Sentimental associations
It isn't just its flavor that's earned Lao Gan Ma a special place in many fans' hearts. For the creator of the Facebook page - 39-year-old Simon Stahli, an artist and photography teacher from Switzerland - the chili sauce is a memento of times past.
"It elicits an exciting time in my life - a time when I made many close friends."
He was first introduced to the sauce in 2002, when he was studying filmmaking in the UK, along with classmates from everywhere in the world. That's where he met his wife, a Chinese woman from Guiyang, where Lao Gan Ma comes from.
He remembers one particular Christmas dinner hosted by his British classmates, with "very dry turkey meat, greasy Yorkshire puddings, over-boiled brussel sprouts and potatoes."
"I had to suppress my laughter when I heard all the Chinese students discreetly mention how 'nanchi' (not tasty) it was," Stahli said. Fortunately, a jar of Lao Gan Ma came to the rescue, adding flavor to the lackluster dishes.
"Anything can be made edible with some Lao Gan Ma!" he said.
Stahli instantly fell in love. "It's a perfect combination between the oil, the chili flakes and the fermented beans. Not just the taste, but the variety of the textures is just perfect."
Since then, Stahli has been working to convert those around him to the Lao Gan Ma way, starting with the Facebook page, which he launched in 2006. In the beginning, he says, the group didn't really go anywhere.
"It had just five followers for a long time," he said. Among the early followers were a fair share of homesick Chinese students.
In recent years, though, he's had more success, in part, he thinks, because people's palates are growing more open-minded. He's introduced Lao Gan Ma to a number of friends and family members, successfully converting his sister and cousin, among others.
Another fan is 30-year-old German Christian Michael Mengeu, who loves the subtle spiciness of the sauce and the fact that "it adds flavor to everything." He said he puts in on rice, pasta and even baked potatoes.
"I love the combination of the salty, oily chili flavor it adds."
Though he now lives in Amsterdam, where he studies business management, Mengeu spent his teenage and young adult years in Beijing before leaving China in 2014. For him, the sauce is "always associated with home cooking" of the kind "your grandmother would make."
"I think that's the brand image Lao Gan Ma should stick to. It's very homey and feels like comfort food to me."
While most foreigners won't share the same nostalgic associations as Mengeu, he believes that foodies in the West are increasingly interested in experimenting with Asian foods.
"A new hip Chinese sauce could get popular, just like Sriracha," he said, referencing the Thai chili sauce that in many parts of the world has become a popular staple.
A fusion of East and West
According to Stahli, influenced by neighboring countries like France, Germany and Italy, Swiss people embrace a variety of breads and cheeses, as well as Italian imports like pasta and pizza.
"Spicy foods are traditionally not on our menu at all," he said. But he says he's noticed that Lao Gan Ma works well with Swiss food.
Anneke Garcia, 34, considers Lao Gan Ma "very special, fancy and exotic," and says it often impresses her friends when they come over to dine.
An instructional designer and mother of two children, Garcia lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, where, luckily for her, there are lots of Chinese grocery stores that sell Lao Gan Ma.
The sauce has proven a hit, not only with Garcia's friends, but with her husband, who's from Honduras. "He eats it on everything," she says.
She added that it goes especially well with Central American and Mexican food, which are staples in her household.
"The best way to incorporate Lao Gan Ma that I have found is in a dish called carne asada (a type of grilled meat usually seen in South America)," she said.
She takes thinly sliced beef and, instead of using the normal sauce of spices, peppers and vinegar, marinates it in a mixture of Lao Gan Ma and lime juice.
"[The sauce] makes it a little spicier and it gives it more umami."
Garcia added that she thinks Lao Gan Ma has big potential in the U.S.
"I think it would be very possible to popularize it here," she says. "Americans really love new foreign foods."
The charm of rusticism
For Stahli, Lao Gan Ma represents something "authentic and unpretentious," as evidenced partly by its packaging, which features a red-yellow-black color scheme and the grumpy-looking Tao Huabi.
"People in the West often like aspects of Chinese culture that may be unexpected to the Chinese - things that would be considered extremely tu (unfashionable, earthy) in China," he said.
He gave an example of a shop in his hometown that does well selling things like old-fashioned Chinese thermoses and enamel washbasins with floral designs, at "eye-watering" prices.
Also, when the Stahli and his wife travel to China, their friends in Switzerland always ask them to bring home some military green "liberation shoes," a kind of canvas shoe that was first worn by the People's Liberation Army and then by ordinary Chinese people dating back to the 1950s.
Stahli thinks Westerners' appreciation for Lao Gan Ma is in line with the growth of the hipster movement.
"Consumers are becoming more sophisticated, and they are looking for the quirky and unexpected," he said.
"People are focusing again on the simple joys of life, and are losing interest in mass market consumerism."
