Hot Sauce From Filipino Adobo Traditions

A condiment that almost wasn't

We can only imagine how many delicious ideas are scrapped at the first roadblock.

So praise is due to Tim Parsons on two levels: for his superb new hot sauce, bottled under the moniker Adoboloco, and for his ability to see beyond one failed attempt.

His original intention was to create a traditional Filipino adobo sauce, but when that idea proved too difficult to execute in shelf-stable form, he switched gears.

Using a glut of jalapeño peppers planted as part of his children's home-schooling curriculum, Parsons made his first batch of hot sauce.

The flavor–in which the tang of apple cider and garlic mellow the heat of the chile–drew fast fans in his local community in Hawaii, which prompted the need to ramp up production. Now the bottles emblazoned with Parsons's pet rooster are available nationally online ($7.75 for 10 ounces; click here to buy).

The sauce's name may harken back to the original business plan, but Adoboloco is no misstep.