Heat Medium | Scoville scale 1,000–2,500 SHU | |
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Similar Hot sauce, Jalapeño, Scallion, Aioli, Coriander | ||
Homemade habanero sriracha sauce
Sriracha (Thai: ศรีราชา, [sǐː rāː.t͡ɕʰāː]; /sᵻˈrɑːtʃə/) is a type of hot sauce or chili sauce made from a paste of chili peppers, distilled vinegar, garlic, sugar, and salt. It is named after the coastal city of Si Racha, in Chonburi Province of eastern Thailand, where it may have been first produced for dishes served at local seafood restaurants.
Contents
- Homemade habanero sriracha sauce
- 5 ways to get creative with sriracha sauce
- Use
- Origin
- Thailand
- United States
- In popular culture
- References
5 ways to get creative with sriracha sauce
Use
In Thailand, sriracha is frequently used as a dipping sauce, particularly for seafood. In Vietnamese cuisine, sriracha appears as a condiment for phở, fried noodles, a topping for spring rolls (chả giò), and in sauces.
Sriracha is also eaten in soup, on eggs and burgers. Jams, lollipops, and cocktails have all been made using the sauce, and sriracha-flavored potato chips have been marketed.
Origin
The origin and history of sriracha is debated. One report has it that the sauce was first produced by a Thai woman named Thanom Chakkapak in the town of Si Racha (or Sri Racha).
According to the Thai "Chomrom Rak Si Racha" (The Si Racha Lovers' Association) the sauce was first made in Sriracha by Burmese sawmill workers. The association interviewed 88 year-old Thawat Wiphisamakun, known locally as Ah Pae. Ah Pae's maternal grandmother had a small shop in Sriracha. The Burmese came to the shop to buy chillies, salt, vinegar, and sugar to pound in a mortar to make their sauce. Eventually she started making the sauce herself, both for family use and for sale to customers. Soon, another customer, Kimsua Thimkrachang, began to buy large quantities of chillies, salt, vinegar, and sugar. He was making the chilli sauce for sale, using the brand name, "Sauce Si Racha Traa Phukhao Thong" (Golden Mountain Brand Si Racha Sauce) with a picture of the Golden Mountain Temple on the label. Its name was "Si Racha Phanich".
Thailand
In Thailand, the sauce is most often called sot Siracha (Thai: ซอสศรีราชา) and only sometimes nam phrik Siracha (Thai: น้ำพริกศรีราชา). Traditional Thai sriracha sauce tends to be tangier in taste, and runnier in texture than non-Thai versions.
In a Bon Appétit magazine interview, US Asian-foods distributor Eastland Food Corporation asserted that the Thai brand of hot sauce Sriraja Panich, which Eastland distributes, is the original "sriracha sauce" and was created in Si Racha, Thailand, in the 1930s from the recipe of a housewife named Thanom Chakkapak.
United States
Within the United States, sriracha is associated with a sauce produced by Huy Fong Foods and is sometimes referred to as "rooster sauce" or "cock sauce" due to the image of a rooster on the bottle. Other variations of sriracha have appeared in the US market, including a sriracha that is aged in whiskey barrels.
Various restaurants in the US, including Wendy's, Applebee's, P.F. Chang's, Pizza Hut, Domino's Pizza, Jack in the Box, McDonald's, Subway, Taco Bell, White Castle, Gordon Biersch, Chick-fil-a, and Burger King have incorporated sriracha into their dishes, sometimes mixing it with mayonnaise or into dipping sauces. Blue Diamond, a leading producer of almond products, markets a sriracha-flavor alongside their other flavors. The name "sriracha" is considered to be a generic term, since the creator of the Huy Fong Foods sauce, David Tran, did not trademark it.
In popular culture
In 2013, American filmmaker Griffin Hammond released a documentary about the origin and production of sriracha.