What I knew about yangnyeom sauce before purchasing this bottle from Trader Joe's: zero, zip, zilch, nada.
What I know about yangnyeom sauce now that I've tried it: it's a Korean-inspired product that's got a lot of robust flavor and sass. It's slightly sweet, slightly spicy, and surprisingly not very thick—thinner than your average American barbecue sauce. It goes great with fried chicken and it's absolutely delicious.
Sonia took the opportunity to whip up a Korean hot chicken pizza. We documented the whole thing on video and put it up on YouTube, as we are wont to do these days. It involved pizza crust, cheese, chicken nuggets, cilantro, and this yangnyeom sauce instead of your typical tomato sauce.
It was tasty. We'd absolutely buy this product again and we'd make that Korean hot chicken pizza again, too. Next time we might even follow the instructions and buy all the legit ingredients. At any rate, this sauce gets our seal of approval and an official induction into our Trader Joe's product hall of fame known as "The Pantheon."
$3.99 for the 15.5 oz bottle. Kosher. Not actually from Korea. Both Sonia and I give Trader Joe's Korean Style Yangnyeom Sauce nine out of ten stars.
Neither Sonia nor I are super fond of heavy, syrupy liqueurs like this one by themselves, but as mixers, they can be interesting. Like the bottle suggests, this beverage is bursting with the flavor of passion fruit. It's very sweet and slightly tart, fairly thick yet velvety smooth and devoid of actual fruit pieces like your typical fruit nectar.
And let me tell ya', those Dominicans love their fruit nectars. I had a chance to visit the country on a mission trip in the early 2000s. We helped a little fishing village on the southern coast build a cinder block church on a concrete foundation. I sweated out what must have been about half my body weight each and every day down there. In addition to chugging obscene amounts of bottled water, I sampled these little white boxes full of fruit nectars including peach, pear, pineapple, and yes, even passion fruit. Somehow they were much more delicious than the fruit juices we typically find here in the US.
It wasn't particularly en vogue for the Christian missionaries to slip out of the bunkhouse to sample the local liquors, but if I'd been so bold, I might have discovered a Dominican rum or two back then. Chinola wasn't even founded until 2014, so I still would have missed out on the joy of passion fruit liqueur.
It's not bad on the rocks, but it's still quite syrupy sweet and thick. Mixed with a bit of rum and banana liqueur, it makes a delightful cocktail. It blends quite well with gin, as well. Sonia even enjoyed it mixed with actual banana and yogurt as a slightly spiked smoothie.
$25.99 for the 750 mL bottle. 21% alcohol by volume. Product of the Dominican Republic. Sold at Trader Joe's but not exclusively at Trader Joe's. Might buy again for a specific drink recipe. Sonia and I will go with seven and a half out of ten stars for Chinola Passion Fruit Liqueur.
"If you're gonna have carbs, have 'em first thing in the morning."
That's what Sonia always says. Makes sense. If you eat them early, you burn through them by the end of the day. It also helps optimize your metabolism and other good stuff.
Of course, it doesn't work if you keep eating carbs all day long and into the night. Not that I would know anything about that...
Anyway, we tried Trader Joe's Cinnamon Bun Inspired Pancake & Waffle Mix for the first time the other day and liked it for the most part. Sonia used the mix along with eggs, milk, and butter to whip up some batter and then poured it on her stovetop griddle to make pancakes. Yum.
There are little caches of cinnamon throughout the product, but both Sonia and I found ourselves pining for more cinnamon. The taste is quite reminiscent of a typical cinnamon bun but not nearly as indulgent. Add butter and maple syrup and you're getting a little more richness and sweetness, but it's still not on the same level as a true cinnamon bun in terms of comfort food status.
And for most folks, that's probably not a problem. It's just kind of a fun breakfast item that's not particularly decadent or fancy other than some cinnamon confectionery bits and brown sugar. But still, it's easy enough to make and the flavor is pleasant enough that we'd consider a repeat purchase.
$3.99 for the 16 oz box. We'll give Trader Joe's Cinnamon Bun Pancake Mix eight out of ten stars.
