The Great Sriracha Disasta 2022

[liuzhou]

As if things weren't bad enough, I learn that Sriracha lovers burned as maker halts production due to pepper shortage. Whatever next?

Not wishing to be smug*, I can report I don't use that brand, anyway. I get the real stuff from Sriracha!

 

*Well, not too smug!

[KennethT]

3 hours ago, liuzhou said:

As if things weren't bad enough, I learn that Sriracha lovers burned as maker halts production due to pepper shortage. Whatever next?

Not wishing to be smug*, I can report I don't use that brand, anyway. I get the real stuff from Sriracha!

 

*Well, not too smug!

I'm not a huge fan of their Sriracha (as you say, it'snothing liek the real thing) but their sambal oelek and chilli garlic pastes are decent and convenient.

[heidih]

I currently use Huy Fong as I only go to a mainstrem maarket (transport issue) Going this morning so will see. Just stocked up on the sambal olek amd chili garlic. Thanks for the heads up.

[kayb]

Believe I shall make a pilgrimage to the Asian market and stock up.

[liuzhou]

On 6/10/2022 at 10:05 PM, kayb said:

Believe I shall make a pilgrimage to the Asian market and stock up.

 

You'd better be quick. I'm sure you're not the only one to think of that. Get the real thing!

Edited November 12, 2023 by liuzhou (log)

[blue_dolphin]

That company seems to thrive on drama.  Years of tangling with the residents near their factory over air irritants produced by roasting peppers.  Legal battles with the farmer who had been growing almost all their peppers.  Recalled shipments to Australia and New Zealand due to potentially exploding bottles due to too much lactic acid. 

 

Underwood farms, their spurned grower, is local to me and started making their own Sriracha with the same peppers so I'll pick some up on my next visit to their farmstand. 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Will you sriracha mavens pleased post some label or bottle photos of authentic sriracha?    Even large Asian markets here offer few alternatives.

[heidih]

@Margaret Pilgrim This NPR piece might be of interest  https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/01/16/681944292/in-home-of-original-sriracha-sauce-thais-say-rooster-brand-is-nothing-to-crow-ab#:~:text=But the original Sriracha is,now being exported to Thailand.

[KennethT]

15 minutes ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

Will you sriracha mavens pleased post some label or bottle photos of authentic sriracha?    Even large Asian markets here offer few alternatives.

 

This is my favorite brand.... it's the closest I've found in teh US to what I've had in Thailand.

[blue_dolphin]

18 minutes ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

Will you sriracha mavens pleased post some label or bottle photos of authentic sriracha?    Even large Asian markets here offer few alternatives.

Two common Thai brands sold in my area are Shark (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) and Sriraja Panich (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

Edited June 10, 2022 by blue_dolphin (log)

[Margaret Pilgrim]

5 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

Two common Thai brands sold in my area are Shark (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) and Sriraja Panich (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

Thanks.     I have seen the Shark brand.    Will check shelves next time shopping.

[liuzhou]

If I remember correctly the citizens of Si Racha's response to tasting the Vietnamese-American version was "อึนี้คืออะไร?"

[Margaret Pilgrim]

3 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

If I remember correctly the citizens of Si Racha's response to tasting the Vietnamese-American version was "อึนี้คืออะไร?"

Indeed, I have frequently read this, but finally we have some concrete alternatives.    Many thanks.

[heidih]

13 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

If I remember correctly the citizens of Si Racha's response to tasting the Vietnamese-American version was "อึนี้คืออะไร?"

 

From article I linked - Thai response to tasting Rooster ""It's not tasty," she says, taking a sip of water. "It's not mixed together properly. There's only one taste." Saowanit says a proper Sriracha sauce needs to be what Thais call klom klom — the hotness, the sour, the sweet and the garlic all blending together seamlessly, none overpowering the other. The American version, she says, just brings heat."

[heidih]

Back from Ralphs (Kroger).  They keep Sriracha (Rooster) in 2 spots- Asian aisle and hot sauce aisle. Bare shelf space. In the hot sauce area there was a single squished squeeze bottle of "Sriracha by Texas Peet - Cha!" - no thanks

[Annie_H]

I stocked it years ago then bought a few back-ups when the 2014 'scandal' happened. Too sweet for us. We like the garlic/chili but not purchased that in a few years. We have a few purchased hot sauces and like to try new ones. 

