# Sriracha Addiction?



## psycho chef (Feb 1, 2007)

Anybody else addicted to this amazing chille sauce? This affliction is not limited to chef's but it's the one ingredient found in 99.9% of professional kitchens I've worked in, even when the restaurant has no Thai style food. Isn't it amazing how versitile a little capsaisin can be? I use it to wake up flavors in food you would never guess there was "hot sauce" in. 

We eat alot of spanish style food for our family meals and sometimes the staff complain, but only the ones who pass on the bottle of sriracha when it makes it's way around the table...


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## greg (Dec 8, 1999)

Definitely. At work, we used to take turns buying it at the store and bringing it in. I managed to talk the boss into buying us some. A friend of mine says he grew up with a kid whose family makes the stuff. He needs to hook me up. I need it for professional reasons, of course.


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## shel (Dec 20, 2006)

Definitel love the stuff. The more common sauce in many, if not most, parts of the US is the "Rooster" brand, made by Huy Fong foods in California, but if you can find Shark brand, which is a more "authentic" Thai sauce, give it a try. It's my favorite sriracha sauce, and is quite different from the Huy Fong stuff. No additives or preservatives in Shark brand, and, IMO, a cleaner, more defined taste than the Huy Fong.

shel


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

yep, that and chili garlic paste.....really like the sweet chili sauce too, we make crab rangoons with blue crab claw.

Tony Chacere season salt and crab boil is always around too....makes boiled shrimp so much better. I prefer the liquid boil to the dry, if bags of seasoning are around I'll use that first.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

I like it but it doesn't take much of it to light me on fire.


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## grumio (Apr 16, 2006)

I heard a chef on the radio talking about the stuff - she said they call it _Rooster Poo_ in her kitchen...


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## coolcook (Nov 14, 2007)

Maybe we could start a support group or something because i thought I was the only one. The way my mother and many southerners obsess on Texas Pete, I obsess on my dear friend the rooster. Which at home is refered to "Al's cock sauce" by my sweetie. I put it everywhere. Popcorn, eggs, bagels with Nutella, if its edible, it has worn a little sriracha. I'll be hunting up the shark brand to give it a try, though.


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## greg (Dec 8, 1999)

I think our version of a "support group" would probably just entail ensuring we were all well-supplied with the stuff.

Texas Pete is for rookies.


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## coolcook (Nov 14, 2007)

Oh I know TP is for rookies but I'm from Winston-Salem, NC, which is where it is made and bottled. You'd think it was a nutritional supplement around here. If a restaurant or food stand doesn't have Texas Pete, they won't be open long unless they sell something that REALLY appeals to the ladies. They all carry the stuff in their purses...


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

bagels nutella and sirachi?!!! whoa, you are in a whole 'nother league.


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## coolcook (Nov 14, 2007)

Its called living as an independant student. A lot of odd things start looking really tasty, when tuition, books, and rent are due. Unfortunately, once a taste for odd things is acquired, sometimes they don't go away. :lol:


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## psycho chef (Feb 1, 2007)

"Sweet sausage and nutella panini" was a big seller for me in the past. Most ordered it for the curiosity factor...don't know many who had it a second time though.....:roll:


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

gotcha....my first cherub makes ramen and BBQ sauce as a snack. 

Psycho, that's just gross....I'm trying to stretch my mind around hazelnut, chocolate, sweet sausage panini....nope no mole connection really.....

I can see banana, bacon, peanut butter ala Elvis (RIP).

That would be an interesting thread....what do/did you eat when times were frugel?


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

I love hot sauces except that I can taste the preservative in the Sriracha I've had. Wikipedia says

_Thai grocery stores carry the authentic Thai version, which usually has no preservatives and is refrigerated after opening._

I'll try to get some of that.


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

Sriracha sauce, Shark brand, available online from ImportFood.com


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## shel (Dec 20, 2006)

Shark Brand is the real thing, baby!
Sriracha Chili Sauce Condiment or Crack?! 
scb


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

I was in my preferred Asian market today looking for Shark brand because of this thread. They have nice big bottles of it. And it's cheaper than the rooster brand. Lower salt too which is good for me. 

Phil


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## oahuamateurchef (Nov 23, 2006)

I've been meaning to order that Shark brand stuff. I'd rather only buy 1 bottle to sample first, but I can't see spending $3.50 on a bottle only to pay $7.50 for shipping. I can only find Hoy Fung, and another even worse brand out where I live--even in Chinatown. I suppose I should just breakdown and buy 5 bottles...:crazy:

You know what--Done ! I just ordered 5 bottles.

Does anyone know how long the shelf of it is? I don't know how fast the two of us can finish them.

