I love spicy food, especially Thai and Korean food and I’m always partial to a curry. When I was asked to try out Chancham Caribbean products, I didn’t hesitate and agreed immediately! I had tried to cook mild Caribbean food before and my children enjoyed it, so I was looking forward to trying Chancham out.
I received two jars of Chancham marinades (Hot Jerk and Zingy Chilli) and a bottle pepper sauce. So I decided to use my Pyrex slow cooker to stew the meats for the Hot Jerk sauce and separately for the Zingy Chilli sauce.
Chancham marinades are made in Britain using 100% natural ingredients and there are four varieties to choose from Hot Jerk, Zingy Chilli, Spiced Tamarind and Mild Smokey. Hot Jerk is 4 (out of 5) chilli hot and Zingy Chilli is 3.5 chilli hot. So I didn’t offer them to my children on this occasion as they would have found it too spicy. These marinades are simple to use straight from the jar onto the meats and best served with rice. Each jar is enough to make a dish to serve 5 people. Once opened, keep it in the fridge for up to two weeks.
Hot Jerk is made with its blend of scotch bonnet chillies, black pepper and thyme. They are really spicy but at the same time, it has a hint of sweetness. I really love this flavour. I used 8 chicken thighs with a jar of Hot Jerk and added a jar of water. I stew it in my slow cooker for an hour. The meats are very tender and tasty! My house did smell of very strong spices afterwards so good ventilation required!
Zingy Chilli is quite spicy and it’s a gradual heat that gets hotter and hotter in your mouth the more you eat! Mr C and I needed a glass of water each to calm it down. Mr C loves it. I don’t mind the tasty but I got a strong after taste with this one. For this recipe, I used pork ribs and again, I stewed it in my slow cooker for an hour until the sauce thickened.
All Chancham marinades can also be used as a flavouring in all kinds of regular dishes in the base for stews or gravies etc. All Chancham products are gluten free and suitable for vegetarians. The marinades are priced £3.20 for a 210g jar and you can buy online from their website.
The Chancham pepper sauce contains a punchy blend of habanero chillies, red onion, mustard and turmeric. It is fresh, pure and adds a hot fruity kick to anything you add it to like burgers, stir fries or sandwiches. The sauce was originally created using a secret family recipe served in the Chancham Reading cafe, but when more and more customers started asking for bottles to be filled to take home, a family business then evolved to meet the demand.
I am not a big fan of the pepper sauce as I’m not keen on the strong vinegar content (I’m not very keen on vinegar full stop). I can only handle a small dip of the sauce on my grilled chicken. Mr C loves it but it is not for me. You can find their bottles of Chancham Pepper sauce in selected Asda stores, plus online where there are also great recipes and promotions.
I would recommend the marinades if you like fully flavoured foods of varying spiciness! They are definitely marinades I would buy in future to cook delicious Caribbean food for family and friends!
Disclosure: We have received the samples for the purposes of writing this review, however, all thoughts and opinions remain our own.
