The striking red condiment from Thai cuisine has taken over the world owing to its unique spicy flavor. The fiery hot-tangy combo with mild sweetness is sure to uplift any savory dish. Red chilies, vinegar, garlic, salt, and sugar are the secret sriracha ingredients.
History of Sriracha
The origin of sriracha is attributed to a housewife named Ms.Thanom Chakkapak who prepared this sauce back in the 1930s in Si Racha, Thailand. Unbeknownst to many, this beloved sauce is named after Si Racha, the place of its origin.
The prominence of sriracha in the U.S is credited to David Tran, a Vietnamese immigrant in the United States (US). In the 1980s, Tran decided to make his own hot sauce after being unable to find one in the US. This led to the foundation of Huy Fong Foods, the leading sriracha brand in the US. Sriracha is often called “rooster sauce” owing to the illustrated rooster on the bottle front.
During the late 1990s, the American consumption of sriracha was restricted only to the Asian-style restaurants, especially to prepare Pho recipes. Later, sriracha snuck into chef’s kitchens, pages of food magazines, and even some home pantries. Steady interest in this sauce grew, and today sriracha is immensely popular. Sriracha can be found in nearly every grocery store, supermarket, and online.
Flavor of Sriracha
Traditional sriracha is a spicy, tangy, and mildly sweet hot sauce with a prominent garlic flavor. However, you can find flavor variations in sriracha with additional ingredients including onions, mayonnaise, or lemongrass. Garlic-less sriracha is also a popular version of this incredible hot sauce.
How to use Sriracha?
Sriracha has been traditionally used as a condiment in Thai cuisine, especially to be savored with seafood and egg dishes. You can try out one of our quick recipes for shrimp satay, a typical Thai dish prepared with shrimps, spices, and of course, sriracha. Vietnamese cuisine uses sriracha in pho, a traditional soup dish prepared from beef stock, spices, and herbs and served with thinly sliced meat, noodles, and bean sprouts on top.
Sriracha pairs perfectly well with meat, and you’ll find many recipes that combine the two. Barbequed meat, chicken wings, beef and broccoli, and Momofuku pork belly buns come at the top. In most dishes, sriracha is used as a condiment to add a spicy kick including soups, chicken curries, fried rice, and stir-frys. If you’re looking for a vegetarian sriracha dish, try out our spicy tahini tofu and noodle recipe that’ll surely please your taste buds.
Don’t feel restricted to just these recipes, however. It seems that sriracha can be paired with almost anything. From burgers to french fries, stir-frys to stews, sriracha adds a much-needed spicy kick to a range of dishes. Sriracha flavored popcorns, chips, and nuts are widely savored by sriracha fans worldwide.
The use of this versatile hot sauce is not only restricted to savory recipes as you can find several spicy-sweet desserts including sriracha brownies, cookies, tarts, and donuts. Not only that, a range of cocktails can be prepared with sriracha; a spicy Bloody Mary comes at the top. So, are you ready to take on the spicy-tangy boost of sriracha?
Feature Image: By Paul Narvaez (CC BY 2.0)