Oh, and shame on Ming Tsai. I just read his Blue Ginger cookbook--he lists Sriracha as from Vietnam! Guess he never gave any thought to look on a map.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

I see it on the tables in most vietnamese places, but rarely in Thai places. Not to say you're wrong, as the Shark brand is Thai as I recall. But I see it used more in Vietnamese recipes too.


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## oahuamateurchef (Nov 23, 2006)

Ming Tsai mentioned first tasting Sriracha in a Vietnamese restaurant when he was a kid. Yes, I agree that Sriracha is found on the tables in Vietnamese restaurants, not so much Thai restaurants.

What I'm getting at is the irony of it all: Sriracha, Thailand, literally, is named after the town where it came from. :smiles:

I can understand a celebrity chef like say, Alton Brown, messing up an Asian ingredient's origin (ever hear him pronounce the Chinese meat, Cha-shu? Spelled Char-sui (think Alton saying, Charrr-Sweee!), but Ming Tsai should know better. Especially considering the name of his Restaurant and cookbook is _Blue Ginger_, which is another name for *galangal*, the Thai ginger! (Alton's galangal pronunciation is humorous too)


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

Yes, i got your point. On the Cha Shu, I've seen lots of different spellings though Char Sil is the one I see the least.

Phil


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

Sri Racha is indeed a locale in Thailand. The guy that started "Rooster" brand ("Huy Fong"), David Tran, is a Vietnamese immigrant. He had a company in South Vietnam making hot sauces, including a Thai-style sriracha, until reunification. He fled to America shortly afterwards. The boat he left on was called Huy Fong. Like a few other immigrants -- for instance the guy who started Tapatio -- when Tran got to Los Angeles, he thought to himself, "Great country, too bad they don't have any good hot sauce." The rest is history. 

For what it's worth, I like Shark, I like Rooster, I like Por Kwan. Rooster is the hottest and most straightforward, Por Kwan is the sweetest and most complex. Shark swims somewhere in between.

Is Huy Fong sriracha Thai, Vietnamese or American? I vote Angeleno. 

BDL


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## grumio (Apr 16, 2006)

Not to hijack the thread or take anything away from the noble sriracha, but TP was mentioned so I'll put in a word for my favorite workhorse hot sauces - Tapatio.

I live right by "Thai Town" (a little section of east Hollywood); think I'll go sriracha hunting today & I'll let y'all know what's on the shelves...

maybe pick up some sambal badjak too...


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## grumio (Apr 16, 2006)

re chili addiction (this is a fun little article) -

I seem to recall a story about a prison or jail riot in New Mexico (?) by Latino prisoners demanding some hot sauce for their bland food. I remember talking about the story with friends & family who consider me a ferocious fire-eater (I'm not - they're just wimps).

This was at least 20 years ago. A little minor googling didn't turn anything up. Does this story ring a bell with anyone else?


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## shel (Dec 20, 2006)

I don't care to buy Rooster (Huy Fong) because it's packed in plastic bottles and because it's loaded with preservatives and additives. 

scb


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## grumio (Apr 16, 2006)

In Thai Town markets today:

Silom Market

Huy Fong - LA area - contains preservatives (P)
Double Chicken - Thai - no preservatives (NP)
Lee Kum Kee - Hong Kong - P

Bangluck Market

Grand Mountain - Thai - NP
Double Horse - Thai - NP
First World - Thai - NP
Shark - Thai - NP
Huy Fong
Lee Kum Kee

I picked up a bottle of Shark - $1.99/25oz

...and that's today's Thai Town Sriracha report...


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## oahuamateurchef (Nov 23, 2006)

Interesting! I didn't know about all that, and it sure does change the perspective of where Ming might have been coming from.


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## oahuamateurchef (Nov 23, 2006)

Wow. That is impressive. You have a Thaitown there? That is awesome! I'm kinda surprised at how small Chinatown is in Hawaii.


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## grumio (Apr 16, 2006)

The funny thing is, at least according to the "neighborhood" signs that LA puts up, "Thai Town" & "Little Armenia" seem to be... _the same place_. East Hollywood.


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

I finally got some Sriracha sauce without preservatives. Here in Central Oregon we only have Safeway-type places for any "Asian" food.

In Corvallis there are 2 east-Asian grocers. I went to one on a previous visit and they had no preservative-free Sriracha.

This last weekend I went to another and checked ingredients, and found one with no preservatives--Shark brand. I wondered if the preservatives in the other brands were really what I was tasting that I didn't like. When I got home I opened the bottle up, hoping there was a difference, and,

YUM, I like it a lot better than others I had before, whatever the reason may be. Shark is tops!


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

When I bought that Shark brand, I asked the owner there if Sriracha was a Vietnamese thing made in Thailand. He's Korean, and he said that a lot of countries around there have had the same type of sauce since way-back-when, but that in the USA they (the marketers) call it Sriracha because that name is just better known, whether it be from Thailand, Vietnam, Laos or wherever. It's become the identifying name here.

