Siling Labuyo: A diminutive fruit with a fiery goodness

"Noong bata pa ako, inuuna naming tukuran ang mga siling labuyo bago ang bahay kapag may bagyo," Philippine superstar Nora Aunor once said. ("When I was still a child, we would prop the labuyo chili peppers before we did the house whenever a storm comes.") Such is the reverence of Filipinos for the unassuming yet fiery siling labuyo.

Culinary historians and botany experts appear to concur that chilies originated in Mexico, where they were already cultivated as early 3,500 BC. When the conquistadores came and claimed the ancient Indian lands from Central to South America, the Spaniards, as well as their Portuguese rivals, took the seeds of the favored chili pepper and transplanted them to parts of India and Southeast Asia.

From Mexico, the chili pepper found a more direct and faster route to the Philippines. Many believe that the ancestor of the siling labuyo could have found its way to the Philippines via the famous Galleon Trade which plied the waters of the Pacific Ocean from Acapulco to Manila and back again.

"A member of the Mexican crew aboard the galleon may have ingested the seeds of the chili pepper, which formed a significant part of their diet, and quite possibly expelled them on Philippine soil. He could have inadvertently planted the first chili pepper seed in the country," mused Dr. Bart Lapus, one of the brains behind Mama Sita’s line of sauces and mixes (which includes the sought after Mama Sita’s Pure Siling Labuyo sauce) and himself an avid culinary historian.

Through years of isolation on an archipelago surrounded by water, the plant has grown wild, adapting to the islands’ climate and topography, and evolving into a species unto its own.

Today, it thrives at the edge of forests where thick growth meets plain and grassland. Here, in patches of land of shade and sunshine, it grows abundantly. When ripe, the siling labuyo comes in a variety of colors — from the rarely-seen white variety, to green, yellow, orange and bright crimson.

Most Filipinos, though, favor the bright red variety which provides just the right splash of color to stews, sauces and the ubiquitous vinegar dip.

While the gastronomic landscape has seen quite a number of considerable modifications, a few victuals have changed with the times to continue delighting the taste buds — among them, the humble siling labuyo. Thanks in no small measure to Mama Sita’s for transforming the diminutive fruit with a fiery goodness into a 21st century gourmet sauce.

Mama Sita’s started developing the "hottest hot pepper sauce" in 1995. The task of creating the premium siling labuyo sauce naturally begins in the procurement of the best raw chili peppers. Mama Sita’s gets it supply from several small communities of growers who cultivate the plant by hand in the forest edges of Mindanao, and in some areas of the Visayas and Luzon.

"The siling labuyo plant grows best facing the east so that it gets an abundance of early morning sunshine. With the right amount of sunlight and rain, they will grow healthily and hopefully, bear lots of fruits. When ripened, they are carefully picked piece by piece by hand so as not to bruise the fruit," Dr. Lapus describes how siling labuyo is grown and harvested.

After thoroughly washing and cleaning, the harvest is marinated in Mama Sita’s patented rum vinegar to impart a delicate piquancy to the sauce without impairing the fruit’s natural bite. The right amount of salt rounds off the flavor and no preservative is used in processing.

The sauce is then packed in 2 fl. oz. or 60 ml per bottle serving with the signature hotness intact and ready to be unleashed. Mama Sita’s Pure Siling Labuyo Sauce is then contained in attractive branded boxes to prevent the sun’s ultraviolet rays from turning the attractive red color into an unappealing brown.

Today, Mama Sita’s Pure Siling Labuyo Sauce is a much sought-after sauce. It imparts the right zing to stews and soups. It provides the much needed body to dips of all kind. It transforms entrees from ho-hum to hot and tasty. Now, people the world over can enjoy this culinary innovation that mirrors the Filipino’s ingenuity, inherent good taste and passion for the small but scorching siling labuyo — truly, the Philippines’ gift to the culinary world.