Sriracha Addiction?

[shel]

Originally Posted by boar_d_laze

Sriracha sauce, Shark brand, available online from ImportFood.com

Shark Brand is the real thing, baby!
Sriracha Chili Sauce Condiment or Crack?!
scb

[phatch]

I was in my preferred Asian market today looking for Shark brand because of this thread. They have nice big bottles of it. And it's cheaper than the rooster brand. Lower salt too which is good for me.

Phil

[OahuAmateurChef]

I've been meaning to order that Shark brand stuff. I'd rather only buy 1 bottle to sample first, but I can't see spending $3.50 on a bottle only to pay $7.50 for shipping. I can only find Hoy Fung, and another even worse brand out where I live--even in Chinatown. I suppose I should just breakdown and buy 5 bottles...

You know what--Done ! I just ordered 5 bottles.

Does anyone know how long the shelf of it is? I don't know how fast the two of us can finish them.



Oh, and shame on Ming Tsai. I just read his Blue Ginger cookbook--he lists Sriracha as from Vietnam! Guess he never gave any thought to look on a map.

[phatch]

I see it on the tables in most vietnamese places, but rarely in Thai places. Not to say you're wrong, as the Shark brand is Thai as I recall. But I see it used more in Vietnamese recipes too.

[OahuAmateurChef]

Ming Tsai mentioned first tasting Sriracha in a Vietnamese restaurant when he was a kid. Yes, I agree that Sriracha is found on the tables in Vietnamese restaurants, not so much Thai restaurants.

What I'm getting at is the irony of it all: Sriracha, Thailand, literally, is named after the town where it came from.

I can understand a celebrity chef like say, Alton Brown, messing up an Asian ingredient's origin (ever hear him pronounce the Chinese meat, Cha-shu? Spelled Char-sui (think Alton saying, Charrr-Sweee!), but Ming Tsai should know better. Especially considering the name of his Restaurant and cookbook is Blue Ginger, which is another name for galangal, the Thai ginger! (Alton's galangal pronunciation is humorous too)

[phatch]

Yes, i got your point. On the Cha Shu, I've seen lots of different spellings though Char Sil is the one I see the least.

Phil

[boar_d_laze]

Sri Racha is indeed a locale in Thailand. The guy that started "Rooster" brand ("Huy Fong"), David Tran, is a Vietnamese immigrant. He had a company in South Vietnam making hot sauces, including a Thai-style sriracha, until reunification. He fled to America shortly afterwards. The boat he left on was called Huy Fong. Like a few other immigrants -- for instance the guy who started Tapatio -- when Tran got to Los Angeles, he thought to himself, "Great country, too bad they don't have any good hot sauce." The rest is history.

For what it's worth, I like Shark, I like Rooster, I like Por Kwan. Rooster is the hottest and most straightforward, Por Kwan is the sweetest and most complex. Shark swims somewhere in between.

Is Huy Fong sriracha Thai, Vietnamese or American? I vote Angeleno.

BDL

[Grumio]

Not to hijack the thread or take anything away from the noble sriracha, but TP was mentioned so I'll put in a word for my favorite workhorse hot sauces - Tapatio.

I live right by "Thai Town" (a little section of east Hollywood); think I'll go sriracha hunting today & I'll let y'all know what's on the shelves...

maybe pick up some sambal badjak too...

[Grumio]

re chili addiction (this is a fun little article) -

I seem to recall a story about a prison or jail riot in New Mexico (?) by Latino prisoners demanding some hot sauce for their bland food. I remember talking about the story with friends & family who consider me a ferocious fire-eater (I'm not - they're just wimps).

This was at least 20 years ago. A little minor googling didn't turn anything up. Does this story ring a bell with anyone else?

[shel]

I don't care to buy Rooster (Huy Fong) because it's packed in plastic bottles and because it's loaded with preservatives and additives.

scb

[Grumio]

In Thai Town markets today:

Silom Market

Huy Fong - LA area - contains preservatives (P)
Double Chicken - Thai - no preservatives (NP)
Lee Kum Kee - Hong Kong - P

Bangluck Market

Grand Mountain - Thai - NP
Double Horse - Thai - NP
First World - Thai - NP
Shark - Thai - NP
Huy Fong
Lee Kum Kee

I picked up a bottle of Shark - $1.99/25oz

...and that's today's Thai Town Sriracha report...

[OahuAmateurChef]

Originally Posted by boar_d_laze

Sri Racha is indeed a locale in Thailand. The guy that started "Rooster" brand ("Huy Fong"), David Tran, is a Vietnamese immigrant. He had a company in South Vietnam making hot sauces, including a Thai-style sriracha, until reunification. He fled to America shortly afterwards. The boat he left on was called Huy Fong. Like a few other immigrants -- for instance the guy who started Tapatio -- when Tran got to Los Angeles, he thought to himself, "Great country, too bad they don't have any good hot sauce." The rest is history.

For what it's worth, I like Shark, I like Rooster, I like Por Kwan. Rooster is the hottest and most straightforward, Por Kwan is the sweetest and most complex. Shark swims somewhere in between.

Is Huy Fong sriracha Thai, Vietnamese or American? I vote Angeleno.

BDL

Interesting! I didn't know about all that, and it sure does change the perspective of where Ming might have been coming from.

[OahuAmateurChef]

Originally Posted by Grumio

In Thai Town markets today:

Silom Market

Huy Fong - LA area - contains preservatives (P)
Double Chicken - Thai - no preservatives (NP)
Lee Kum Kee - Hong Kong - P

Bangluck Market

Grand Mountain - Thai - NP
Double Horse - Thai - NP
First World - Thai - NP
Shark - Thai - NP
Huy Fong
Lee Kum Kee

I picked up a bottle of Shark - $1.99/25oz

...and that's today's Thai Town Sriracha report...

Wow. That is impressive. You have a Thaitown there? That is awesome! I'm kinda surprised at how small Chinatown is in Hawaii.

[Grumio]

The funny thing is, at least according to the "neighborhood" signs that LA puts up, "Thai Town" & "Little Armenia" seem to be... the same place. East Hollywood.