Homemade hot sauce adds Hmong-inspired zing to traditional Southern barbecue in St. Paul

"My grandma makes our hot sauce," the cashier told me. "Would you like to try it?"

• Uh, yes please. I left with a jar, and I've been putting it on my morning eggs ever since.

Behind the sauce: "Grandma" is Yue Lee Vang, whose kids run Firebox.

• Her contribution to the business is Mama's Heat, a hot-pepper paste that brings flavor from the family's Hmong heritage into what is otherwise a traditional Southern barbecue joint.

Zing level: "This is a perfect spice level," she explained through a translator — her daughter, Bao — "because it allows you to still taste the other ingredients and flavors."

My thought bubble: My Nordic-Anglo taste buds struggled with it at first. But I also learned a small spoonful is enough to infuse your food with a complex, smoky buzz.

• The sauce has an herbal quality that Vang calls "minty-ness."

What's inside: Peppercorns; red peppers Vang picks herself; and padek, a traditional Lao condiment of fermented fish sauce that I think adds a hint of kimchi-esque taste to the sauce.

If you go: I bought my jar for $14.99 and it'll last me a good, long while.

Go deeper:

• We taste tested under-the-radar Twin Cities hot sauces
• How cottage food laws shape Minnesota's small-batch hot sauce scene