(Photo: CGTN)
It has dominated supermarket shelves in China for decades, and graced the runway in New York Fashion Week – and now Lao Gan Ma chili sauce has found its way to the kitchen (and heart) of John Cena.
The American professional wrestler and Hollywood actor John Cena declared last month that he's a fan of the Chinese brand in a video on China's Twitter-like platform, Weibo.
Addressing his more than 400,000 fans in Chinese – a language he grew to like as WWE grew interest in entering the Chinese market years ago – Cena expressed his love for the Chinese sauce.
"I love Lao Gan Ma! I put it every day on my broccoli. I have a lot of Lao Gan Ma," the 41-year-old said, stressing that his post is not a form of celebrity endorsement.
"This is not an ad and I don't have any connections with the Lao Gan Ma brand," Cena noted.
His sweet remarks about a brand that has whetted the appetite of Chinese people since 1996 spiced the comments section up.
"In the next phase, you can try Latiao, a kind of spicy gluten strip," suggested @ohyear|pilipala.
"Haha. It seems that no one is able to avoid the temptation of Lao Gan Ma," quipped @ChiChai.
"Tao Huabi (the founder of the brand), this charming woman," commented @Aifujieniderouliandan.
The septuagenarian grandmother, who started her life as a street vendor before building an empire with her secret sauce recipe, is nicknamed the "hottest woman in China" online.
Her business has helped Guizhou Province, one of the poorest regions in southwest China, catch up with the economic miracle that was sweeping the country, and allowed Tao to accumulate a wealth that surpassed one billion US dollars by 2015, according to Forbes magazine.
Lao Gan Ma has become an ambassador of the Chinese culture, and Cena attested to that fact.
"As I slowly embrace the Chinese culture, a lot of Chinese people said Lao Gan Ma is [synonymous with] Chinese culture."
A star in the food industry in China, the brand even hogged the spotlight at New York Fashion Week last month. The brand appeared at a show, with models sporting hoodies printed with Lao Gan Ma's logo – the portrait of its founder – and strutting their stuff on the catwalk.
According to the brand's official website, the sauce serves over two million people every day in China. And the demand has even crossed the Chinese borders.
"Those years, we ate noodles with Lao Gan Ma; those years, we ate diced chicken with Lao Gan Ma; those years, it was Lao Gan Ma that made me a chef. It can be used in noodles, stirred rice and steamed ribs. You have it and you have the whole world [of recipes]," an article published on the UK Chinese Students Union said about the versatility of the sauce.
On Amazon, Lao Gan Ma's products received three to five stars, and on Quora, reviewers are raving about the sauce.
"Before I was in Senior high school, I had no idea why Lao Gan Ma gained such great popularity between people. But after my friend shared her Lao Gan Ma with me, I realized how stupid I used to be and utterly changed my mind. For me, it was not simply spicy sauce, but a kind of sauce that fixes almost everything, including rice, noodle and even all kinds of meat," Nachbar König commented below the question of "What do you think of Lao Gan Ma?"
"I have to admit that Lao Gan Ma is one of my favorite chili sauces! It tastes delicious, and it isn't too spicy!!! It's just the perfect amount!" Ang Sung noted.
Lao Gan Ma is one of many Chinese brands that are instantly recognized overseas, including spicy strips, Mayinglong hemorrhoids ointment, White Rabbit milk candy, and Feiyue and Warrior sneakers.