CHAMCHAM - Hot Bae | Korean Pear Hot Sauce | 148ml

The hot sauce that beat the Americans at their own show

A small Melbourne outfit took a pear-based Korean hot sauce to the New York Hot Sauce Expo in 2024 — the spiritual home of the entire hot sauce industry — and walked out with 2nd Place. Then it took 1st Place at the International Flavor Award in 2025 for good measure.

"Bae" (배) is Korean for pear. That's the whole trick, and it's a good one.

The flavour

It opens sweet and properly fruity — Australian pear and Korean pear puree, not sugar syrup pretending. Then the floor drops into umami: fermented chilli paste, shiitake, yeast extract, soy, all layering up thick and savoury. Heat comes in third and stays interesting the whole way down, more of a slow bloom than a slap. Rice wine vinegar keeps the back end bright so you actually want another mouthful.

Perfect on

Fried chicken. Pizza. Burgers and hot dogs. Tacos. Scrambled eggs. Mac and cheese. Wraps. Noodles and rice bowls. Seafood. BBQ meats. Stir it through mayo and you've got a spicy aioli in ten seconds. One reviewer eats it on cheese and crackers, which sounds odd until you try it.

In the bottle

Burnt orange-red, medium bodied — pourable with a bit of cling, flecked with chilli. Drizzles properly instead of glugging. Heat sits at Hub Heat 5/11: medium-high, fruit-forward, builds across a few bites and settles into a warm hum.

Why it's on our shelf

We taste a lot of hot sauce and most of it is chasing Scovilles. This one is chasing flavour and it caught it — twice, on two continents, in front of judges. Handmade in Port Melbourne in small batches.

See the full range at ChamCham Sauce.

Ingredients: Australian pear, Korean pear puree, rice wine, red pepper paste [red pepper powder, corn syrup, water, salt, onion, garlic, wheat flour, soybean powder, alcohol, glutinous rice, soybean], red pepper powder, red chilli, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, garlic, ginger, black pepper, onion, yeast extract, capsicum oleoresin, shiitake mushroom, xanthan gum.

Allergens: Contains soybean and wheat. Manufactured in a facility that also processes products containing eggs, nuts, sesame, sulphites, shellfish and fish.

Dietary: Vegan. Dairy-free. Nut-free.

Heat: Medium (Hub Heat 5/11)

Size: 148ml

Origin: Handmade in Melbourne, Australia.

Ingredients and allergen information can change — always check the physical label before eating.

The Rub Smuggler's Verdict

Bae is Korean for pear, and that's the trick: fruity up front, a deep umami middle, then heat that blooms instead of slapping you. Shake it over fried chicken made with Atomic Chicken Original Southern Fried Chicken Coating, or splash it over hot dogs piled with Mitch's Preserves Sweet Mustard Pickles. Small bottle, big haul, no customs declaration.