Hot

I found an interesting blog.

http://www.hotsauceblog.com/

My personal favorites:
1) Lao Gan Ma (I use it on everything. Get it at your local Asian store.)
2) Chipotle Tabasco (Tastes like barbeque sauce.)
3) Sriracha (Garlicky and mild.)

I was thinking about spicy food after looking at a map of China. The Sichuan province is famous for spicy foods, and it has a very distinct brand of spiciness which involves using lots of peppercorns. It's called "ma" spiciness--"ma" meaning "numb". The food is sorta spicy, but it also numbs up your tongue quite a bit.

If you go a little south or east of Sichuan you also get a lot of spicy food in Hubei and Guizhou provinces (but not too much of the "ma" kind). I've never actually been there, but that's what I've heard. It's still up in the air as to which province boasts the spiciest food. I heard a pro-Guizhou saying on a Chinese TV show once:

"Sichuan ren: bu pa la. Hubei ren: la bu pa. Guizhou ren: pa bu la."

"Sichaun people: Not afraid of spiciness. Hubei people: Spicy? Not afraid. Guizhou people: Afraid that it's NOT spicy."