Heat Medium | Scoville scale 1,000-2,500 SHU | |
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Huy Fong's Sriracha sauce (/ʃriːˈrɑːtʃɑː/; Vietnamese: Tương Ớt Sriracha) is based on David Tran's recipe for the Sriracha chili sauce, a dipping sauce which originated from Thailand. This sauce is produced by Huy Fong Foods, a California manufacturer. Created in 1980 by Vietnamese-American founder David Tran, it is a brand of Sriracha sauce often also known as "rooster sauce" because of the rooster prominently featured on its label. Some cookbooks include recipes using it as their main condiment.
Contents
It can be recognized by its bright red color and its packaging: a clear plastic bottle with a green cap, text in Vietnamese, English, Chinese, French, and Spanish, and the rooster logo. David Tran was born in 1945, the Year of the Rooster in the Chinese zodiac. The green cap and rooster logo are trademarked, but the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office considers the name "sriracha" to be a generic term.
Preparation
The sauce's recipe has not changed significantly since 1983. The bottle lists the ingredients "Chili, sugar, salt, garlic, distilled vinegar, potassium sorbate, sodium bisulfite and xanthan gum." Huy Fong Foods' chili sauces are made from fresh red jalapeño chili peppers and contain no added water or artificial colors. Garlic powder is used rather than fresh garlic. The company formerly used serrano chilis but found them difficult to harvest. To keep the sauce hot, the company produces only up to a monthly pre-sold quota in order to use only peppers from known sources. The sauce is certified as kosher by the Rabbinical Council of California.
Scoville scale heat rating
Huy Fong Foods Sriracha sauce ranks in the 1,000–2,500 heat units range, above banana pepper and below Jalapeño pepper, on the Scoville scale used to measure the spicy heat of a chili pepper.
History
David Tran began making chili sauces in 1975 in his native Vietnam, where his brother grew chili peppers on a farm north of Saigon. In 1978, the Vietnamese government began to crack down on ethnic Chinese in south Vietnam. Tran and three thousand other refugees crowded onto the Taiwanese freighter Huey Fong, heading for Hong Kong. After a month-long standoff with the British authorities, its passengers disembarked on January 19, 1979.
Tran was granted asylum in the United States. He started Huy Fong Foods in 1980, naming the company after the refugee ship that brought him out of Vietnam. The sauce was initially supplied to Asian restaurants near his base in Chinatown, Los Angeles, but sales grew steadily by word of mouth.
In December 2009, Bon Appétit magazine named the sauce Ingredient of the Year for 2010.
In 2012, over 20 million bottles were sold. Huy Fong Foods says demand has outpaced supply since the company started making the sauce. The company does not advertise because advertising would only widen that gap. Huy Fong has boosted production since 2013.
Sriracha sauce has grown from a cult taste to one of the food industry's most popular fads. It infuses burgers, snacks, candy, beverages and even health products. Tran said he was dissuaded from securing a trademark since it is difficult to obtain one named after a real-life location. This allows others to create develop their own version, and use the name. Some of the biggest corporations in the business, such as Heinz, Frito-Lay, Applebee's, P.F. Chang's, Pizza Hut, Subway and Jack in the Box, use the name without licensing it. In 2016, Lexus partnered with Huy Fong Foods to build a single promotional Sriracha IS sport sedan.
Lawsuit
In October 2013, the city of Irwindale, California, filed a lawsuit against the Huy Fong Foods factory after approximately 30 residents of the town complained of the spicy smells the factory was emitting while producing Sriracha sauce. The plaintiff initially sought an injunction enjoining Huy Fong from "operating or using" the plant. On November 27, 2013, Judge Robert H. O'Brien ruled partially in favor of the city, declaring Huy Fong Foods must cease any operations that could be causing the noxious odors and make changes to mitigate them, though he did not order that operations cease completely. According to the judge, although there was a "lack of credible evidence" linking locals' complaints of breathing trouble and watering eyes to the factory, the odor that could be "reasonably inferred to be emanating from the facility" is, for residents, "extremely annoying, irritating and offensive to the senses warranting consideration as a public nuisance."
In late January 2014, the city of Irwindale announced it was expanding its case against Huy Fong Foods to include a claim of breach of contract, alleging that the plant violated a condition of its operating permit by emitting harmful odors. The case was scheduled for jury trial in Los Angeles Superior Court on November 3, 2014. On May 29, 2014, it was announced that Irwindale had dropped the lawsuit against Huy Fong Foods. During the legal battles, a Texas delegation offered incentives to move operations to Denton. Other states had also made offers for potential relocation.
Documentary film
Filmmaker Griffin Hammond produced a 33-minute documentary about Sriracha sauce. It was funded with the help of a Kickstarter campaign which raised $21,009—over four times the goal. The film was released online on December 11, 2013 in advance of submission to film festivals.