At any rate, this Shark brand is the best I've tasted, for sure. And I believe it really was the preservatives I was tasting that I didn't like. Maybe most people don't taste those as much as I do--I'll eat a dish with tablespoons of the stuff.


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## laurieh (Aug 3, 2008)

I used to work with a guy who loved Cheetos dipped in sriracha. It was a little much for me.


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

I have to say that Shark brand sriracha sauce is the best I've had. Much better than any other I've tried.  I tried it for the first time after reading this thread, and ah so good!! I'm half way thru my second bottle of it.


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## mparramore (Apr 17, 2011)

LOL im sitting here dipping my pretzels in it.  I will even put some on my chocolate cover rice krispy treats mmmm sriracha and chocolate and rice go well together!!!


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## babytiger (Oct 14, 2010)

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cheddar-Sriracha-Swirl-Bread-364269


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## babytiger (Oct 14, 2010)

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Sriracha-Salt-364309


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## foodtroll (Mar 30, 2011)

Was addicted, still addicted, but my acid reflux has forced me into rehab.


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## oldfoodguy (Dec 9, 2010)

Definatately. Started with Tabasco, went to Durkees, 'discovered' Texas Pete, then was awakened by the Rooster. Trader Joe's Jalapeno Pepper Hot Sauce is close to it with a similar consistiency. I think it is the combination of heat and thickness that set these sauces apart from most others.



Greg said:


> I think our version of a "support group" would probably just entail ensuring we were all well-supplied with the stuff.
> 
> Texas Pete is for rookies.


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## mikez (Jun 13, 2010)

Not Sriracha but hot sauce in general I am a chili addict and will put hot sauce or chilis on almost anything. some really good hot sauces out there


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## kfioretti (Apr 9, 2011)

Love sriracha added to a traditional tartar sauce.


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## prairiechef (May 22, 2010)

I am hardcore chilehead.

But, I gotta go against the grain on this one... I simply do not like Sriracha. Sambal Oelek? Hell yeah. Sriracha... I'll pass.


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## theslowcooker (Apr 18, 2011)

We use this stuff all the time in our restaurant. You're right OP, it really brings out the flavor in almost anything you put it in. Mix it in with some Italian sausage and a little beer...Mmmmm


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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

I started following this thread because I had no idea what it was about. I even had to google "sriracha sauce"!!

Then I thought about the bottle of chili sauce that I bought at the Thai shop. It was on special and I bought one to try, tasted it, went back to buy more bottles but they were already sold out /img/vbsmilies/smilies/frown.gif

Checked the label and it is sriracha sauce, Shark brand!

So yes, I love it as well as I do almost all chili products, sambal oelek, badjak, brandal etc etc

It's just not possible to get most of them around here, so I make them myself.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

A bit to hot for me . I like Franks Hot Sauce


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## benway (May 24, 2009)

Hot sauces including sriracha have all but ruined a few foods for me.  By ruined I mean made so that those foods are now worthless without it.  Pizza is an example.  Something about the combination of tomatoes and/or cheese requires sriracha.  I should just put it in the sauce.


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

Here's some I had laying around. No sriracha in this photo, no Inner Beauty, no Melinda's - wonder when I took the picture?



mjb.


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## maryb (Mar 21, 2008)

Franks is a must for buffalo wings but I can eat it straight from the bottle. I have sriacha in the fridge along with a few other hot sauces. What I use depends on what I am putting it on. The one hot sauce you will never find in my house is tabasco. It has to much vinegar for my taste.


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## mikez (Jun 13, 2010)

I spy some of my favorites there.. franks red hot daves jalapenos is that the insanity i see as well? blairs after death sauce mmm here are some of mine


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## bakeitup (Aug 11, 2010)

Sirracha brings back memories from a time I used to work at a country club as a saute cook, We always had these little frozen egg rolls in the freezer just chiiling so we would fry a few up for a snack but the only thing you could dip them in was thai sweet chili sauce and good ol sirracha mixed right in!


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## babytiger (Oct 14, 2010)

I wanted some cheesy toast this morning, but wanted something a little different. I sometimes put a layer off vegemite on, but wasn't in the mood for it. So I grab the sriracha instead. Spread a thin layer on the bread, topped with cheese and toast till the cheese is melted. It's really good stuff!


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## cwjalex (Sep 18, 2010)

sriracha rocks...many recipes in the kitchen I work in calls for "sambal" which looks and smells just like sriracha to me...but has chili flakes.  We also carry sriracha but so far haven't seen it used for anything...just sambal


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## sternlight (Jun 27, 2011)

Since I'm new here I'll jump on this thread for a little more than its topic.

