Bang Bang Sauce: All About This Popular Restaurant Condiment

Bang bang sauce is a sweet, spicy, and creamy sauce that owes its name to traditional street vendors in china's Szechuan region. Nowadays, most restaurants worldwide have it on the menu as a dip or topping sauce for all sorts of proteins and veggies. The sauce requires minimal ingredients and is easy to make at home.

What Is Bang Bang Sauce?

Bang bang sauce is a sweet and spicy, creamy mayo-based sauce that started as a special sauce for Chinese street food in the 20th century. It contains mayonnaise, sriracha hot sauce, rice vinegar, and Thai chili sweet sauce.

Szechuan province had a unique chicken breed that was expensive for most people to afford. After making losses, sellers started selling smaller, affordable chicken pieces instead of whole ones as snacks along the streets.

They made a sauce to top the snack, and it became a favorite. The vendors named the chicken “Bang bang chicken” after the rhythmic sounds of batons hitting on cleaver blades as they pounded the steamed chicken into soft spongy pieces.

Tenderization made it easy for topping sauces and vinegar to penetrate. The traditional Bang bang sauce was mayo-based, creamy, and spicy. It was served with cold chicken, and people loved it!

Fast forward, the U.S.Gbased Bonefish Grill restaurant gave Bang bang sauce new fame. Their Bang bang shrimp appetizer gained widespread popularity in restaurants worldwide.

Sriracha hot sauce brings in spiciness, and sweet Thai chili adds sweetness, while mayonnaise gives the sauce its creamy, decadent consistency. Rice vinegar makes it tangy and acidic. The combination of ingredients makes it a delectable sauce for virtually any cuisine.

You can make Bang bang sauce at home for your chicken, pork, fries, tacos, or the famous crispy fried shrimp.

How Hot Is Bang Bang Sauce?

Bang bang sauce is a blend of spiciness and sweetness. It combines a hot and sweet chili, giving the sauce medium heat and a rating of 1,000-1,500 SHUs.

With a range of 1,000-2,500 SHUs on the Scoville scale, sriracha hot sauce brings the heat in Bang bang sauce.

Thai sweet chili sauce (100-500 SHUs) brings the sweetness.

For comparison, Bang bang sauce is similar in heat to Cholula (1,000-2,000 SHUs), which is one of the milder hot sauces.

Of course, if you make Bang bang sauce at home, you can control the heat level by using more or less sriracha. 

Is Bang Bang Sauce The Same As Yum Yum Sauce?

No. Both Bang bang and Yum yum sauces include mayonnaise. However, they have different tastes, compositions, and colors.

First, Bang bang is a Chinese-inspired sauce. Yum yum sauce is American but with Japanese roots. It’s served in popular Japanese eateries such as Teppanyaki restaurants.

Yum yum sauce has seven ingredients, including ketchup, vinegar, garlic powder, vinegar, sugar, paprika, and some water for consistency. Bang bang sauce often has only four ingredients.

The Thai sweet pepper gives Bang bang sauce a sweet taste while ketchup and vinegar make Yum yum sauce tangy and savory in taste.

Both sauces have a light reddish-orange hue, which is why they’re sometimes confused.

To further confuse diners, Yum yum sauce is sometimes called Boom boom sauce. But Boom boom sauce has the addition of tangy dijon mustard.

What Is Bang Bang Sauce Served With?

Creamy Bang bang sauce works best with proteins, especially seafood, meats, and chicken.

Fried or steamed shrimp – Like at Bonefish Grill, toss your crispy fried shrimp in Bang bang sauce. It’s also delicious on steamed shrimp for a healthier option!

Crispy deep-fried potatoes – Drizzle sauce on your fried potatoes or use Bang bang as a dipping sauce.

French fries – Bang bang sauce makes a delicious topping for your fries.

Onion rings – To jazz up your vegan side, serve Bang bang sauce with fried onion rings.

Fried chicken wings – Toss fried or oven-baked chicken wings with creamy Bang bang sauce. You can even modify the sauce recipe to use buffalo sauce instead of sriracha for a totally different sweet and spicy creamy sauce.

Tacos – Drizzle the sauce over your tacos, quesadillas, or burritos in place of sour cream.

Burgers- Bang bang sauce replaces ketchup, mayo, and mustard for an Asian-inspired burger.

Calamari – Add some sauce to this Mediterranean squid dish, and you’ll love it!

Cauliflower and Vegetables – Fresh steamed veggies and cauliflowers go well with bang sauce.

Seafood served with Bang bang sauce can be addictive. Shrimp, squid, cod, and other seafood have numerous health benefits. While it’s recommended you eat up to 8-12 ounces (two meals worth) of your favorite fish per week to stay healthy, preparation is important. While the occasional treat of deep-fried shrimp is ok, try serving Bang bang sauce with steamed or baked seafood for a lighter fare.

Where To Buy Bang Bang Sauce?

If you can’t make your Bang bang sauce at home, it’s usually easy to find in the Asian aisle of your local grocery store or supermarket.

You can also check out online stores, including Amazon and Walmart.

Keep in mind that any bottled sauce will have added preservatives to extend the shelf life.

How To Make Bang Bang Sauce

Make your own Bang bang sauce at home with just four simple ingredients. The sauce is easy to whisk together and is perfect for a quick dinner. If you’d love a sugary sauce, add some organic honey. Depending on your preference, you can add some lemon or lime juice for acidity and a citrus flavor.

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Bang Bang Sauce Nutritional Information

Bang bang sauce is delicious and high in vitamin C, calories and fats.

The nutritional information per

• 170g kcal
• 18g Fat (Monounsaturated & Polyunsaturated)
• 4g Carbohydrates
• 8mg Cholesterol
• 3 g Saturated fats
• 2mg Calcium
• 3mg Potassium
• 320mg Sodium

Greek yogurt is a healthy substitute for mayonnaise. You can also use vegan mayo instead of regular mayo.