It’s a special sauce, it Thousand Island, no it’s
Fry Sauce!
If you don’t live in Utah or if you haven’t seen Guy Fieri on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, you probably have no idea what I’m talking about right now. It’s okay, I only recently learned of the existence of fry sauce and I might never have had the opportunity to try it if not for Emily Hill (that’s @emihill on Twitter!) who sent me a bottle of fry sauce. Thanks Emily! I knew I couldn’t get to Utah, so you shipped a little Utah to me!
It’s hard to describe exactly what fry sauce is. The joke is that it’s basically ketchup and mayonnaise mixed together, making what the entire state of Utah calles fry sauce what the rest of the world calls Thousand Island. That’s not too far from the truth, but it fails to fully describe the experience that is fry sauce. Maybe it’s the air in Utah, but from what they tell me, calling fry sauce Thousand Island misses the mark.
I know it doesn’t come close to explaining the spicy taste (mainly flavor spice, not hot spice, though there is some of that) of Some Dude’s Fry Sauce. By their own admission, they use additional ingredients like chilies, garlic, and plenty of “secret spices” I can only begin to guess at.
Even if I can’t guess at the spices, I can tell you that despite the jokes about Thousand Island (and my general disdain of Thousand Island dressing), Some Dude’s Fry Sauce is good. I mean real good.
So What Do I Do With Fry Sauce?
Well… the obvious answer is put it on French fries. That seems to be the Utah tradition. That and burgers. I heartily endorse both. Some Dude’s also recommends chicken, fish, hot dogs, and shampoo (well, not recommends so much as points out it has been used as a shampoo.)
To that list, I would also add:
- Dipping Sauce for Wings
- Dipping Sauce for Mozzarella Sticks
- Salad Dressing
- Sandwich Spread with Corned Beef, Sauerkraut, and Dill Pickles
- Topping for Tomato Soup
- A Finishing Sauce For a Potato Torte
So as you can see, there’s all sorts of things you can do with the sauce. So, now all that’s left is to head to Some Dude’s site, order a few bottles and enjoy!
Ahhh we drive Loooong distances to find good fry sauce!!
We’ve found two in Oregon so far.. Dave’s Brawny Burger here in Kfalls (I’m not joking about the name…) and we found an Arctic Circle in Newport, Oregon…of all places.. I thought they were only in Utah/Idaho! Who knew!
I must be missing out on the quintessential fry sauce experience. Like it was good. And I’d definitley order more, but to search it out.
Although, incidentally, my sushi restaurant serves “Yum yum sauce” for the steakhouse part. I think Yum Yum sauce is Fry sauce incognito! 🙂
Fry sauce really is one of those odd, but tasty, things that’s hard to explain. If you want to make your own, you could try my recipe. My kids and I went through several taste tests to come up with this one. I can’t decide which was more fun, finding the right combination or messing around with my kids in the kitchen. http://mormonfoodie.blogspot.com/2007/02/fry-sauce.html
This is great stuff. A guy in New Orleans, who was actually from S.C. turned me on to Fry Sauce in general. I was raised in MN and had never heard of such a thing… I found “Some Dude’s” in Sacramento and had thought it was a southern thing. Anyway, this is Very Good stuff!!!
Wow, I didn’t know you could get Fry Sauce outside of Utah, at least not in a store. I’ll have to look harder for it.
Though that’s quite a story. You from MN, found about it from a guy in New Orleans who was from South Carolina! 🙂 I swear I thought Utah was the only place for fry sauce!