is to use it with eggs. Will a curry type of flavor work on eggs? I wasn’t sure, but it did work on the quiche and that is made with eggs, so I had to find out. Friends, countryman and people abroad, Island Sauce is one incredible product, and if you choose to buy a bottle, make sure you have it with your scrambled eggs or cheese and onion omelet like I did. Your tastebuds will thank you for it. It was the best use for this sauce for me. I was blown away how well it just worked with my egg omelet.
Kato’s has a real winner with this sauce, and it is by far my favorite of the 4 bottles he sent to TTF for review. If you are not a fan of curry sauces, then I understand why you would not want to try this, but if you are a lover of unique flavors, you would be doing a disservice to yourself if you did not find a way to get this product. 
Kato Productions
205 Whispering Pines Rd
George Town, FL 32139
Phone: 888-528-KATO
Mick, Rita & Kato would love to hear from you. Please e-mail us your questions, feedback and favorite recipes to kato@katoproductions.com
Related Posts
- Multi-Review: Kato Productions’ Down South Hot Sauce
- Multi-Review: Kato’s Hemi Hot Sauce
- Multi-Review: Flaming Joe’s Island Fire Tropical Fruit & Habanero Marmalade
- Multi Review: Condiment Man’s “Mango Fireball”
- Multi-Review: CondimentMan’s Evil Lime Zinger Hot Sauce & Marinade
Topics: General, Hot Product Reviews, Recipes, Reviews | 23 Comments »
Nice reviews everyone, I love the multi-review format. I think it gives the reader a much better idea what the sauce is all about.
Nice reviews everyone. Ethan the skillet pics look yummy! Looking forward to trying this sauce.
Reading this makes me sad I don’t have any more of this sauce…
Wow, excellent reviews on the sauce…. Looks like a must have on the shelf. Going to look at there site now…..
Curry and mango are an interesting combination for a sauce. Any chance Kato will be in New Mexico? All of his sauces look great and I’d love to try them!
:nerd:, is that a special lighting effect your using? We got Luke our 3 year old a digital Fisher Price camera that takes pretty good pic’s
He said you could borrow it 
Maybe budduh just needs a new pair of glasses.
TTF bought him a new camera.
This sauce is different, but in a really good way. It’s one to be had fer sure.
Hahaha, I use unique all the time and I stand by it! Unique is a good thing!
Hey Cap’n, what is the TTF Vision plan? I haven’t gotten my eyes checked in about 5 years because of money. I think my pics do add a certain “unique” quality to the review.
I remember when DK sent me info on the camera, people were having some issues with the blurriness like me. I do think that if I see the pics clearly with my glasses and you see it as blurry, then well I guess I need new glasses. One thing for sure is that Kato’s makes some good sauces. I know Bret has them at Jungle Jim’s now for those of you interested.
I think :nerd:’s spent too much time looking at Earl Miller pics.
Battery issues :nerd:. Not Blurriness. Clean the lens
. 
Battery? There are no battery issues. Sorry, I don’t get your “Earl” reference.
The issues that were stated bout the camera as that it was a battery hog. That’s why I suggested to you to get the rechargeable ones, remember?
My bad on the Earl Miller reference. I meant Bob Guccione. In reference to the soft focus of your photos.
A link to the first review would be nice?
CLICK HERE
CLICK HERE
I see
really likes his instant potatoes and mac n cheese! A lot! 
I’ll be at Jungle Jim’s tomorrow night smoking cigars. I just might have to pick a bottle up.
Parker, the smashed taters buddah uses are really good. I’ve tried a couple packs of em. Idahoan instant taters.
Yeah, buddah keeps telling me those are good. I have see them in the store but not the 4 cheese flavor.
I’ll have to give em a try.
I done a package of the 4 cheese and then added shredded cheese on top and put em in the oven for a minutes. They were pretty tasty.
Hey BD, I posted your
page link here one day. It is quite the cool page. 