We love Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce. It’s great on all Oriental foods, as well as on our favorite hot chicken wings recipe. But in a recent conversation with our doctor, a hot sauce loving foodie himself, he told us he was unable to find the plastic squeeze bottle of Tuong Ot Sriracha pictured here. –>
This led us to this post - a comparison of *real* sriracha sauce with a lesser quality one.
In our opinion, the Sriracha HOT Chili Sauce (Tuong Ot Sriracha) produced by Huy Fong Foods is the *real* thing!
The Ka-Me brand is definitely inferior in taste, texture and ingredients, as well as heat-level (or lack thereof).
Tuong Ot Sriracha is made from sun ripened chiles, sugar, salt, garlic, and distilled vinegar.
Ka-Me is made from water, red chili, sugar, garlic, salt, and rice vinegar.
We think the sun ripened chiles help to make the Tuong Ot Sriracha much thicker and bolder, while the Ka-Me starts with water as the first ingredient, resulting in a much thinner sauce.
Here’s a shot of the 2 sauces side by side:
While the Ka-Me is a “Product of Thailand”, we think the American made Huy Fong product is far superior. We’ve not yet bought any “authentic” sauce from a Thai grocer - typically with no preservatives - therefore needing refrigeration.
Pronunciation of Sriracha:
Wikipedia says, as best I can manage, “see ra’ cha” but I usually call it “sir ra’ chee” … good luck finding out how to really say it!
Author David Chute has written an excellent article about David Tran, the creator of Tuong Ot Sriracha and founder of the Huy Fong Foods family, originally published in Los Angeles magazine, April 2001: David Tran: The Emperor of Hot Sauce - a great history and behind the scenes look at Huy Fong and it’s flagship product!
on Jun 7th, 2008 at 11:50 am
It’s pretty easy to find out how to say it. Ask a Thai person.
SEE RAH CHAH, aka. the name of the town it came from.
on Jun 7th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Thanks massoluk!
on Jun 9th, 2008 at 12:23 am
I recently used Sriracha mixed with mayo for a dip. I like super super hot foods, foods so hot your eyesight gets blurry and your nose runs. Not that Sriracha is super super hot but this dip was, for my pals!
I use it on chicken or pasta mainly.Add in some smoked paprika and it’s even more delicious.
Too true about wannabe Srirachas.You cannot fake this stuff. I love how it states on the bottle “this is the natural color”. So good.
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on Jul 26th, 2008 at 2:19 am
Guess I’m in the minority as most folks here and at other sites talk about Ka-me and its inferior taste. I actually think they make a greate sriacha and like the balance between sweet and spicy hot and it isn’t overpowered by too much heat. I use it a lot by dribbling it over popcorn.
on Jul 26th, 2008 at 7:21 am
@Terry - I’m glad you like the Ka-me sauce, but have you tried the Huy fong brand?
on Jul 28th, 2008 at 12:02 am
Yes Brian, I do have a bottle of the Huy Fong brand sriracha. Although Ka-me is much more prevalent in this area, one of the Independent Grocers carries the Huy Fong. I even agree with your points about heat level and quality appearance etc. Looking at the breakdown of ingredients Ka-me has more water and twice the sugar per serving so I can see where the sriacha “purists” prefer the Tuong Ot. I like it but I just don’t think the Ka-me is as bad as many claim it is and it’s actually very good when one wants something not quite as hot or overpowering. I know a few folks who can handle a lot of heat or capsaicin levels and you’re apparently one of them.
