We compare Flying Goose Sriracha to 3 others: Huy Fong, Shark Brand & Chuew Huad
They are all similar in that each is a garlic based Thai style sauce. All are made in Thailand except the venerable Huy Fong, made in California, USA. The Huy Fong (Rooster) is also the only one that keeps, without refrigeration.
Each sauce has it’s own distinct flavor profile. Let’s start with the star of this post.
Flying Goose Sriracha Hot Chilli Sauce:
The thickest of the group, it’s quite hot, with a strong garlic flavor. Very pungent and a bit salty due to the MSG that’s in it. I’d say it is the 2nd hottest, after the Huy Fong. Still, it’s very exciting to finally get my hands on some Flying Goose. Apparently it is readily available in the U.K., especially England and Germany, but I’ve not found one source for it here in the U.S.
Ingredients: Chilli 70%, Water, Sugar, Garlic, Flavour Enhancer (E621)[MSG], Stabilizer (E415), Citric Acid (E330), Preservative (E202)
Huy Fong Tuong Ot Sriracha (the Rooster label):
I think this is the hottest of the four, and while it served us well when it was all we knew, after tasting the other authentic sauces, the ‘ol Rooster just isn’t the best. Tasting it brings on the heat alright, but then the saltiness shows up. Compared to the Flying Goose, the Rooster pales in depth of flavor, beyond the heat. There is also very little sweetness, even though sugar is 2nd in the list of ingredients.
Ingredients: Chili, Sugar, Salt, Garlic, Distilled Vinegar, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Bisulfite as preservatives, and Xanthan Gum
Shark Brand Sriracha Chili Sauce (the tall bottle with the yellow label):
This one starts off sweet and vinegary, then the garlic and heat kick in. It’s also very thin compared to the 2 above. I’m told by the distributor that the Shark Brand is a very popular and authentic line in Thailand, and is one of his better sellers. I would definitely buy another bottle of the Shark.
Ingredients: Chilli 35%, Water 25%, Sugar 20%, Garlic 10%, Salt 5%, Vinegar 5%
Chuew Huad Red Chilli Sauce:
It’s hard to pick a favorite, but this one is up there. It’s the thinnest of them all, and also the sweetest. With no preservatives at all, and salt last in the ingredients, it seems to have a really pure, fresh taste. It’s a shame it only comes in a small 100 c.c. bottle. I ordered 3 bottles the last time, along with a yellow chilli sauce that we’ve not tried yet.
We’ve mixed the Chuew Huad with a little butter, and made some delicious chicken tender skewers on the grill.
Ingredients: Red Chilli 70%, Garlic 10%, Sugar 8%, Vinegar 7%, Salt 5% (no preservative or color added)
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Where to buy:
Flying Goose:
www.Chilliworld.com – be warned, their search function sucks. Use the direct links below.
Their price for the 2 small bottles was £1.99 each, shipping was £7.47 = Total: £11.45 GBP
My bill was $16.76 US Dollars for the two small, 200 ml bottles. I ordered them on Dec 7th, 2008, they shipped out on Dec 10th, and arrived on Dec 22nd. So allow about 2 weeks from ordering to receiving. Also, you should create an account. All in all, it was an ok ordering experience, as I’ve not ordered anything internationally from the ‘net before.
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Shark Brand Sriracha Chili Sauce & Chuew Huad Red Chilli Sauce:
I highly recommend importfood.com for any and all Thai ingredients! Tell owners Jerry and Yaowalak Good, that HotSauceDaily.com sent you!
Srirach Sauce, Shark Brand, 7 oz bottle – $3.29
Chuew Huad Pure fresh red chile sauce, 3.5 oz bottle – $2.79 (importfood.com incorrectly lists the bottle as 6oz.)
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Huy Fong Tuong Ot Sriracha (the Rooster label):
Available at grocery stores all over the U.S. (Food Lion, Harris Teeter, etc.)
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More Sriracha sauce articles:
Flying Goose Sriracha Sauce Part 1
Hot Sriracha Garlic Chicken Wings recipe
Compare Sriracha Hot Chili Sauces
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{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
Interesting chili breakdown. I am sure they are not the same, but TTF did a Battle of the Bottles- Garlic Chili Hot Sauce and both sauces are amongst my favorites. You should get them just to compare to the asian versions you have here. Here is the link:
http://www.tastethefear.com/?p=648
In my search for the Flying Goose, I found a bottle with a picture of what appears to be a polar bear on it. The label says “Golden Bear Brand,” and appears to be from Vietnam. Hot sauce with a polar bear logo. Hmm….
melissas last blog post..fork this! – Best of 2008
@Buddah – Yes this was a fun post to do. That’s a great idea to compare US based sauces to the Thai versions.
@melissa – I’d give that chilliworld.com site a try, if only to get a bottle or 2 to you to try out. Still no luck on the other flavors of Flying Goose yet. Still working on it.