First, on topic, I've tried them all and no-preservative Shark Brand (from Thailand) is my current favorite. I keep mine refrigerated after opening. I can't abide Huy Fong because of the Sodium Bisulfite they put in it so it can sit out all day on restaurant tables. This week I visited a huge Korean-run supermarket (with lots of Chinese and Japanese foods) in Little Tokyo at the site of the old Yaohan market. Quite a selection. I found a Thai brand of Sriracha with no preservatives, called "Double Chicken". It comes in a plastic bottle very much like Rooster, but with a red spout cap instead of Green, and says it is the authentic Sriracha. The ingredients are identical to those in Shark Brand, and the label boasts "no artificial color, no preservatives, no MSG" etc.Even the proprietors of Huy Fong admit Rooster is not the real thing, but a chili sauce of their own concoction that is uh, er, um, inspired by Sriracha. I'm hoping, by the way, that Double Chicken compares favorably in taste to Shark, because although Shark comes in glass bottles (a plus). they have a big opening which makes it harder for home cooks using it to spurt-flavor dishes. I have always admired Rooster's bottle and spout, and Double Chicken seems similar, though I could do without all the writing on either bottle in Vietnamese, Thai, Spanish, and English. It's like having a big ad on the dinner table. I have to resort to similar lab-quality non-BPA, plastic, spout bottles, a generic design for many years.

Now for the off topic stuff. I have been cooking for 58 years (I'm 78) and love to make ethnic foods. I have scoured recipe books and now have a huge collection on my iPad, iPhone, and Macbook. There are several famous, and allegedly secret recipes I'd love to have (not knock-offs but the real originals). They are:

1. Sacher Torte from Demel's in Vienna; In a famous lawsuit an Austrian court ruled that Hotel Sacher, and only Hotel Sacher could call theirs "the original"; Demel's and only Demel's could call theirs "the genuine", and nobody else could use the name.

2. Hummus from Abu Hassan's (Ali Karavan) in Jaffa, Israel. Abu Hassan says the recipe is "nothing special" but tens of thousands of Israelis would disagree.

3. Shorty Tang's New York cold sesame/peanut noodles. He's passed away now; the NY Times has honored him with articles in the past, including an approximation to his recipe by another. Two of his grandchildren claim to have the "secret" family recipe, which they won't reveal, and sell the dish on weekends at a market in NYC; that does me no good in LA.

4. Crustacean's Garlic Noodles; from the Anh family's "secret kitchen". They have places in LA (Crustacean), San Francisco (Thanh Long), and overseas.

5. Taramasalata from the now defunct White Tower Restaurant on Percy St. in London. It is much more creamy and addictive than most; being in London they made it with British Smoked Cod's Roe, a much better tasting and less heavily salted product than the ersatz "Tarama" sold in jars in the U.S. by Krinos and others. Whenever I visit London I buy whole smoked Cod's roe sacs (they are vastly larger than the Asian product) from either Selfridge's or Harrod's and happily eat it spread on toast or crackers in my hotel room.

6. Turf Cheesecake; from the eponymous Broadway-located restaurant, long gone, run by Arnold Reuben in competition with the original Lindy's a block away, whose cheesecake was also great. NYC gourmets used to come to blows over which cheesecake was "better". The latter recipe has been published.

Some may scream "Copyright" in response to my request, but a slight variation in wording vitiates any recipe copyright, which is not intended to protect individual recipes, their ingredients or proportions.

In my search, the closest i have come to #1 was in the Alice B. Toklas cookbook, where she claims to have hired a chef from either Demel's or the Hotel Sacher. I have eaten the original/genuine ones at both Demel's and Hotel Sacher. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Demel's tasted better to me. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, Hotel Sacher's tasted better. Strange.

No luck on #2, which I know only by reputation.

I have eaten #3 about 40 or 50 years ago when Shorty Tang was going strong. His place's cold noodles were a great favorite of many famous Juilliard musicians, one of whom introduced me to the dish.

I know #4 only by reputation and would like to try to make it without shellfish.

I used to eat #5 as a high point of every trip to London until the place closed. It was patronized by quite a number of locsl literati.

I've eaten #6 often when I lived in New York, at both Lindy's and Turf. A recipe was published called "Turf, or is it Reuben's Cheesecake?" with no claim to authenticity. The originals had Philly Cream Cheese, no other cheese, no sour or heavy cream, flour only in the crust. It would break a toe if you dropped in on your foot.

If anyone has the original recipes, even in paraphrase, I'd be most grateful for copies. If you don't want them published, e-mail is fine, with my assurance of personal use only.

Thanks, and happy cooking;

David Sternlight

[email protected]

Los Angeles


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## fzeciri (Jun 23, 2011)

I started putting Sriracha on our tables at the restaurant, since then I've had customers that are in a couple times a month start coming a couple times a week just for the sauce (and I don't even cook with it). I just randomly came upon it at Walmart one time after running out of hot sauce... interesting stuff.


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