Sriracha

Sriracha ( _th. ศรีราชา, pronEng|siːrətʃə or "SEE-rah-chah") is the generic name for Thai-style hot sauce named after the seaside city of Si Racha, Thailand, where it was first produced for the local seafood restaurants. Typically made from sun-ripened chili peppers, vinegar, garlic, sugar and salt, it is a common condiment in many Asian restaurants.

Flavor

The flavor of both Thai and popular non-Thai versions is dominated by its central ingredient, hot chilies. To achieve a blend of hot, sweet, and spicy, other items such as sugar, salt, garlic, and vinegar are typically added. Traditional Thai Sriracha tends to be more tangy and thinner than non-Thai, which is often thicker in texture. Versions featuring lemon grass, ginger, galanga and other exotic flavors have been introduced in Thailand for the export market.

Originally exclusively a fresh sauce domestically consumed, Sriracha sold as a prepared product typically contains preservatives such as potassium sorbate, sodium bisulfite, and citric acid to maintain its shelf life before and after opening.

Common Uses

In Thailand, Sriracha is frequently found as a dipping sauce, particularly for seafood. Beyond its native boundaries Sriracha serves as a general-purpose hot sauce in a variety of cuisines, appearing anywhere from a condiment for Vietnamese phở to a topping for sushi rolls and pizza in the United States. Increasingly Sriracha is used in snack foods in America, appearing in a sauce for buffalo wings, atop French fries, sandwiches, pasta sauces, even combined with parmesan cheese on hot popcorn.

U.S. Trademark

The first mass marketed Thai-produced Sriracha, and widely regarded as the original, is made by Sriracha Panich ( _th. ศรีราชาพาณิชย์). Sriracha Panich was eventually taken over by the Thai Theparos Food Products Public Company Limited of Thailand which continues to market the sauce under the label "Golden Mountain Sriracha Panich". "Panich" is Thai for "commercial".

The popular "Tuong Ot Sriracha" (Vietnamese for Sriracha Chili Sauce) of American Asian food shops, restaurants, and tables is a proprietary product produced by Huy Fong Foods, which has trademarked the name there since 1990. [ [http://tarr.uspto.gov/tarr?regser=serial&entry=74021095 U.S. Trademark for "Tuong Ot Sriracha"] . Registration #1,617,813, October 16, 1990.] Thai Theparos Food Products filed a trademark for "Sriraja Panich" in 2002 but the application was never completed. [ [http://tarr.uspto.gov/tarr?regser=serial&entry=78141149 U.S. Trademark for "Sriraja Panich"] Filed July 3, 2002 (Abandoned because mark designs were inconsistent and 6-month waiting period expired.)] Due to the rooster graphic on the bottle, Huy Fong's product is known colloquially in the U.S. as "rooster sauce" or "cock sauce."

References

External links

* [http://www.huyfong.com/ Huy Fong Foods Inc.]
* [http://gmsauce.com/SrirajaE.html Golden Mountain brand "Sriraja Panich"]
* [http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/brands/sriracha.html Comparison of the principal US brand to a popular Thai brand]
* [http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Island/3102/huyfong.htm David Tran: The Emperor of Hot Sauce, Los Angeles magazine, April 2001]