Alan Sytsma, writing for the newish Gourmet.com blog, discusses a favorite condiment found in professional kitchens across America:
But Sriracha, the badass Thai-style hot sauce, isn’t in these kitchens because chefs serve it to customers (though I’d bet it finds its way into more restaurant dishes than we know). It’s there because cooks put this stuff on everything they eat. And so should you.
He goes on to explain that Sriracha is a region in Thailand and that its namesake sauce comes in several varieties. The main American brand of Sriracha—affectionately known as “cock sauce,” thanks to the rooster on its bottle—is produced by Huy Fong Foods, a California company that also makes chili garlic sauce and sambal oelek. But Sriracha is the company’s biggest seller, and according to its fans, like blogger Mark Adams of the blog Perpetual Timothy, you can eat it on just about anything:
Here are some ways it is good: on hamburgers, grill cheeses, in spaghetti, in soup, mixed with mashed potatoes, with fries, on greek food, in macaroni & cheese, on meat loaf, on hot pockets, on pizza, and on hot dogs.
And it’s good on other stuff, too. In a post titled “Sriracha Chili Sauce Condiment or Crack?!,” Chowhound’s own bubbles4me recommends trying it on eggs and admits that she has “seriously considered” keeping a bottle in her purse for emergencies. Her post generated almost 100 replies, noting even more uses for the spicy sauce. (Sriracha on coconut ice, anyone?) Chowhound phneale concludes: “It is crack, but better.”
Hey you stole my old meat market pick up line =)
As some people around the country are just starting to get familar and obsessed with Sriracha… I just wanted to let you know it doesn’t stop there.
Tonitas Salsa Especial is a similar tasting, but far superior, bottled sauce from Yahualica… that is still hard to find.
Even better, far better than Tonitas are the better tableside sauce versions served at Viet Pho places… some of those I can drink from a cup until I have sweat myself to unconsciousness.
Nuoc Cham is the Vietnamese version and you can find it in Vietnamese markets and on the Net.
Nuoc Cham is the Vietnamese version and you can find it in Vietnamese markets and on the Net.
The stuff I’ve had at Vietnamese place is freshly made and not Nuoc Cham which has the same drawbacks as Sriracha.
I put it on my popcorn. Delightful.
I first saw Sriracha used in a restaurant in Chestnut Hill in Philadelphia called Rollers. The owner and chef and the fellow whom the restaurant was named after used it sparingly in many dishes, just to perk up the flavor, not to make everything hot. I suppose in bygone times chefs used tabasco the same way, but something about Sriracha seems to lend itself to slightly pumping up the flavor of a soup, an omelette, a stew, a sauce. You can find it, by the way, on most tables in Thai restaurants.
Wait, what are you talking about Eat_Nopal? Does this place you go to make their own hot sauce? Because that sounds amazing. And what are these “drawbacks” to nuoc cham.
Nuoc Cham & Sriracha both have an overpowering garlic flavor that is a bit rough… and so its nothing I would sip from a glass. However, at Simply Vietnam in Santa Rosa, CA… their sauce is homemade… and its so good I have it with a spoon…I have also seen homemade sauces in L.A’s Chinatown (really should be renamed Viet Town now).
Isn’t nuoc cham a thin, almost watery, dipping sauce mostly flavored with fish sauce and lime juice? Ie., not like sriracha at all, which is thicker, solid red, and spicy as hell so only to be used by the drop or drizzle?
Yup… but raw, usually old Garlic is a very prominent ingredient in Nuoc Cham just like in Sriracha… http://www.globalgourmet.com/destinations/vietnam/nuoccham.html
Hence my statement that they both have the same drawback.
Wait a minute, Sriracha has nothing to do with Nuoc cham, which is called Nam Plah Prik in Thailand. But unlike the recipe Eat Nopal linked to on Global Gourmet Nam Plah Prik has just hot Thai chiles, lime juice and fish sauce (no vinegar).
But Sriracha is more like Tabasco sauce and originally comes from the namesake town on the coastline of Thailand and is a favorite there with raw oysters; in Thailand this type of sauce is usually served on Crispy Fried Mussel omelet. (Hawy tawt, see a video: http://www.ifood.tv/recipe/make_fried_mussels_in_a_batter_hoi_tod ).
The California version of Sriracha is really a different type of hot sauce then the Sriracha from Thailand – it seems they simply stole the name but not the recipe. Sriracha from Thailand is is more vinegary, thinner in consistency and orangish in color then this Cock/Rooster brand from the USA, which has become so popular because it is on every Vietnamese restaurant pho noodle shop table in the US. They are both delicious in their own right, but definitely depends on your own tastes and also what you are going to be eating it with. I myself like the Rooster brand, but for Hawy Tawt then you need the real stuff from Thailand!
Here is a recipe to make your own Sriracha, to give you an idea of how it is not the same thing as Nuoc cham – but why bother making your own!? kind of like making your own french bread when you live in Paris, just let the professionals do it – http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/srirachachilisauce.htm