Nice article on Sriracha at NYT

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/20/dinin ... ref=dining

It's only been around since 1980, made by a Vietnamese immigrant.
My mouth's watering.

I've found the best way to describe it is "macho ketchup" -- sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and probably a good dose of umami, plus heat missing from good ol' Heinz.

Words cannot express my love for Sriracha.

That recipe for Rice Cracker Crusted Tuna with Spicy Citrus sauce sounds like the bomb.

while rooster(huy fong) sriracha is good, and present in my house at all times, I prefer the sririacha from thailand like Shark brand sriracha. First reason I prefer the taste of Shark, and 2nd I prefer the ingredients list of Shark.

Shark sriracha(chili,water,sugar, garlic, salt & vinegar only) has no preservatives, or ingredients I cant pronounce, unlike the Rooster(huy fong) (chili,sugar,garlic,salt, distilled vineagar,sodium bisulfite, & xantham gum). Just a presonal preference and I am something I look for in all my hot sauces, the less chemicals the better.

nice history lesson, and background on an American company though, and the first article I have ever completely read from the NYT.

jimswside wrote:Shark sriracha(chili,water,sugar, garlic, salt & vinegar only) has no preservatives, or ingredients I cant pronounce, unlike the Rooster(huy fong) (chili,sugar,garlic,salt, distilled vineagar,sodium bisulfite, & xantham gum). Just a presonal preference and I am something I look for in all my hot sauces, the less chemicals the better.

As ingredient lists go, Huy Fong's Sriracha is pretty tame (don't get me started on the state of Breyer's ice cream these days). Xantham gum is actually a natural biopolymer, not a synthesized chemical. It's also possible the bisulfites are there because the chiles were processed with it during the drying process to retain color. It may be in other brands and not listed.

JoelF wrote:As ingredient lists go, Huy Fong's Sriracha is pretty tame (don't get me started on the state of Breyer's ice cream these days). Xantham gum is actually a natural biopolymer, not a synthesized chemical. It's also possible the bisulfites are there because the chiles were processed with it during the drying process to retain color. It may be in other brands and not listed.

its all good( I am typically one who cares or less about ingredients, sourcing etc, other than hotsauces .. i'm odd I know it ), but like I said I have at least one bottle at my house of Rooster, typically one open, and one back up. I just prefer the Shark most of the time.

I've always been a fan of Sriraja Panich, ingredient list: spur chilli, sugar, garlic, acidifier, water, salt. ("No preservatives. No artificial Coloring, and No MSG.") I also have the rooster sauce at home, and the difference is the sriraja panich is more of an orange (rather than red color), and the taste is a little sharper and more garlicky than the Rooster. Both are good, in my estimation, but I have a slight preference to the sriraja panich.

Me, I'm a Shark kind of guy (it's what I got familiar with in Bangkok, and first loves are always dear : ). My Rooster jones is their Chili Garlic sauce, which I think is a great fresh zing when one needs just that.

Geo
PS. And yes the NYT article was very nicely done; I can't even imagine making that many bottles of sauce in your kitchen... amazing.