You’ve probably noticed those red jars of chili sauce with a portrait of a middle aged lady beckoning you from the shelves of the supermarket.
Credit: coneybeare @ flickr.com
Laoganma or ‘Godmother’ chili sauce is found all across China and even in Asian supermarkets across the world. That’s right, expats. You’ll still be able to get a taste of your second home when you eventually make the move back. We can confirm via first-hand experience that Laoganma is available in Cleveland, Ohio and Austin, Texas. It’s also available online on Amazon, but at a much higher price point. It’s much more economical to seek out your nearest Asian supermarket.
The story of Laoganma’s fiery sauce is quite an interesting one.
Tao Huabi 陶华碧 was born into poverty in 1947 in a remote mountain village in Guizhou province. Her family was too poor to send her to school, so she never learned to read or write and was married off at the age of 20. She quickly had two sons, but soon after her husband fell ill and died. Tao had to work outside of her village to support her family. She set up a small noodle shop in 1989 in the Nanming district of Guiyang. Although her noodles were simple, she mixed in her own creation – spicy chili sauce with fermented black beans – to give them a little kick. Her friendly personality, kind demeanor, and awesome sauce soon gave her a reputation.
Credit: Steve Long @ unsplash.com
Local customers started swinging by just to buy the sauce and nearby businesses utilized her sauces in their dishes. After a highway was built nearby in the early ’90s, Tao promoted her sauces by giving them to truckers passing through the neighbourhood. The word about her sauce quickly spread and visitors from further and further away paid visits to find out what the buzz was all about.
By 1994, she had shuttered the noodle shop and began to focus solely on her chili sauce. In 1996, when she was 49, she rented a house, hired 40 workers, and set up her first ‘Laoganma’ chili sauce factory.
The brand took off immediately, but she had to fight a long and hard battle against copycats and imitators. Finally by 2001, she won a court battle in Beijing and was awarded ¥400,000 and the exclusive right to her brand. Just look at the copycat below! It even features the same-style portrait. Would it kill anyone to crack a smile?
Credit: The Mala Market Blog
Her company got hotter and hotter (business-wise and chili-wise) afterwards and was doing ¥3.7 billion in sales every year by 2013. The 2015 Forbes list of richest families in China included Tao with an estimated net wealth of almost ¥7 billion. It’s hard to imagine that a mountain villager born into poverty now loves driving cars and owns two Rolls-Royces, a Mercedes Benz, and a BMW. See, kids? You don’t have to go to school to be successful. Just crank up the heat and start playing around with chilies!
Credit: Colin McMurry @ unsplash.com
Tao retired from the business in 2014, quietly selling off her shares in the company, but she remains busy, healthy, and wealthy today.
If you want to give one of her great sauces a try (there are over 20 different varients today), we recommend the chili crisp sauce 香辣脆油 or the version with fermented black beans 风味豆豉油制辣椒.
Just take a spoonful (or less if you’re spice adverse) and toss it in your wok along with garlic, ginger, and green onion when starting to make a dish. Once the ingredients are heated up a bit and start getting aromatic, toss in your main ingredients and let them fry. You’ll love the great flavours that come out in the end result.
Looking for some dish ideas?
-chicken, celery, and peanuts
Credit: Gary Soup @ flickr.com
-beef strips, green pepper, and onion
Credit: puamelia @ flickr.com
-shredded potato
Credit: Edsel L @ flickr.com
-even tossing some in a simple fried rice dish really adds a great kick!
Even though we don’t condone too much home cooking (wink wink) here at Sherpa’s, we love to use Laoganma! Have you tried cooking with one of her sauces before? Let us know what dishes you like to make with them!