It's about ten years too late for sriracha to be trendy.

That brand, BTW, is an American corruption of the Thai sauce. Real Thai sriracha is much better.

So if you go to Outback and ask for sriracha on your Bloomin' Onion, you're doubly-trendy.

over used, it was trendy 3 years ago, now its overused and overrated.

OLD MAN GNAR CAN'T HANDLE THE PAIN

I have never had sriracha before, but it was one of the items in a Christmas gift I got last week at the work party. So now its in my kitchen, waiting to season something.

captcha: he Brocaded

Rooster sauce is too sweet for me (although I use it in sauces and marinades), but Huy Fong's chili garlic paste is something I can't live without. I go through a 16 oz. bottle about every 3-4 months.

I'm pretty sure Sriracha is Vietnamese, not Thai. Just check the description on the back of the bottle.

Goes well with just about everything except sweet foods. Mix it with mayo or ranch dressing on a turkey sandwich or a wrap. Mmmm.

Being somewhat of a hot sauce freak, i was over joyed to find it at the local produce place. I put it on rice/bean spout stirfry all the time. I've never seen in on a menu, but it was a staple conidment at the Japanese place at the Towson Town Center food court. Also, it is wondrous in a vigegar/sriracha glaze for roasted brussel sprouts.

I'm pretty sure Sriracha is Vietnamese, not Thai. Just check the description on the back of the bottle.

A common misconception. The writing on the bottle is complete hooey. The only writing that matters is "Made in USA". The rest is for show. They sure don't export the California version to Asia.

It is Thai in origin. Si Racha is a town in Thailand.

I beiieve that the common American "rooster" brand is made by a company owned by a Vietnamese-American. according to my friend Alex, the owner of Minato's. It's the worst version available and full of chemicals.

Look for "Made in Thailand" and all natural.

definitely an outdated trend for most foodies... still, that stuff is freaking amazing (eggs, pizza, anything...)

GREAT on wings!

Pssst .. I'm Owlie's Thai sauce connection...

My favorite Thai food site has an excellent explanation of sriracha sauces and two good alternatives to the un-nuanced fake sriracha most people think is the real deal. There are lots of others at Asian markets in the area, DC and NYC but I've had good luck with the two on this site.

There's just no reason for my kids to have chemical preservatives and fillers in something that's primarily chili, vinegar and salt.

Plus my head starts spinning when I try to read ingredients in the Asian markets.

http://importfood.com/sriracha_sauce.html

The Indonesian sauce on the site is lip-smacktacular too.

Check out the site for other cool stuff. They have coconut milk powder that's cheap and really convenient for mixing with their fire-breathing wet Thai curries. Plus nice rice noodles, palm sugar, Thai tea, cheap dried shiitake mushrooms.

They also have a few neat Japanese ingredients like bonito flakes for soup stock.

Oh, oh and really good fish sauce.

Trendy or no (and I'd love to find a higher quality version), it is damn amazing on just about anything. I use it on eggs, tempeh, wings, just about everything.

@ pigs: it's a chinese-vietnamese-american guy who developed the sauce from his inspiration of a thai sauce... so, it's chinese-vietnamese-american-thai sauce.

good stuff, and not a 2009 thing, maybe more of a thing over the decade that it really became popular.

My wife and I have always referred to it as the... ahem... "cock" sauce. Now I know its proper name.

@amanda c

I'm weary of reading that "shark brand" is the "real thing" when i read that most folks in sri racha area of thailand make their own. perhaps it is the most prevelant there.

one thing about the bastardized american brand though is that the creator will readily admit that it's not the real sri racha sauce from thailand. it's his sauce. what he thought fit his pallete. so, in that way, i'm not going to play a purist card on him and say that his sauce is bad.

Whatever floats your boat, Matt. I like the taste and ingredients of the Shark brand better. Rooster is a different sauce. If you like it, cool. I use it when i run out of the others since you can get it at the Giant.

Cock-a-doodle do what thrills you.

Wow, you guys are really passionate about your hot sauces. Haha.

BTW, don't buy it Giant. They literally mark it up 80 to 100% over what H-Mart or Lotte charges. It's ridiculous.

Making it a secret ingredient is a no-no. Don't hide your chiles. Some of us are allergic and really appreciate knowing when something that doesn't seem spicy will make me break out in hives.