Then started making our own. Fermented and fresh/frozen. 

 

Rooster ingredients, So, What's in Sriracha? The label says chiles, sugar, salt, garlic, distilled vinegar, potassium sorbate, sodium bisulfite and xanthan gum.

 

I can do better than that. I made a big batch last night for the early summer. A dozen 1/2 pints. 

 

[Katie Meadow]

5 hours ago, heidih said:

I currently use Huy Fong as I only go to a mainstrem maarket (transport issue) Going this morning so will see. Just stocked up on the sambal olek amd chili garlic. Thanks for the heads up.

As an all-purpose hot sauce these days I prefer the Huy Fong chili garlic stuff. My husband uses it all the time because he finds my stir-fry dishes not hot enough. He also uses the Lao Gan Ma Chili Crisp interchangeably, whatever is handiest.The Sriracha sauce seems a little dull  to me now.

[KennethT]

30 minutes ago, Katie Meadow said:

As an all-purpose hot sauce these days I prefer the Huy Fong chili garlic stuff. My husband uses it all the time because he finds my stir-fry dishes not hot enough. He also uses the Lao Gan Ma Chili Crisp interchangeably, whatever is handiest.The Sriracha sauce seems a little dull  to me now.

I like their chili garlic and sambal oelek.  I use them somewhat interchangeably depending what I see when in the store.  I usually add it to SE Asian noodle soups or some stir fries where I like it spicier than my wife.  But I definitely wouldn't call it interchangeable with LGM chilli crisp.  2 totally different animals and flavor profiles.  LGM is like cooked dried chillis while the HF stuff is more like pureed raw chillis.  I use LGM stuff for Chinese noodle soups or stir fries.  Using LGM with SE Asian stuff just feels wrong to me.

[liuzhou]

With regard to Thai Sriracha, it is important to note that most Thai sauce exported to the west is actually made in Bangkok factories and is a copy of the Viet-American recipe; not the original Si Racha recipe.

 

I'm not sure how much real Si Racha sauce is exported to the west, if any. It isn't easy to find here either; I only know one store which has it regularly. They seem to have direct Thai links. I need to restock, then I'll take a picture.

[heidih]

Again from the NPR article a quote from a family member at originak ?) 

"China is a big market for us — the biggest market, 100,000 bottles a month," Paweena says.

When asked why their brand is doing so well in China, the two women look at each other and smile. "Because Asian people know how to eat," Varanya says, giggling.

Game on, Rooster.

[liuzhou]

11 minutes ago, heidih said:

Again from the NPR article a quote from a family member at originak ?) 

"China is a big market for us — the biggest market, 100,000 bottles a month," Paweena says.

When asked why their brand is doing so well in China, the two women look at each other and smile. "Because Asian people know how to eat," Varanya says, giggling.

Game on, Rooster.

 

 

Sriracha is virtually unknown in China. None of my friends know what it is and, as I said, only one store stocks it - irregularly.

100,000 bottles a month? Sounds to me like marketing BS, but even if true it doesn't amount to anything among 1,400,000,000 people. 0.007%

Edited June 10, 2022 by liuzhou (log)

[heidih]

Alrighty then -

Edited June 10, 2022 by heidih (log)

[KennethT]

1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

but even if true it doesn't amount to anything among 1,400,000,000 people. 0.007%

My thoughts exactly.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

7 hours ago, heidih said:

Back from Ralphs (Kroger).  They keep Sriracha (Rooster) in 2 spots- Asian aisle and hot sauce aisle. Bare shelf space. In the hot sauce area there was a single squished squeeze bottle of "Sriracha by Texas Peet - Cha!" - no thanks

Doubting Thomas report: We walked out to Mai Wah market on Clement Street to check out the srirachi sauce shelf.  Full stock of Rooster, another handful of brands available, and lots of 750ml bottles of Shark brand.    I bought one of the latter and opened it at once, once home.    Drizzled some of yesterday's leftover ricotta dumplings.     Immediate response: elegant, complex.    Not what I think of sriracha as I use it here and in France, that "smack up upside the head" with heat, vinegar and garlic, but more a universal condiment that I could use on other than Asian food, not incompatible with Mexican or Indian.     So, a welcome addition that will probably not nudge Rooster off my shelf but that I will learn more ways to enjoy.   Many thanks.

[heidih]

I reported what I observed. I don'lt think I belong here.