Unless you live in or around Washington DC, you probably aren't familiar with Mumbo Sauce. This sweet concoction has been a DC staple for decades. In the 1960s, a popular fried chicken joint began serving a sweet dipping sauce with their poultry. The sauce was so popular that chicken and Chinese joints all across the city began creating their own Mumbo Sauces. Today, Mumbo sauces can be found in restaurants throughout the DC metro area. Each joint's sauce differs slightly and (of course) everyone claims to have the best.

While Mumbo sauce can be found at nearly every takeout joint in DC, folks living outside our Nations capital have had a hard time getting their Mumbo fix. Capital City LLC has stepped in to meet that need. They've created their own Capital City Mumbo Sauce and ship bottles all across the country.

Mumbo Sauce was completely foreign to me before I stumbled upon their website. After reading about the sauce, I was anxious to give it a try. The folks at Capital City LLC were kind enough to send samples for review.

The sauce is packaged in 12 oz. squeeze and squirt plastic bottles. The sauce is smooth and bright red in the bottle. Capital City Mumbo Sauce is fairly thin, but the restricted mouth of the bottle keeps the sauce from pouring too quickly.

Mumbo Sauce is a very sweet tomato based product. The smooth, glossy sauce also has a slight savory element from the inclusion of cayenne pepper, garlic and soy flavors. Vinegar provides a mildly tangy finish. The Capital City website says that their Mumbo sauce falls somewhere between a BBQ and sweet & sour sauce. I'm inclined to agree. Although, I would say it more closely resembles the sweet & sour sauce from my local Chinese buffet. Capital City Mumbo Sauce is also available in a Sweet Hot version. For those that like it hot, habanero extract is added to the original recipe for a blazing sweet heat.

I used both Original and Sweet Hot Mumbo sauces on several different occasions. First, I tossed smoked chicken wings in Mumbo Sauce straight out of the smoker. The sweet sauce thinned and mellowed a bit after being on the hot chicken. The flavors complimented the smokey wings really well. I also used both sauces as a dip for chicken strips. If you like a sweet sauce, Mumbo Sauce is hard to beat for pairing with a salty fry batter.

Last evening, I improvised using Sweet Hot Mumbo Sauce to satisfy my Chinese food craving. I tossed breaded and fried chicken bites in the sauce and served it over fried rice. The combination of sweet and spicy were just what I was looking for.

As a lover of sweet sauces, Mumbo Sauce is right up my alley. It's great on wings, as a dip or for making your own Asian inspired dishes. If you're looking to try something new ....or a transplant from DC missing the taste of your favorite take out joint, give Capital City Mumbo Sauce a try.