Little Things We Love About Lubbock: Taco Villa Hot Sauce Cups!

There's a LOT to love about our beloved Taco Villa. The famous bean burritos, combo burritos, taco burgers and, of course there's MY favorite, the TacoRito! But, the one thing we can't seem to get enough of around here is that delicious red gold that is Taco Villa Hot Sauce!

Of course it's great on the items that they sell in the restaurant or through the drive-thru, but have you tried it on anything else?!? I certainly do!

At home, I put it on my eggs, my own homemade burritos and tacos, pinto beans...heck I even basted a brisket with some once. It didn't work, but you get my point.

The other great thing about these little cups of joy is that Tha Villa isn't stingy when they put them in your bag. They'll give you TWENTY of the things to go with your single burrito and not bat an eye!

Which leads me to my next point...

Since they freely hand these things out, and just about EVERYONE in town likes their food, we all have the little cups in our 'junk drawers' at home and at work. The picture above is literally my desk.

I don't keep mine in a drawer at home though. I keep mine in the fridge in a zip lock bag so they stay cold and fresh. I'm obviously very classy!

And finally...

I personally have never seen another restaurant serve any kind of condiment in a cup like these. They're plastic with a paper top and kinda resemble one of those Coffee Mate cups you see at hotels and stuff. Just a little bigger.

The 'proper' way to open one of these and not get sprayed in the face or chest with spicy hot sauce is to use your front teeth in the manner I'm doing it in the picture above. Here's the breakdown:

1. Find the side that has the longer piece of paper hanging off the end. (You're supposed to be able to easily peel it off the top, but it NEVER works for me. Also, I don't want to walk into work after lunch looking like I was just shot when the sauce squirts all over me!)
2. Place the paper between your upper and lower front teeth
3. Make sure your bottom lip is under the rim of the cup
4. Gently tilt cup downward while tilting your head upward and the seal will release. (This causes a little, tiny bit of sauce to get on your bottom lip, but that's what I call the 'flavor savor'!)
5. Pour liberally all over whatever you're eating!

This was my best guess. I looked at the ingredients and guessed at amounts. Let me know what you think.

Taco Villa Hot Sauce Recipe

Version 5

10/23/2018

1 can Tomato Paste

1 can-full of warm water (plus more to thin)

1/3 can of white vinegar (plus more to thin)

1 tablespoon Paprika

1 tablespoon kosher salt (diamond crystal)

1 tablespoon black pepper (industrialized stuff, not fresh cracked)

¾ teaspoon garlic powder

sprinkle of onion powder

sprinkle of cayenne (to taste)

1. Add water, vinegar and spices and mix well
2. Add water/spice mixture to tomato paste and blend well in immersion blender
3. Add water or vinegar to thin out sauce as needed

Give it a try and see what happens!