Around here we make our own hot sauce or use Mexican. What is so good about Thai sauces? What is different/similar? Can they be used on things like pizza and tacos or is it strictly for Thai food? Just wondering… regards!
The Thai sauces just add another flavor profile to a great list of hot sauce styles you may already have, such as cayenne, or caribbean, chipotle, or homemade. Thai sauces are sweet and garlicky generally speaking. And yes, lots of people put it on pizza, tacos, fish. I’ve seen more than one fan tell of Thai sriracha in mac ‘n cheese dishes!
Take a second or two to answer our poll for favorite hot sauce style. It’s in the top right of your screen. Thanks!
We’d like to know where to purchase the other spectacular flavors of “Flying Goose Brand”. We hear it brings you closer to god. here is a link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flying_goose_sriracha.jpg
@Cap’m – I’ve seen that photo of the 6 (SIX!) flavors of FG sauce. It’s the
only evidence I’ve ever seen that they even exist.
I’m in contact with an importer about just this very thing. Hopefully, some light will be shed on IF they exist, and if so, how to get them.
Wow a whole blog devoted to hot sauce, I love it! Thanks for the recs and I’ll absolutely try the Chuew Huad, as I love the sweeter sauces.
Heidi / Savory Tvs last blog post..Hot food trends for 2009!
@Heidi – I think you’ll be happy with the Chuew Huad
I still have left a few ounces of both the FG Regular (green cap) and some of the marvelous Galanga (orange cap), which I mete out as though they were holy mana. Last summer, when here in Phoenix suddenly no one could locate FG at any ethnic markets, I contacted the importer. Walong Marketing, Inc., of Buena Park CA advised me that they had stopped importing it and could not refer me to anyone else who might know alternate U.S. sources. Yikes! I had NO success trying to reach the manufacturer, Sea World Coldstorage Company, Ltd., in Chonburi, Thailand. I miss the sweet, garlicky FG, which was mild enough to douse my food or perfect my pho. I’m trying to cope by adding fresh pureed galangal root and sugar to the Huy Fong version, mejor que nada. I refuse to spend the $ to import from UK/EU.
You guys are crazy to say Flying Goose makes Huy Fong Sriracha “pale in comparison”. No it doesn’t. You are as wrong as you can be.
@JL – Thanks for leaving a comment.
Could you elaborate on why you think I’m wrong?
What is it that you like better about Huy Fong than Flying Goose?
For years, I was a serious devotee of Huy Fong, but after taking a chance on flying goose brand about 4 years ago, I defected. I’ve had every flavor of Flying Goose brand, but the two i enjoy the most are “with lemon grass”, and “with onion”. If you’ve been lucky enough to find it here in the states, you may agree with me on this…
If Huy Fong is the cocaine of sriracha, Flying Goose is the crack.
http://www.scorchio.co.uk has lots of Flying Goose chilli sauces and delivers internationally. Not tried it from there, but had the sauce in a restaurant and it was excellent
Thanks for the suggestion, Ed. Scorchio can only ship 1lb or less of product. It limits us here in the US to one bottle.
So while it’s very “do-able”, one bottle of FG with shipping is just over $20.
I think it’s worth it to get such rare sauces like the FG Lemongrass, and FG Sour.
Does anyone know where I can find a full list of Flying Goose flavors?
So far, I’ve found:
Regular
Hot
Garlic
Onion
Ginger
Lemongrass
and I’m looking for:
Sour
Galanga
Do others exist?
The company does not seem to have a website.
Sadly, AB, there seems to be no one selling FG in the US.
I ordered a few bottles from the UK, but you can only get 1 bottle at a time sent from there, because of shipping restrictions (weight). And it’s terribly expensive. Check out:
http://chilliworld.com
If you have any luck ordering the more exotic flavors from ANYWHERE, please let me know!
I’m currently in Germany, and found the six flavors listed above in a local Asian market.
http://www.heuschenschrouff.com/ sells it in bulk to stores. It seems the six flavors I was able to find in the local market here are the only ones that the distributor sells.
Hm, interesting, although I must admit I didn’t like the Rooster as much, as I thought it too salty and the garlic too strong for the amount of heat.
My Top is Flying Goose extra hot, IMHO much hotter than the Rooster brand, with just enough garlic to make it incredibly tasty.
Another one I just bought and tried is”Royal Thai”, probably named that way by its german importer http://lim-co.de … friends that aren’t that much into peppers prefered it over my beloved goose because it’s only got 50% chili and a really strong garlic note.
Anyhow, nice test and I’ll probably try to get my hands on the two I didn’t know.
And sorry for you guys that have to import FG themselves, in my town half of the asian shops do have FG extra hot and normal for about 3-3.50 €.
BUT: I still have to find the four other flavours, but I can probably just order a box via my preferred shop, let’s hope I manage to get rid of any surplus botles easily.