Posted on 01/19/2019 1:14:48 PM PST by Zhang Fei
Sriracha sauce. It's everywhere. Even beer and donuts. The fiery chili paste concocted by Vietnamese-American immigrant David Tran has conquered the American market and imagination in the past decade.
But the original Sriracha is actually Thai — and comes from the seaside city of Si Racha, where most residents haven't even heard of the U.S. brand, which is now being exported to Thailand.
I decided to go to the source to get the dirt on the sauce, and sat down with 71-year-old Saowanit Trikityanukul. Her grandmother was making Sriracha sauce when David Tran was still a baby, in what was then South Vietnam.
"If my grandmother was still alive today, she'd be 127 years old," Saowanit says, sitting in her garden in Si Racha, (the preferred anglicized spelling of the city's name) overlooking the Gulf of Thailand. She remembers helping her grandmother in the kitchen as an impatient 9-year-old.
"My job was to mix all the ingredients together. But I wasn't very happy doing it and I didn't really pay attention. I regret that now," she says. "Because I could have learned a lot."
Her grandmother is widely credited with being the first to make and sell the sauce. But Saowanit says it was really her great-grandfather, Gimsua Timkrajang, who made it first. Family lore says he traveled a lot on business to neighboring Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos and noticed they all had different sauces — sweet, salty, sour — but nothing that combined all three.
"So, my great-grandfather got an idea that he wanted to make one sauce that went along with all Thai foods," she says, "very creamy and different from other sauces."
And he got it. Not that it was easy making it. Saowanit remembers one batch that took weeks, even months, to prepare.
(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...
It has second only to ketchup here in southern California...used in and with just about everything. Not just Asian food.
May even surpass ketchup at this point LoL.
It is* second.
I alway found it funny its bottle in what started as a white glue bottle
NPR = FAKE NEWS
Love that stuff.
When I came back to "the world," I searched the few Asian stores for the real thing. There were no US made fakes back then. I finally opened my own Asian Market and purchased it by the case from a company in New York which imported the real stuff from Thailand.
The name of the place ศรีราชา Sriracha "Glorious place of the King"
There really isn't a good translation of the idea conveyed.
The writer is selling Mr. Tran short. I can remember in the early '80s having to go exclusively to Asian markets in Rosemead (or nearby areas) to find this delicious sauce (I love it on pizza).
The sauce may have originated in Thailand, but Mr. Tran introduced to the USA and made a fortune doing so! GOOD FOR HIM!!
It will always be Burma to me.
I make my own. Here is the recipe I use. It requires no fermenting and is quick and easy. Their recipe calls for Jalapeno peppers but I kick it up a notch by using Tabasco peppers.
Sriracha from Foolproof Preserving from America’s Test Kitchen
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 45 minutes
Age: 1 day
Yield: 2 cups
Why This Recipe Works:
Sriracha is a fiery-red Thai-American hot sauce fondly known by its loyal followers as rooster sauce. Traditionally, Sriracha is made from a fermented chile mash, which is a process that can take over a week. We wanted a simple, streamlined version of rooster sauce we could make at home without the wait.
Our first test consisted of processing chiles, vinegar, water, and garlic, along with a bit of sugar and salt. We cooked the mixture down to a ketchup-like consistency, which resulted in more of a chili-garlic paste than Sriracha. By adjusting the ratio of liquid to chiles and garlic, we were on track to a pourable hot sauce. We also swapped out white sugar in favor of brown; tasters preferred the richer, deeper notes of the dark brown sugar. We were getting closer to a more balanced hot sauce; however, we were missing the fermented flavor of the original.
To achieve the unique flavor, we whisked 2 tablespoons of fish sauce into the chile mixture along with the sugar and salt. A quick simmer on the stovetop thickened the Sriracha and allowed the flavors to meld. Passing the finished product through a fine-mesh strainer gave us a smooth sauce.
Finally, we found it crucial to let the sauce sit for a day to develop its flavor before serving. Although it’s tempting to store this sauce in plastic squeeze bottles, we found it better to store it in glass; the plastic can add off-flavors to the sauce as it sits. This Sriracha cannot be processed for long-term storage.
1 ½ pounds red jalapeño or Fresno chiles, stemmed
1 ¼ cups distilled white vinegar
¾ cup water
8 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
5 teaspoons salt
1. Working in 2 batches, process jalapeños, vinegar, water, and garlic in blender until smooth, about 2 minutes. Transfer mixture to medium saucepan and whisk in fish sauce, sugar, and salt.
2. Bring mixture to boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, skimming any surface foam, until thickened, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
3. Process mixture in blender until smooth, about 1 minute. Strain Sriracha through fine-mesh strainer set over bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much sauce as possible.
4. Using funnel and ladle, portion Sriracha into 2-cup glass bottle. Let sauce cool to room temperature. Cover, refrigerate, and let flavors mature for at least 1 day before serving. (Sriracha can be refrigerated for up to 6 months; flavor will mature over time.)
George likes his chicken spicy!
NPR. The outfit that the retired president of NPR said lived in a liberal echo chamber.
Your thoughts on my translation please. Did I get near the concept?
Same here. And I still use the names Bombay, Madras, Mt. McKinley and Rodeo Road.
the fact is, it’s too damn hot
I bought a bottle of it to try it out. Cilantro, yuck!
Hot is good, Sweet is bad. I wish for low sugar Rooster.
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