Pass the WUJU: An Interview with the Creator of WUJU Hot Sauce

As far as condiments go, there’s nothing more classic than ketchup and mustard.  Spicy Sriracha also had its moment in the spotlight, adorning salads, sandwiches, dressings, and even keychains, but now it’s gotten a little old.  What will be the next sauce to tickle our taste buds and take the country by storm?

Lawrence Wu says it’s WUJU.

A recent Drexel graduate, Lawrence Wu is the creator of WUJU hot sauce, which he hopes one day will have the popularity of Sriracha and the timelessness of ketchup.

I had the opportunity to interview the entrepreneur, and I even got some free sauce out of it.

Why hot sauce?

Wu’s connection to sauces began in childhood, when he would frequently jazz up simple steamed vegetables with anything from soy sauce to hot sauce. After graduating from Drexel, Wu quickly became disillusioned with the corporate world and was looking for a change.  One night, while dining at a friend’s house, he was struck with inspiration by the home made hot sauce his friend’s father served.  There was nothing else like it on the market, and he decided to put his marketing degree to good use by becoming an entrepreneur.

Why WUJU?

According to Wu, finding the correct name for his product wasn’t easy.  After several weeks of searching for a name that felt right, his friend jokingly suggested WUJU, as a combination of their two names, and the name fit.  It could also be interpreted as WU-Juice.

How did you design the product?

Having no culinary background other than a love for food, Wu used his friend’s dad’s recipe as a baseline and experimented from there.  He loved the fruity and complex elements of the base recipe, but wanted to add his own twist.  He wanted a sauce that complemented the flavors of the food it was to top, not one that overwhelmed it with spice.  After hours of testing, the recipe was solidified, resulting in a sauce that initially hits you with its sweetness, due to the presence of mango and brown sugar, but then leaves you with a fruity habañero burn.

As for the label design, his sister, a RISD graduate, drew it for him, drawing inspiration from a photo of his friend Cody who recently passed away from cancer.  Cody’s sickness had a large impact on Wu, leading him to promise to donate 5% of his profits to the Hope Lodge, a house for people suffering from cancer.

Where can we find it?

The sauce is available at three locations in Reading Terminal Market, in Arch Gourmet, and in several breakfast restaurants in New Jersey.  He is working on getting it into Whole Foods and other gourmet grocery stores.

If you want to try some, donate to his kickstarter campaign, which has already surpassed its goal of $15,000, and he will send you varying numbers of sauce bottles in return!

What do you put it on?

When asked what his favorite thing to put WUJU on is, Wu’s immediate response was Chipotle.  He swears that it’s awesome on the burritos, and I believe him.  After he gave me a bottle of the sweet, milder version, I started putting it on everything from avocado toast to raw carrots.

I highly recommend it on this egg and avocado tartine, recipe below!

Egg and Avocado Tartine with WUJU

1 slice good sourdough bread

1/2 avocado

1 egg

WUJU

Toast the bread, then spread the avocado on it.  Fry the egg, put it on the avocado toast and top with WUJU.  Enjoy!

-Elena Crouch

photos by Elena Crouch