Last week at our sister pub, I tested out African Dream Foods African Ghost Pepper Sauce. Now it’s time to take their Habanero Chilli Salt to task with some jambalaya.
For you kids just joining us, African Dream Foods gave us 4-item selection of their products to play with. Way back in the ancient times of 2021, African Dream launched with the intent of bringing real-deal African flavor to the world. The idea being that Africa’s climate and soil bring a unique distinctness to the flavor of chile peppers grown there, and that distinctness should translate into unique hot sauces, rubs, cooking salts, and so on. Moreover, you get to feel good twice for buying their products since part of the sale goes toward conservation efforts as well.
Habanero Chilli Salt 101
But on to the Habanero Chilli Salt. It’s a blend of dried habanero and sea salt that comes in a handy-dandy grinder. A few quick twists over your food and bam, you’ve upped the salt and spicy ante just that quickly. On its own, the salt blend kicks off with plenty of salt flavor (being a salt that’s good, since that’s at least half of its job description). The heat joins in a few seconds later, sticks around briefly, and fades out. It’s a medium fire that sings back up for the salt. If you’re looking for finishing salt that’s also a mouth-melter, this isn’t it. You’d have to grind a lot of it into your food to get to that level. The Habanero Chilli Salt is better suited to adding salt with a noticeable spicy bite on the end. If you want more fire, African Dream’s Ghost Pepper Chilli Salt may have the kiss you need.
In my opinion, it’s best for saving the day when a recipe or a restaurant needs a nudge up. I’ll grind it into foods to save the day when I want more salt and a touch more heat. It’s also good to have on hand if you’re traveling and want make sure you have enough kick on hand at all times.
Recipe: Jambalaya with African Dream Habanero Salt
And it’s for the reason above that I used a pre-mixed Jambalaya Wild Rice Blend from a certain manufacturer who’ll remain nameless for my own taste test. The shrimp, chicken, and sausage I seasoned with Chef Eddie Adams’ Cajun Flavor Spices Seafood Blend and grilled up a few days’ back came out great (no surprise there; Eddie’s seasoning is pretty damn good). But that rice blend had about as much flavor as a bag of styrofoam packing peanuts. While that made it a crappy foundation on its own, bombing it with some of the Habanero Chilli Salt elevated it to the level of its meaty companions.
Jambalaya with African Dream Habanero Salt Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breast
- 30 small shrimp, tails and veins removed
- 1 lb diced andouille sausage
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 cooked cups Wild-rice-jambalaya-mix-that-shall-not-be-named (or 2 cups cooked rice mixed with a blend of diced, cooked celery, onion, and peppers, as God intended)
- Cajun seasoning
- African Dream Chilli Habanero Salt
Instructions
- Cook the rice in the rice cooker per the maker’s instructions.
- Mix the chicken and shrimp with a little olive oil and the seasoning, to coat.
- Pan fry the sliced sausage over medium heat until almost cooked through. Add the butter, chicken, and shrimp. Continue cooking until the chicken and shrimp are cooked through, mixing occasionally. This should only take 5-10 minutes.
- Put the rice and the meat blend in a bowl and mix those two crazy kids together. Add the Habanero Chilli Salt to finish to your taste.