I think it's popularity has risen now that the "secret" recipie is out for the Bam-Bam shrimp recipie from Bonefish Grill

My problem with Sriracha isn't that it is trendy or doesn't taste good. I don't have a problem with things being popular, and I like the taste of Sriracha. My issue is that it has a very distinct and strong flavor, and when it is used all the time, things start tasting the same.

BTW, don't buy it Giant. They literally mark it up 80 to 100%

Good point. I have never bought it at a regular supermarket for that reason. I usually keep a bottle or two as backup. My husband uses it on hotdogs like ketchup and on any meat sandwich, in soup, whatevers. I hide the Shark brand for my cooking.

People are allergic to chilis?

I'll second Summer with the "no surprises, please". As much as i hate reciting the list of things i'm allergic to, you'll hate hearing it twice as much. Nothing ruins a meal more quickly then trying to find a benedryl in the bottom of one's bag. Every time i hear the "You'll NEVER guess what's in this", i cringe.

It's a hot sauce. It's good. It goes well on stir-frys and other food that improves with hot sauce. Who cares if it is Thai, Vietnamese, made in America, not as good as the "real thing," whatever that is. Dont' make too big of a deal over it. Would you put Tobasco sauce on everything?

I don't think I've bought any other kind of hot sauce since I got hooked on the Asian hot sauces. You can get a huge bottle of sriracha-type sauce for $3 and all those tiny bottles of other expensive hot sauces just don't cut it for the money. Sriracha is thick too, so it stays on whatever you put it on.

RoCK, I agree with you that when the sauce is used as an ingredient in a dish, it's strong flavor comes through and is not necessarily a good thing. I believe this cooking method is the American invention. For Thais, the sauce is used almost exclusively as a stand alone for dipping or putting over certain blandish dishes, omelette, asian pancakes, etc.

By the way, the Shark brand, while good is not the original. That would be the one which simply says Sriracha sauce in Thai on the label. It has an English translation which is pronounced 'Sriraja'. Now, I can't think of any more to add to the subject.

It goes on hotdogs, hamburgers, ham sandwich, grilled cheese sandwich, fried bologna sandwich, beef noodle soup, chicken noodle soup, pho, sausage sandwich, Triscuits, Wheat Thins, potato chips, OMLETTES, turkey sandwich, bloody mary, but never steak.

Plus you can write your name in hot sauce with the squeeze bottle.

Sriracha forever!

I don't know how long Noodles & Co has been on Old Court Road, at least 5 years, I suspect. That's how long we've been eating the Rooster sauce. It used to be on every table.

Jesus (the pool boy) loved it. He put a dash of it in his Corona on a hot day.

I've always been a fan, but am I the only one that gets a different level of heat in every bottle? I've had bottles that weren't spicy enough for me, and then I've had some that have made my eyes bleed. Can we get a little consistency at the Sriracha factory?

LB, On the bottles they would specify the level of heat: mild, medium, high. That's on the better brands anyway.

People are allergic to chilis?

YUP!

Sriracha has been a staple condiment in my household for at least 10 years now. And I remember having a dish at Ixia (back when Edward Kim was still the chef) called Sriracha Chile Bouillabaisse which was fantastic. I make a version of it every once in a while when I need some sinus-clearing.

I tried the sriracha on some eggs and its pretty good. The brand I have is called Ka-Me and while some place in New Jersey distributes it, it does say on the bottle "Product of Thailand" and all-natural.

If the stuff tastes good, then the only people who would be concerned about using it would be those concerned with looking cool and unique. Better to be taste-conscious than image-conscious I say!

I like to grill chicken breasts and then dip each bite into a dipping sauce comprised of sriracha, mayo, and honey.

If 'Sri Lanka' is pronounced [SHREE-lan-ka] then why isn't 'Sriracha' pronouced [SHREE-ra-cha]?

Hey, someone's gotta ask the important questions.

LB, brcause Sriracha (pronounced si-ra-cha) is a Thai word. Although derived from Sanskrit, in Thai the 'r' is silent when following an 's'. Wow, I can't believe we haven't squeezed everything out of this sauce yet.

I've been using it for about 15 or more years now, originally finding it in Pho restaurants in Denver, CO. There was a great NYTimes profile back in May.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/20/dining/20united.html

And unique ways it's used around the country:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/20/dining/sriracha.html

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