These are actually the only two srirachas I’ve tried although I’ve tried several hot sauces including quality ones( at least price wise) IMO, the two sriachas are superior to all of the other sauces I’ve tried but I’m still experimenting with new ones.
on Jul 28th, 2008 at 11:49 am
@Terry - Like you, those are the only 2 sriracha sauces I’ve tried. But now, I’m looking at a bottle of Shark Brand Sriracha Chili Sauce, imported from Thailand. Can’t wait to open it and try it! Of course, I’ll post all about it soon.
on Aug 12th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
@Brian - I think you’ll find that Shark brand is very much a tradtional style Sriacha chili sauce and is a milder more balanced flavor then the Huy Fong*an American brand and recipe* version. If you’ve ever had appetizers at Thai restaurants and they have a smooth slightly thick chili sauce*uniform in color with no visible flecks of anything* with it odds are it’s either shark or a similar brand imported from Thailand. My first exposure to a true Thai style sriracha came with an appetizer ordered at one of my familiy’s favorite Thai restaurants known simply as “the Thai Place” it was served with an appetizer known as “poor mans beef” which is a marinated cut of beef thats sliced relatively thin and then fried *not battered* until it gets just a bit crispy on the outside. Several years *and a couple moves including to the west coast* later my dad ordered some online and we throughly enjoyed it, we then had the luck to find it a couple of times in local stores *asian food markets and Wal-Mart of all places or so we think can’t exactly remember where we acquired one of our bottles
* It’s a sign of authentic Thai versus other if the Sriracha has preservatives or not. Authentic Thai made Sriracha *I belive there may be some made in Indoneaisa but don’t quote me on that* has no preservatives so be sure to refrigerate that Shark brand when not in use whereas American made like Huy Fong have preservatives which is why you see bottles of the stuff out on tables all day at some restaurants. I’m looking forward to your comments and review on the Shark brand.
on Sep 26th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
I like the brand with the rooster on it. It seems more authentic and I like the thickness. I’ve always considered it asian ketchup. I like to go to the international market and get a huge size bottle of it and put it on pretty much anything that doesn’t get Tapatio.
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on Sep 26th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
@Paunchiness - Hi James,
I still like the Huy Fong the best (the rooster), but I’ve found a close second in the Shark Brand I recently tried. I’ll be posting about it soon.
Now, Tapatio… there’s a whole topic to talk about!
on Sep 30th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
[...] should add, this sauce is made and distributed by Huy Fong Foods, who make the awesome Sriracha Sauce I’ve gushed about on this blog time and again. So I’m sure it’s a quality [...]
on Oct 6th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Has anyone ever seen Flying Goose brand sriracha? The Wikipedia entry for sriracha has a nice photo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flying_goose_sriracha.jpg) showing six varieties of sauce. I’ve googled all around it and all I can figure out is that it must be more common in Europe. I would love to find a US source for this stuff to give them all a try!
Jeffro
on Oct 6th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
@Jeff - Wow, that looks like a quest has to happen. I’m going to try and find a supplier. Interesting variety of added flavors - galanga, sour, lemongrass, onion and ginger. Thanks for bringing this up!
on Oct 14th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Wow. I was just looking up Sriracha (for the proper spelling!) and saw the same multi-flavored Flying Goose-brand picture, which brought me here. I’m now on a mission to find one of these flavored versions!! I’m heading for Chinatown (nyc) and I’ll report back if I find something. woo-hoo!
on Oct 14th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
@melissa - Puhleeze let me know if you find a source for the Flying Goose Sriracha in Chinatown. I have my doubts… from what I’ve seen, it’s only available in the U.K.
Also, check out this awesome recipe for wings with garlic and sriracha sauce!
on Nov 13th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
i have an answer on the pronunciation. it is pronounced (see-rah-chah) In thai, it means color of the king. there is a town in chonburi province named Siricha where the sauce originated. say(sah-rachee) and no thai will understand you
on Nov 13th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
@wes - Thanks for clearing that up! I will practice saying “see-rah-chah” to get it right.
on Dec 7th, 2008 at 10:45 am
Has ANYONE found the Flying Goose flavors??? I’ve searched Hawaii’s (Oahu) Chinatown, and found nothing. I was hoping SF or NYC would turn something up, but I’m not visiting either one of those for another year or two.
HELP!
on Dec 8th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
I’m on a serious quest to find a source for the Flying Goose products. Will keep you posted! .brian.
on Dec 27th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
[...] basic sauce. I’ll update this post after I have a chance to try it and compare it to the Huy Fong brand, which is made in Rosemead, Ca. and of course is commonly available [...]