Sriracha

A bottle of Sriracha hot sauce.

Sriracha is the generic name for a Southeast Asian hot sauce from Thailand, although one of the most famous brands is American. It is named after the seaside town Si Racha, where it was first produced as a local product. In fact, some Thais found the American brand perplexing, as Sriracha is thought to be a unique brand from that town, not a type of sauce. It is made from sun-ripened chile peppers, vinegar, garlic, sugar and salt.

It has a hot and spicy sweet flavor and is popular in many parts of the world. It is often used as a condiment for phở, along with hoisin sauce. It is never used on noodles or soups in Thailand, instead it is often used as a dipping, particularly for seafood (usually clams). It is also excellent as a general-use hot sauce, especially with Asian foods. Sriracha, to those who are unable to pronounce the name, is also sometimes referred to as "rooster sauce" or "cock sauce" since the bottle sports an image of a rooster.

The US brand from Huy Phong has sodium bisulfite as a preservative, and is often left out on the table at restaurants all day. Thai grocery stores carry the authentic Thai version, which usually has no preservatives and is refrigerated after opening. Some think the Thai version superior in taste for that reason.

In the United States, the Huy Phong brand has been adopted into a wide array of cuisines. The bottle lists the ingredients in five languages: Vietnamese, Chinese, French, Spanish, and Thai. The Rooster can be found in a wide variety of restaurants including American (where it has been put onto hamburgers, french fries, omlettes, etc.), Mexican, and Italian (where it has been put onto pizza or pasta instead of hot pepper flakes).

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